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Richard Cornish's Brain Food questions.

Recipe collection

Brain Food 2020: All your food and cooking questions, answered

Columnist Richard Cornish answers all your vexing questions.

49 recipes
Richard Cornish column.

Brain Food 2019: All your food and cooking questions, answered

North Indian thali at Taj Indian Sweets and Restaurant, Harris Park.

What is the secret to perfect Indian cooking?

  • Richard Cornish
Rather excellent: Ortiz anchovies.

What is the best brand of anchovies?

  • Richard Cornish
Oysters have evolved to spend time out of the water.

What's the best way to store oysters?

  • Richard Cornish
Switzerland produces some exceptionally fine cheese - but how?

How do they put the holes in Swiss cheese?

  • Richard Cornish
In Australia, we can eat oysters all year round.

Is it safe to eat oysters in months with the letter R in them?

  • Richard Cornish
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Murray cod with macadamia, vine leaf, salsa verde at Nomad Up The Road.

Why does freshwater fish taste muddy?

  • Richard Cornish
Golden and crunchy: Jill Dupleix's mac and cheese recipe.

The secret to crisp breadcrumbs on top of a baked dish

  • Richard Cornish
Freezing fish causes ice crystals to form in the flesh, which breaks down the cell walls.

Is frozen fish really better than fresh fish?

  • Richard Cornish
Extra virgin olive oils have healthy antioxidants such as biphenols, that catch on the back of the throat.

Can you use olive oil in Asian cooking?

  • Richard Cornish
One of the aromatic compounds in basil is eugenol.

The secret ingredient for making delicious pesto

  • Richard Cornish
Potatoes and dirt work together in nature.

Are you paying for dirt when you buy brushed potatoes?

  • Richard Cornish
Dried chickpeas require soaking.

The best way to cook lentils and chickpeas

  • Richard Cornish
Rice-shaped risoni pasta is equally good in a dish with mussels and peas, or replacing macaroni in a cheese dish.

What to cook with all that stockpiled risoni

  • Richard Cornish
There's a trick to prevent berries sinking.

How to stop berries sinking in muffins and cakes

  • Richard Cornish
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Yeast loves warm, wet environments.

Why is my yeast not working?

  • Richard Cornish
The secret to enjoying damper is to eat while warm with butter or a slow-cooked stew.

How to make light and fluffy damper

  • Richard Cornish
Helen Goh's burnt butter parsnip cake with white chocolate cream icing.

Can I use parsnip instead of carrot in a cake?

  • Richard Cornish
Pan, oven, sandwich maker: There are plenty of ways to sizzle your bacon.

What is the best way of cooking bacon?

  • Richard Cornish
Rachel Khoo's Parisian-inspired pancetta, artichoke and green bean salad.

What's the difference between bacon and pancetta?

  • Richard Cornish
Adam Liaw's pan-fried John Dory with smoked paprika butter.

What's the best way to use smoked paprika?

  • Richard Cornish
Butter or baking spray is your friend when lining cake tins with with baking paper.

The trick to lining a cake tin with baking paper

  • Richard Cornish
Flat-leaf parsley surpassed its curly cousin as the green herb of choice about the turn of the last century.

The difference between flat-leaf and curly parsley

  • Richard Cornish
A great soup always starts with quality stock.

The secret to making a better soup

  • Richard Cornish
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Swede or rutabaga.

What to cook with swedes

  • Richard Cornish
Too salty? Try adding water or stock. You can also bulk the dish up with vegetables.

How do you fix a stew with too much salt?

  • Richard Cornish
To truss or not to truss? That is the question.

How to make crisp chicken skin and other tips for a better roast chook

  • Richard Cornish
Quick, healthy dinner: Salmon fillets with caramelised onion and wilted greens.

The secret to perfect caramelised onions

  • Richard Cornish
One ingredient, along with salt, you should always have in your kitchen is lemon.

What does the 'zest of a lemon' really mean?

  • Richard Cornish
Many people enjoy wings that have a golden, sticky glaze.

How to cook perfect chicken wings

  • Richard Cornish
Avocado is about 10 per cent fat, which is not something that preserves well.

The best way to store and preserve avocado

  • Richard Cornish
Karen Martini's deluxe shepherd's pie.

The difference between shepherd's pie and cottage pie

  • Richard Cornish
Danielle Alvarez's crumbed lamb cutlets with minted yoghurt recipe.

Why crumbed lamb cutlets taste different to grilled cutlets

  • Richard Cornish
Use separate chopping boards for raw meat and ready-to-eat foods such as bread.

What's the best chopping board (and how do you stop it slipping)?

  • Richard Cornish
Many chefs and food writers use the term makrut to describe the limes known botanically as Citrus hystrix.

Why many consider kaffir lime a racist name

  • Richard Cornish
There are many supposed remedies to prevent onion tears. Only some work.

How to stop the tears when cutting onions

  • Richard Cornish
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