In April 2002 Swedish scientists announced results of analytical research on levels of acrylamide in some foods. Concerns arose because acrylamide in water and tobacco smoke, as well as industrial exposures have been found to be carcinogenic and neurotoxic. It is important to note however, that to date there is no evidence of a link between cancer in humans and the levels found in foods. Read More...... I.P.Knightly has asked, "What is cross contamination?"

Well I.P., cross contamination in relation to food, is when bacteria from one type of food comes in contact with another. This is far more important when handling raw and cooked foods together, or meat and vegetable/salad ingredients. In that case, it is always important to prepare the vegetable or salad ingredients first, then the meat, so the meat juice doesn't end up in your gut, along with the bacteria, the cause of food poisoning.

I've been recently asked what would be a good substitute for fennel seeds, to use in a recipe. Well seeing that fennel is fairly distinctive I could say nothing. But there are alternatives, including aniseed, star-anise or even fresh fennel. That last one will be milder, but still give a good flavour.

But, if all fails, just use something else. Be adventurous - and tell everyone it's your special family recipe.

Another important thing to do when handling fruit and vegetables is to wash and store them correctly. The reason we wash our fruit and veg is simple, there are many chemicals often used in the production and commercial storage of these products and it's important to remove them from the food we consume. Washing in water with a few drops of detergent will do the trick.

To store: allow to air dry and then place in the crisper, either in a sealed container or back in the bag that you bought the produce in. This prevents them from losing moisture and thus becoming limp and yukky.

I was recently asked if chickpeas in a can were cooked. Well, Dorothy, yes they are. All canned products are cooked as part of the canning process that creates a sealed, anaerobic environment (no oxygen), under heat, just like a mini pressure cooker.

So now you can go out and use those little chickpeas in your fave hommus recipe without the bother of cooking your own. Cheers

Oh I'm on a roll today! Are you frustrated with all those annoying little gadgets that are meant to save us time peeling cloves of garlic? Well the simplest and easiest method is this - bash it.

That's right. With the flat blade of a knife, give the little tyke a firm but gentle hit. Then with the tip of the knife, just cut away the bottom end and peel off the skin.

A Quick Seafood Sauce


This is one of the simplest ways to make a tasty sauce to go with your next seafood extravaganza.

To 1/2 a cup of your everyday tomato sauce, add a couple of dashes of Tobasco or piri piri sauce. 2 teaspoons of liquid from bottled capers and 1/2 a teaspoon of ground cumin.

Stir through and that is that.

To vary; you can add a dessertspoon of mayonnaise and of course a nip (30 mils) dry sherry.