geography lesson

I have to admit, I'm not really a very good cook. People should stay clear of me when I'm breaking eggs, otherwise they may get shelled ... if you get my meaning. Occasionally I pick something up from the cooking shows that seem to be all over the television these days.

Yesterday it was Jamie Oliver doing his bit. Now, I'm not that big a fan of Jamie. He rarely follows a recipe and the fact that he burned his own private parts while trying to establish his 'Naked Chef' epitaph tells me something about his kitchen security procedures.

Jamie should also refrain from trying to build a story around his cooking. Yesterday he was all excited about his Mauritanian friend and the Mauritanian spices. And then Jamie said the most amazing thing. He claimed that Mauritania is close to India and that the spices are therefore very alike and interchangeable.

This claim did not sound correct, so Jamie, I looked it up ...

• The country called Mauritania is in North West Africa. It is approximately 7000 kilometers away from India and in between is most of Africa.
• There is also an island called Mauritius. It is of the coast of South East Africa. Granted, there's only ocean between it and India, but that is the bulk of the Indian ocean, good for more than 4000 kilometers. Besides, the person you showed off as your Mauritanian friend (and that spoke English as if he'd never even been close to Africa) looked - if anything - like a North African.

So Jamie, the obvious conclusion is that most of that episode was made up and unverified and probably the same is true off the cooking information you dispensed ...