Can I swap regular white sugar with castor sugar in baking?

Can I substitute regular white sugar with castor sugar without affecting the recipe? L. Ryan

All baking is a matter of the ratio ingredients based on their weight. If you're baking using volumetric measurements burn the recipe book along with your Russian doll-shaped cup measures. Get yourself a set of digital scales now. Sorry. Castor sugar is finer than regular sugar – there is a less space between the crystals and therefore it packs down, making cup of castor sugar heavier than a cup of regular sugar.

Why is allspice also called pimento? It is so confusing. F. Russo

It is not uncommon for spices to have several names. Ginger Spice is also known as Geri Halliwell and the name Posh Spice was given, ironically, to Victoria Beckham nee Adams. When the Spanish explorers first came across the berries of the Pimenta dioica tree in Jamaica they thought they looked like pepper berries. Pepper (Piper nigrum), is pimienta in Spanish. The word "pimento" was once used to describe cayenne pepper in 17th century England and pimenton is Spanish for paprika. Still confused? Allspice is arguably a more accurate name because its flavour is made up of mix of compounds that are also found in spices such as cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper.

Why don't Australian restaurants include non-alcoholic beers on their beverage menu? The Lonely Drinker

Whoa! I posed this question to some of the best sommeliers in the country. Their response was scathing. One said, "Name one non-alcoholic beer that won't make our food taste bad." Another answered, "Life is too short for that stuff." That attitude could explain the lack of alcohol-free beers. One more sober chap suggested trying green tea as the amino acids have a savoury note that improves the flavour of food. You're probably aware of the imported alcohol-free beers available from alcofree.com.au. Try the Arcobrau radler – brewed in Bavaria.

A friend told me to dry my steak before pan-searing. Is that a thing? L. Clancey

A mate of mine plans his steak dinners 48 hours in advance by leaving his steak out in the fridge on a cake rack on a tray. This dries out the meat surface. A steak with juice or water on its surface will not sear as well as a dry steak because the water boils off, taking the heat out of the pan. For a good pan-seared steak always preheat the heaviest pan you have – really hot for a medium steak, not so hot for thicker steaks. Do not crowd the pan. Make sure you pick up the steak with tongs and sear the rim of fat and rest after cooking. And by the way when did "a thing" become a thing?

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