Who says cans are boring?

Once a foodie, always a foodie, but what will we Epicureans do in the event of a major terrorist attack on London with chemical weapons or even a "dirty" nuclear bomb?

From next week, 25 million Government leaflets will be sent to our homes advising us what measures to take, among them what food to stockpile in our homes. With echoes of the home front in the Second World War, we will be urged to consider baked beans, cans of Spam and bottled water, a diet so disgusting that we'd quite possibly rather survive the gruesome aftermath on water alone.

So if a diet of Carnation milk and cold rice-pudding doesn't appeal, take heart - it doesn't have to be like that. In the spirit of "wartime" goodwill, a word of advice: you can eat luxury food from a can every day and create dishes that would grace a restaurant. Head for the Harrods food hall for all manner of fine tinned foods, but if you can't make it there try your local branch of Waitrose, a suitably snazzy supermarket.

As a starter, what about canned foie gras and canned rillettes of pork served with some dry biscuits with capers and baby gherkins? I even have a bottle of langoustine soup made with Muscadet in my cupboard.

For a no-cook option, how about the cans of dolphin-friendly skipjack tuna at 68p a tin? Mix with a can of cannellini beans at 57p, a teaspoon of garlic purée, a squeeze of Jif lemon and a pinch of salt and pepper, and you have a lunch that you'd be quite tempted to order in a smart Italian restaurant. Lunch at £1.25 for two surely has to be a bargain in the bleakest of circumstances.

Easy onions are a fantastic find - Spanish onions which have been peeled and lightly fried in olive oil before being canned. They are available in most good food stores and some supermarkets.

Let's assume that the power is back on but we still can't leave our homes. How about a can of Fray Bentos corned beef at 95p, the Easy onions and a can of new potatoes (which Crosse & Blackwell sell at 36p), all fried in olive oil? Serve with canned gherkins and you have a delicious corned beef hash.

Something more exotic, perhaps? A duck cassoulet is just the thing and every ingredient is available in cans - as my instant recipe above shows.

More exotic still? How about lobster? You can get it dressed and in a can at Waitrose for 89p a tin. Tip it onto a plate and imagine you are at the Savoy, not in some hell-hole waiting for the world to end. (Avoid canned crab or salmon - neither improves with being tinned.)

The delights don't end there. Canned celeriac with a tablespoon of mustard and some tinned capers will make a delicious remoulade. Then, of course, there are the asparagus spears in salted water: the Jolly Green Giant brand costs £1.29 a jar and John West £1.39 a tin.

Why not open that can of artichoke hearts, costing just £1.39? Imagine not having to pluck off each leaf and then not having to dig out the hairy covering that protects the heart; canned food begins to have advantages. Artichokes are packed with protein, and, for the weight-conscious, contain no fat whatsoever.

One dish that might improve by being canned is frankfurters (£1.19) and bottled sauerkraut (£1.45). Just make sure you add lashings of German mustard.

And to finish? Choose either the morello cherries (Hero is a good brand) and rice pudding or the sponge pudding with canned fruit in natural juice, not syrup.

Whatever you do, be sure to pack your Calor gas stove. In the event of the power not coming back on and all the luxury canned foods running out, you'll at least have a way of warming the baked beans.