Last year I was sitting in a service station, on my way home from Edinburgh University for the holidays, facing a tricky decision. Sausage, egg and beans? Burger and chips? Or an overpriced sandwich? It got me thinking: there must be a better way to eat delicious hot food on the move and on a student budget.
When I got home to London, my brother, an engineer at a food company, said he had heard about people in the US using their car engines as ovens. The food was contained securely in foil packages and then placed on the engine, letting the heat cook the food as they drove. It seemed so simple we decided to give it a try the next time we set off on a long drive.
We stopped at the local butcher and bought a handful of lamb chops, a few potatoes and some green beans, wrapped them very thoroughly in foil, carefully put them on the engine of my Ford Ka and set off. About 100 miles down the road we stopped and unwrapped the piping hot package with nervous excitement. Inside were beautifully cooked lamb chops with steam billowing out. It made for such a jolly lunch.