Lasagne, cookies and chutney: What Sydneysiders have been cooking through winter

Online searches for lasagne and cookie recipes have surged in the past fortnight as Sydneysiders look to hunker down with comfort food in the face of growing coronavirus concerns.

According to data provided by Google Australia, recipe search volumes – although down from an all-time high in April – are on par with the week before Christmas, typically the annual peak for home cooks searching the internet for inspiration and advice.

Among recipe searches to experience significant growth in NSW over the past 30 days, lasagne topped Google's top 10 "trending" list, which also featured fritters, pork cutlet, burnt cheesecake and "thick cookies".

"Cookies are great to bake because a lot of people already have the ingredients in their pantry," says Wollstonecraft resident Raewyn Brack, a freelance graphic designer with an "iso-cooking" highlights reel on her Instagram account.

"It's definitely the kind of weather for cookies too, and they always seem to receive a nice response on social media. Photographs of good-looking bread also get a lot of comments online, and hand-made pasta with ragu. It's possible my friends just really like carbs."

Indeed, the appeal of carbohydrates is a key component of what makes comfort food so comforting says taste researcher and consultant Dr John Prescott.

"What we call 'comfort food' is typically high in fat, sugar and carbohydrates. The body is set up to value and feel rewarded by these sorts of foods because they provide large amounts of energy."

Comfort food can also be a particular dish a person associates with a time they felt secure, and used as a way to feel safe in times of uncertainty (such as global pandemics).

"It could be food you enjoyed as a child, or perhaps if you're a migrant, it is a dish typical of your home country," says Prescott. "Something you associate with a safer period in your life and provides a feeling of security."

The most searched recipe term over the past 30 days was pancakes followed by "slow-cooker", corresponding to sales information provided by retail giant Harvey Norman.

"At the beginning of COVID, we experienced a big increase in sales of benchtop appliances such as air-fryers and stand mixers, which has migrated to slow-cookers as people look to eat heartier food in winter," says Gary Brown, Harvey Norman's senior brand manager for home appliances.

"We've also seen a big trend of people updating their ovens, cooktops and other major appliances over the past six weeks. I think people thought the virus was going to come and go, and small appliances were a short-term fix to better their kitchen. Now the pandemic is lasting longer than expected, many people are buying those larger, more advanced items and settling in."

Although the coronavirus crisis has inspired many Australians to make sourdough, pasta and cheese from scratch for the first time, Prescott says it's likely the majority of people are still cooking the recipes they're most familiar with such as curries, stews and pasta.

"People who regularly look at recipes online are a small percentage of the population. If you're cooking at home more often, you probably want something that's easy to make. I know that in my house, if it isn't soup on the dinner table, it's likely 'sausage surprise'."

Having conquered hand-made gnocchi through a Zoom class with her friend's Italian mother, Brack's next home-cooking mission is to perfect a Basque cheesecake. "I haven't baked one before so it's a little bit intimidating," says the 30-year-old.

Average daily views of YouTube videos demonstrating how to make the burnt Spanish cheesecake have increased by more than 60 per cent since March.

"To be honest, I've never actually eaten one," says Brack. "I'm not completely sure how it's supposed to turn out."

Most searched recipes online in NSW over the past 30 days

1. Pancake
2. Slow-cooker recipes
3. Banana bread
4. Chicken recipes
5. Margarita recipe
6. Brownies
7. Salmon recipes
8. Crepe
9. Lasagne
10. Cookies

Recipe searches with the most significant increase in NSW over the past 30 days

1. Lasagne
2. Chutney
3. Dill recipe
4. Enoki mushroom recipe
5. Thick cookie
6. Asian greens
7. Pork cutlet
8. Beans
9. Burnt cheesecake
10. Fritter recipe