GOURMET GANESH WE EAT EVERYTHING ON OUR PLATES!

FROM MARROW TO MACARONI, NOTHING’S OFF THE MENU!

- Fleur Guthrie

As the gregarious co-host of TVNZ 1’s Eat Well for Less, Ganesh Raj puts grocery shopping under the microscope and tries to help Kiwi families save money, cook better and adopt healthier eating habits.

So it wouldn’t surprise the restaurateur if, when people spy him in the supermarket shopping for his own family, they steered their trolley away down another aisle, to avoid any judgement.

But that’s not the case and people often walk towards him, asking, ‘Do you want to look at what I’ve put in?’

“Then I play the role of, ‘Oh, my gosh, I can’t believe this is your trolley. You should be so embarrassed!’” he says, feigning mock horror.

“Because that’s the reaction they want. They don’t want me to go, ‘Great choices!’” laughs Ganesh, 50, who reveals the show has even changed his own shopping behaviour.

“I always look for the deals and we’ve swapped out a lot of labels that we’ve bought for so many years for supermarket own-brand products. I haven’t bought a can of tomatoes that costs more than 88c in over a year. And I now shop every two days because I’m so conscious of waste. Waste freaks me out, man!

“Our daughter Kali will happily carry on eating the same school lunches knowing there’s two more buns left to use and she doesn’t complain because we have to finish what’s in the fridge and it’s perfectly good food.”

Their gorgeous teen agrees and it’s obvious she’s inherited her dad’s passion for food.