Andre Burgener has been immersed in all things food since she took over the making of the family's lunch box sandwiches aged eight (her mom could make a mean creme brulee and a staggering souffle, but could never butter the bread all the way to the edges.

COOKING THE BOOKS

IT MAY seem like a cop-out to review a book that hit the shelves more than a decade ago. But as I meet more and more home cooks who have not used certain books in years, I feel compelled to convince them of the value of their older assets.

An example is Nigella Lawson's How To Eat, which was released 14 years ago.

South African sales of the tome are monumental, but people tell me that once they have it, it stays on the shelf.

That's ridiculous. This is the desert-island cook-book; indescribably useful.

Many say they can't cook from it because of its lack of visuals. Yes, it's true, not a single dish is pictured. But who needs photographs when the woman's words conjure up images that are more seductive than any picture could possibly be?

Couverture chocolate is "malevolently dark", black-bean soup has "spice-fuggy muddiness", brodo is served in "golden poolfuls".

If Nigel Slater calls this his "book of the decade", surely you might give it another chance?

Published by Chatto & Windus in 1998, R315

PEANUT NIRVANA

A FRIEND recently served me this peanut sauce alongside rice-paper wraps.

It was better than the one I'd been making for years and I snappily purloined the recipe.

The addition of hoisin sauce gives it the X factor.

Serves four: 2 tbs vegetable oil / 1 clove garlic, finely slivered / ½ red chilli, finely sliced / 2 tbs peanut butter / 3 tbs hoisin sauce / 1 tbs Chinese chilli sauce (or use extra fresh chilli) / 2 tbs brown sugar / ½ cup water / 1 tbs rice vinegar.

How: Heat the oil in a small pan. Add the garlic and chilli and fry for a few minutes. Whisk in all other ingredients and cook for a few more minutes.

Leave to cool. Brilliant with the rice-paper wraps, or with grilled chicken, beef or lamb. Mesmerising with grilled brinjal.

STRAW ACTIVISTS UNWRAPPED

ANTI-PLASTIC activists are targeting even the smallest bits of the substance.

And while the anti-drinking-straw stance seems slightly laughable, it is clearly right (though throwing the straws at the waiter as a mini-demo, as I recently saw, is perhaps a little pathetic).

Straw addicted? No problem: straws of steel and of glass (apparently unbreakable) are available to buy and use for something close to eternity.

Order through www.strawsome.com and many other sites.

I just wonder how many straws-worth of plastic, packaging and so on are involved in getting the sustainable option to you.

Fortunately, gin and tonic and coffee both taste better without a straw.

The Bandit is at large and no longer writing his column