The secret to juicy barbecued prawns (that don't stick to the shell)

• Adam Liaw's barbecued prawns and asparagus with lemon pepper mayonnaise (above)

• 80 perfect prawn recipes

When I barbecue prawns, the flesh sticks to the shells. How do I fix this issue? T. Plunkett

It could be a case of overcooking. When you apply heat to a prawn in its shell, moisture in the flesh turns to steam and sets the protein. That steam also helps separate the meat from the shell.

Cook the prawns too long, though, and the moisture evaporates and the proteins start to meld to the shell, itself made of a tough but flexible protein called chitosan.

Prawns do not take long to cook on the barbie – about three minutes on each side on a hot grill. Remove onto a plate and cover to allow the flesh to rest.

I love the drama of salt prawns in which you take a bowl of raw prawns in their shells, cover them with a cup of salt, mix, set aside for 15 minutes, then put on the BBQ grill on very high, cook for a few minutes each side, rest and serve with ice-cold beer.

The salt does not penetrate the meat but does help give it a lovely smoky tang as the shell sears over the heat.

What are garlic shoots? V. Pangrazio

Garlic is an amazing little bulb. It is a member of the lily family and grows in an annual cycle. We eat the mature bulbs, which are harvested from late spring to autumn.

At the end of summer, just before it is ready for harvest, the garlic bulb grows a flower stem, called a scape. These are delicious and taste like garlic-flavoured asparagus.

The bulbs are harvested, dried, and sold. Some are kept for the following season, broken into individual cloves, which are planted when the weather cools.

Come spring, the garlic sends up tender green shoots. Some of those shoots are harvested early in the season and are popping up on restaurant menus and in some greengrocers and farmers' markets.

At the Moonhouse in Balaclava, Melbourne, garlic shoots add a mild garlic tang to a broth served under grilled barramundi.

In Botany, Sydney, the team at Hunanese restaurant Mrs Ding's stir-fry garlic shoots to serve with house-smoked beef. Garlic shoots are great in soup, wilted in an omelette or chopped and tossed through pasta dishes and salads.

Letters

A few weeks back, we were talking about rhubarb, which inspired some readers to write in. R. Cavanagh remembers that her grandfather used to grow rhubarb in England in the early 1950s.

"When the rag and bone man came round with his horse and cart, he would go out and collect the manure to fertilise his rhubarb. I used to eat rhubarb raw, dipped into white sugar, but I still like rhubarb pie or crumble."

L. Harrison writes: "Another way to cook rhubarb is in the slow cooker – a couple of hours on low with a little water. Add a little sugar after it's cooked. The flavour is beautiful!"

C. Cremm likes it hot, writing, "chopped rhubarb cooked with sugar and a chopped chilli is delish with rice, or on yoghurt or by the spoon."

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