What is the best way to thaw frozen fish?

What is the best way to thaw frozen fish? J. Taylor.

My mate Michael Canals, from seafood specialist CQ Foods, says to place the wrapped, frozen fish in a tray or on a plate and thaw the fish in the fridge for 18-24 hours before use. Freezing doesn't kill bacteria, so if you thaw it on a bench, the outside of the fish could be soft and breeding bugs while the inside is still hard. If you catch a really good fish and want to freeze it, protect it from freezer burn by wrapping its fillets very firmly in plastic film or seal them in a vacuum bag. Another method is to create a protective layer of ice by freezing the fillets, dipping them in water and returning them to the freezer. Repeat. This builds up a layer of ice that stops water migrating from the flesh to the frozen and drying air inside the freezer.

Where can I get junket? I can't seem to find it in the supermarket. V. Hackwell

My grandmother used to make me junket. She lived in the city and I lived on a farm. We'd sometimes travel to see her for Sunday lunch. It took forever. But there would be a roast leg of lamb, some vegetables she had started cooking earlier in the morning and there, in the fridge, were half a dozen or so little white desserts, dusted in nutmeg, sitting in conical cut-glass dessert bowls. Sweet, silky, unctuous and slippery junket has an ephemeral soft texture that dissolves as soon as it hits the mouth. It's made from warm milk to which one adds dissolved junket tablets which are made from rennet, an enzyme extracted from calf stomachs, and a few calcium compounds. The enzyme and the calcium allow the protein in the milk to bind together to form loose curds. It's one of those favourite Edwardian nursery dishes that fell out of favour in recent years and was deleted by both big supermarkets. Woolworths, however, took heed of a consumer backlash – mostly delivered on Basildon Bond writing paper and penned in superb copperplate, I imagine – and Hansells junket, I am told, will be back on their shelves in May. Also look out for junket in some IGAs and food stores.

What is that white stuff that oozes when I pick figs? P. Unsworth

That's sap. And it's pretty amazing stuff. Depending on the variety and season, some people find this sap causes skin irritations. In some cultures it is used to remove warts. Tests at Purdue University in Indiana found that it contained resin, albumin, cerin, sugar, malic acid, rennin, proteolytic enzymes, diastase, esterase, lipase, catalase, and peroxidase. All those "ase" words are enzymes that break down compounds. One enzyme specific to fig sap is ficin​, a protein-eating enzyme that is similar to the enzymes found in pineapple and pawpaw. It is used across the Mediterranean for making home-style cheeses and is sometimes used in conjunction with animal rennet in cheese-making.

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