INFLATION has reared its ugly head to bite a chunk out of my life and a significant one as well, since it involves food!

I found out recently that the price of roti canai where I usually buy is now costs RM1, which seems to be too much to pay for in the first place.

But this piece of food isn’t the first one that I’ve seen with an increased price.

I’ve been seeing the prices of my favourite food and drinks creeping higher, all with the excuse that it’s a domino effect because of an increase in prices of one or all of the ingredients used to make it.

It’s gotten to a point where I think it’s better off for me to start learning how to make certain food in my own kitchen rather than go out and pay the price for it.

And here’s where I’m glad that I live in a world that has broadband Internet, a graphical Web browser and a good search engine.

This has allowed me to find several recipe Web sites that can guide me into making my favourite dishes. And we’re talking about Malaysian dishes as well as international dishes.

Take roti canai, for example. I found out the recipe at http://recipe.mesra.net. There’s even a recipe for Neslo ais, another favourite drink that went up in price.

Recipes for Malaysian dishes can also be found at http://www.malaysiabest.net.

Besides that, recipes for international dishes can be found at http://allrecipes.com or http://food.ivillage.com/.

And in an age where almost every celebrity has a Web presence, let’s not forget the celebrity chefs like Jaime Oliver (http://www.jamieoliver.com/), Nigella Lawson (http://www.nigella.com/) and Chef Wan (http://www.chef-wan.com.my/).

But don’t forget this is the Age of video on the Internet. Instead of just reading about how to cook a dish, I can also watch and see how it’s done.

So far, I’ve watched how to make naan bread at http://www.videojug.com/tag/food-and-drink and some barbeque dishes at http://www.barbecue-online.co.uk/video-recipes/index.htm.

I found out that I can even buy video recipes in high-definition or for the iPod at http://www.rouxbe.com/.

And if all else fails, I can always ask my group of friends on my social network sites if anyone knows how to make some of my favourite dishes.