Do Not Oven Cook

We’d had one of those busy days when all we wanted to do was enjoy an easy meal and relax in front of the TV. So Dom heads to the freezer to see what he can rustle up.

“Fish and chips okay?” He asks.

“Perfect.” I reply.

Thirty seconds later and doing his best Victor Meldrew impersonation, Dom shouts out “I don’t believe it!” This is followed by much moaning and grumbling until he storms into the lounge. “What does it say on this packet?” He demands, holding up an unopened packet of McCain’s Oven Chips.

“Oven Chips?” I reply, rather taken aback.

“Precisely! So why the hell does the cooking instructions state ‘DO NOT OVEN COOK?’” he yelled. Well, I was as mystified as he was as to why you couldn’t cook said Oven Chips in the oven.

Then the full tirade began. “This product is totally misleading. I’m posting them back to McCain’s to tell them just what I think of their product.” This was followed by a brief discussion as to whether we had an envelope big enough to send said chips back to the manufacturer, and to whether their Consumer Care department was manned at that time of night to answer his complaint.

I sat calmly, waiting for the ranting to subside, and asked to see the bag. After all, we’d been using the same product for years, so if they had changed their cooking instructions, it must have been a very recent change. Then it all became clear;

‘Do not OVER cook.’

We were both helpless with laughter and that simple meal has never taken so long to eat as that night, with both of us trying and failing to stifle our giggles in between each mouthful.