Reading an excess of magazine and newspaper articles about the benefits for the ageing, human body of brightly coloured vegetables resulted today in a big pan of ratatouille. The recipe called for freshly crushed coriander seeds, I didn't have any so used some fennel seeds instead. It worked wonderfully.
It does seem to be something of a pattern in cooking (and cliché though it is, in life too) that when you are without an ingredient you want and are forced to try a substitute you can sometimes end up with something better than you could have imagined.
On the other hand it can be dire.
Actually, I didn't have any courgettes either, just lots of tomatoes, peppers and a solitary aubergine that needed using so you might argue that it wasn't ratatouille at all.
All very existential.
