Half a pound of tuppenny rice

I can well remember when, as a young schoolboy in England, I sat down to many a school dinner which culminated in one of my favourite desserts - rice pudding.

"Rice pud" was not everybody's favourite though. Some of my friends disliked it intensely; I could never understand why. In retrospect, their dislike may have stemmed from the often poor preparation in the school kitchen. School canteen rice pudding was often lumpy.

Rice pudding is not just a British food favourite. It is eaten all over the world and prepared in many different ways. My mother prepared it by simply baking short grain white rice with whole milk and sugar. Other cultures add spices or use different types of rice grain or cook it using alternate methods.

Rice pudding is easy to prepare but it does take a fairly long time to cook and, of course, long cooking times involve a lot of energy consumption. So, if you make rice pudding from scratch you will contribute to global warming and destroy this planet for future generations. That's a big responsibility to carry, but wait, there is a way to enjoy rice pudding without becoming an eco-monster. Simply buy a can of rice pudding from Blighty's and warm the contents in your microwave for just one minute. You will be rewarded with a great-tasting dessert (one can will serve two people) and a clear conscience on climate change.

Blighty's carries three types of rice pudding, all made by Ambrosia and imported from Devon, England:

1. Regular super creamy rice pudding
2. Rice pudding with sultanas and nutmeg
3. Low fat rice pudding

My favourite is the rice pudding with sultanas and nutmeg but they are all simply delicious. Rice pudding is also very nutritious. It is a good source of calcium and complex carbohydrates (that's good for us diabetics). It is gluten free and provides just 185 calories per serving.