Can you make a trifle without the jelly?

My daughter loves trifle but has become vegetarian. Is there an alternative to jelly? K. Chute

Yes. Leave it out. The vile, artificially flavoured jellies destroy a trifle, in my opinion. Trifle is one of those foods that has survived the centuries and comes to us more or less intact from the Middle Ages. It's a dish involving cake or sponge soaked in sweet fortified wine, jelly, fruit, custard and cream. Jelly is made from animal protein and is therefore unsuitable for vegetarians. In the past jellies were made with fish swim bladder extract – or isinglass. (Don't laugh; isinglass is still used in the wine industry to clarify wines). Other jellies were made with cockscombs, calves' feet and soft deer antlers, and produced delicate, slippery gels sweetened with sugar and often flavoured with rosewater. You could make berry compote and set this with agar – seaweed protein. Or for a cool, slippery textured layer, perhaps poach some peaches or nectarines in a little sugar syrup and mix this with some fresh fruit. Also try soaking your sponge in sweet Victorian muscat or Spanish Pedro Ximenez sherry. Delicious.

How do I stop my soups and stews from catching? M. Bannerman.

Bugger! It's the sound cooks make when they first realise their soup, stew or sauce has caught. This means that solids in the liquid have stuck to the bottom of the saucepan, and got really hot and carbonised. You have to remember that the element or flame on full power under the pot can measure above 1000C. Even an element on low can ignite paper – at about 220C.

Stirring frequently helps distribute the heat and prevents food at the bottom from getting too hot. If you have no capacity for paying attention to cooking, try this method. Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare the soup or stew as usual in a large ovenproof pot with a lid. Chop and saute the ingredients and add the stock or water. Bring to the boil. Cover and place in the oven and cook for several hours, or until the food in the pot is the desired texture.

Can I dry muscatel grapes in the oven? G. Sutherland

Yes. Lay them out on a cake rack with room between the grapes. Place this on a tray and place the rack in the centre of the oven. Turn the oven to as low as it will go, turn the fan on and leave the door ajar using an old wine cork. The grapes will need turning and checking regularly and, depending on their water content and size, will take up to 10 hours to dry.

Letters, corrections and apologies.

Recently I wrote that Australian chickens were dirty, covered in bugs and that health authorities warned people not to wash their chooks before cooking. In jest I wrote that I "play Russian Chook Lotto and still rinse my chickens in the sink – washing up thoroughly after I go". This riled an anonymous respondent, who wrote: "The diseases spread by washing chicken are not trivial and can result in death, furthermore incidences are increasing" and "unless Mr Cornish actually decontaminates his entire kitchen it is highly unlikely that his " washing up thoroughly" is actually "thorough".