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Richard Cornish column.

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Brain Food 2019: All your food and cooking questions, answered

Columnist Richard Cornish answers all your vexing questions.

100 recipes
Many domestic ovens have a hot spot and you may need to turn cake tins midway through baking.

All your cooking equipment conundrums, answered

  • Richard Cornish
The perfect lacy edged fried egg.

The Goog Food Guide: the best egg advice from Brain Food

  • Richard Cornish
Neil Perry's mushroom and pea risotto.

The secrets and myths behind a perfect risotto

  • Richard Cornish
Eggplant tomato pasta sauce recipe from Dan Lepard.

How to take the sting out of a boozy pasta sauce

  • Richard Cornish
Helen Goh's lemon and raspberry loaf cake.

The secret to cooking a cake all the way through

  • Richard Cornish
Neil Perry's pan-fried whiting with burnt butter and herb salad.

The secret to perfectly crisp-skinned fish without the mess

  • Richard Cornish
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Teff, a flour made from a grass native to Ethiopia, is used to make injera bread.

How to take the sting out of onions

  • Richard Cornish
Meatballs braised in tomato sauce.

The secret to meatballs that don't fall apart

  • Richard Cornish
Xanthan gum, which can be used to make gluten-free bread.

Ingredient X: What is xanthan gum?

  • Richard Cornish
If you don't cook the capsicum enough, the skin will not lift off the flesh.

The easy way to peel blackened capsicum

  • Richard Cornish
Sorbetto, made without milk fat, is refreshing on a summer day.

Sorbetto and gelato - what's the difference?

  • Richard Cornish
Adam Liaw's Japanese green avocado salad.

Tips and tricks for making the perfect salad

  • Richard Cornish
Fresh chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium) looks like parsley only with finer, more fernlike leaves.

What is chervil and how do you use it?

  • Richard Cornish
Hot chips are the perfect partner for chicken salt.

Is there actually any chicken in chicken salt?

  • Richard Cornish
Scallops are increasingly being served without the orange roe.

​​Why do chefs remove the roe from scallops?

  • Richard Cornish
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Particular care should be taken to make sure a turkey is cooked properly.

How do you tell when the turkey is fully cooked?

  • Richard Cornish
Neil Perry's roast chicken with apple cider leeks and hazelnuts.

How to avoid dry roast chicken

  • Richard Cornish
A good, sharp knife is much safer than a blunt knife that will jump around and slide off food.

The one piece of cooking equipment to give someone leaving home

  • Richard Cornish
Cropped shot of a white latex gloved hand carefully putting the top bun down on a burger that's been freshly prepared in a kitchen. Shutterstock image downloaded under the Good Food team account (contact syndication for reuse permissions).

Should you wear gloves when handling raw meat?

  • Richard Cornish
You should still wash your bagged salad greens, whether the packet says they're pre-washed or not.

Why you still need to wash bags of 'pre-washed' salad greens

  • Richard Cornish
Mexicans never dip their corn chips into the salsa or guacamole.

How to make low-fat corn chips at home

  • Richard Cornish
Adding a little milk to bolognese gives the perception of a smoother sauce.

The secret to silkier bolognese sauce

  • Richard Cornish
Fried eggs are 'as sticky as a real estate agent at an open for inspection'.

How to stop eggs from sticking to the frying pan

  • Richard Cornish
It's not only OK to slurp ramen, it actually makes them taste better.

Where does the word 'vegan' come from?

  • Richard Cornish
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Think you're doing the right thing by keeping bread in the fridge? Think again.

Should you store bread and cakes in the fridge?

  • Richard Cornish
A block of liqueur chocolate contains about eight millilitres of booze.

Can you get drunk on the alcohol in chocolates?

  • Richard Cornish
The trick to successfully roasting a whole cauliflower is to increase the humidity.

How to cook the perfect whole cauliflower

  • Richard Cornish
It's not your imagination. Modern apple varieties are being bred sweeter.

Think apples are a healthy snack? They may be sweeter than you think

  • Richard Cornish
Sugar molecules, even when dissolved in liquid as they are in jams, like to form into groups – or crystals.

How to stop crystals forming in jam

  • Richard Cornish
Adam Liaw's Portuguese orange, olive oil and honey cake.

How to bake cakes without using butter

  • Richard Cornish
Cooking sausages in the oven means they're less likely to split.

The surprising secret to perfectly cooked sausages

  • Richard Cornish
Creamy mashed potatoes.

How to make perfect mashed potatoes

  • Richard Cornish
Starter for sourdough bread.

How to get started on sourdough breadmaking

  • Richard Cornish
Throw away mussels with broken shells or those with shells agape that don't close when tapped.

Busting the myth about unopened mussels

  • Richard Cornish
Fresh ciabatta with olive oil and olives.

Ciabatta, Italy's favourite crusty bread, isn't as traditional as you think

  • Richard Cornish
Fondue became a hit in the 1970s thanks to canny marketing.

The great cheese fondue conspiracy theory

  • Richard Cornish

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/goodfood/brain-food-all-your-food-and-cooking-questions-answered-20190329-h1cytp.html