Q: Robin, what inspired you to come up with a cookbook for those with Type II Diabetes?
A: Friends have been suggesting I write a cookbook for ages–but it is hard to find a publisher these days unless you have a current profile as a chef or celebrity.
I have always loved to cook with garlic, olive oil and tomatoes–the building blocks of the Mediterranean diet, which suits the needs of people with diabetes. When I was diagnosed thirteen years ago, I made a few adjustments. Out went the whites, for instance–meaning I eat unrefined rather than refined (white) rice, pasta, bread and no potatoes. I had a large collection of recipes that were suitable for a person with Type 2 — allowing for these adjustments. So we sent the idea for the book to a publisher recommended by a friend and they liked it.
Q: Would those who don’t have diabetes
like the recipes in your book?
A: Absolutely — Meredith, my wife, eats what I cook and she is not diabetic.
The recipes in the book everyone can enjoy. They happen to suit me too–a type 2 diabetic.
Q: What’s the key to healthy eating?
A: You don’t have to go as far as food writer Michael Pollen whose mantra for healthy eating is: Eat food. Not too much. Mainly plants. But consuming sensible amounts of fresh food and including lots of vegetables and fruit is a healthy and delicious approach to everyday eating.
Q: For those who don’t know of Poldark, who was he?
A: He was an 18th century fictional gent living in Cornwall in the SW of England and the central character in a series of novels written over a period of 50 years by the English author Winston Graham. (Winston also wrote among many other books, 
Marnie — which Alfred Hitchcock made into a film.) The BBC made seven of these books into a TV series, which enjoyed popular success in the seventies in the UK and the US.
It has recently been issued as a DVD double box set by Acorn Media. The LA Times TV critic, Robert Lloyd, who hadn’t seen the series before Acorn sent him a copy, described it as a great antidote for Downton Abbey withdrawal symptoms! Ross is a member of the local gentry but at odds with his own kind — often making life hard for himself. He also has a somewhat complicated love life!
Q: Would a swashbuckler like Poldark have liked the recipes included in Delicious Dishes for Diabetics?
A: He’d have been polite about them (fer he were a gentleman!) but I think he might have considered the Mediterranean slant a bit “foreign†! I’d love to have been a fly on the wall watching him tackle whole wheat pasta! On the other hand, I reckon he’d have gobbled down the simple roast chicken, the slow roast leg of lamb and the fishcakes. He might even have tackled the mackerel!
Q: They say Poldark caused all the ladies to swoon. What caused you to settle down with Meredith?
A: I fell in love with her…
