Generally, artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes are much sweeter by volume than sugar and cannot be directly substituted for them in cooking. However, some brands of white sugar substitutes are specifically designed to be used in exactly the same quantities as ordinary sugar in cooking, so check the instructions given on the packet.

** Asian Recipes **

It depends on the recipe. In cakes made by the rubbing-in method, you can use the white sugar as it is. If you need a finer sugar, it is possible to grind white sugar in a blender or coffee grinder: the result is more like icing sugar than caster sugar but it would be acceptable for making biscuits, pastry, icings and so on. Home-ground sugar is not, however, suitable for creamed cake mixtures as the volume of sugar will be reduced and result in a cake with a hard crust.

** Baking Recipes **

Suet is the hard, concentrated, white fat that surrounds beef and sheep kidneys. It is now less often sold in solid form from butchers for grating at home - in supermarkets you will find suet sold already shredded and floured in a mix ready for use. A rich, pure fat that contains a high percentage of saturated fatty acids, beef suet is traditionally used for cooking many dishes including dumplings, fruit mince, suet crust pastry and steamed puddings.

Lamb suet is not widely available although butchers will be able to order it for you; it has a stronger flavor than beef suet and is therefore less adaptable in cooking and a poor choice for sweet dishes such as steamed puddings or pastry.

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Meat and poultry are highly vulnerable to salmonella and the bacteria is only killed by thorough cooking. With a large bird, such as a turkey, it is safer not to stuff the entire cavity, especially if you use a sausage meat stuffing. This is because there is a risk that by the time the rest of the bird is cooked and ready, the heat will not have penetrated to the center of the substantial amount of stuffing used to fill a large bird, so it will not have cooked enough to kill off any bacteria. It is safe to stuff the neck end, which holds a lot of stuffing, as there is less meat between the source of the heat and the stuffing and there is a better opportunity for thorough cooking.

It is completely safe and also simpler to put an onion studded with cloves, a lemon, or a handful of peeled chestnuts into the body cavity of the bird to add flavor. With a small game bird, such as pheasant or quail, you could stuff the entire bird as it takes less time for the heat to cook the smaller quantity of stuffing, providing you do not pack it too tightly.

There is some risk of salmonella in wild game birds as well as in farmed game birds and chicken and turkey. If you are going to stuff any bird, it is important that both the meat and the stuffing are are thoroughly cooked to guarantee safety. If you want to be completely assured that there is no risk of salmonella, cook the stuffing separately. Place in a buttered dish, cover, then put in the oven for the last 30 minutes cooking time.

** Safe Cooking **

These two words are often used interchangeably, and there is some confusion about their exact meanings, probably because forcemeat, which is finely chopped and usually made of spiced meat or poultry, is often an ingredient in stuffings. Both are used to fill meat, poultry and vegetables and have been used for centuries, especially to make roast meat go farther and to add flavor and moistness.

The staple ingredients for stuffings are breadcrumbs, which add bulk, and egg, which binds the stuffing mixture together. This can be confusing for cooks because it is natural to think that breadcrumbs will make stuffings stodgy, and that the egg will make it creamy because it visibly loosens the mixture when added to it. But, in fact, a high proportion of breadcrumbs will give a soft and tender stuffing, while using too much egg makes a stuffing stodgy once it has been cooked and the egg has set.

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Dried pulses and beans should be bought from a shop with a rapid turnover to ensure fresh stocks. There is a great difference between beans dried last season and those from two or three years ago. Store dried pulses and beans in airtight containers in a dark place and try not to buy more than two months' supply at a time. Although stored beans will be safe to eat, they do go stale and their skins will toughen.

Dried herbs and spices also have a relatively short storage life and although they look attractive in glass jars on a spice rack, this is the worst way to store them. To ensure complete freshness, store them in a cupboard or a dark airtight container and use within two months.

Coffee, both beans and ready-ground, will go stale in a cupboard within days. Store it in the refrigerator or freezer and use it from frozen for a perfectly fresh cup.

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Eggs can be stored perfectly safely in any cool spot, although they will keep for longer in a refrigerator and should always be refrigerated in hot climates. The cartons carry a "use by" date, so it is easy to keep track of their age. If you store them in the refrigerator, take them out an hour or so before using: cold eggs will crack when you boil them and room-temperature eggs will whisk to a greater volume than cold ones.

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The answer is yes. Using the refrigerator will prevent mold development, but as it is a very dry environment it also makes bread go stale very quickly. The best way to store bread for long periods of time, is to slice it and keep it in the freezer. Slices can be toasted from frozen very successfully, and they can be defrosted in very little time if they are to be eaten untoasted.

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The modern methods of chilling, freezing, wrapping and transporting food should mean that we buy produce at its very best: fruit and vegetables brought to perfect ripeness, meat and fish at the peak of freshness. Sometimes, however, the freshness is an illusion created by packing and refrigeration technology, and when you get the food home, Spoilage will be rapid unless some of the professionals' techniques are employed.

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Recipes for stock often specify the use of parsley stalks because they have more flavor than the florets, which will turn bitter if cooked for several hours. This is also economical as the parsley leaves can then be used for garnishing. Other herbs suitable for adding to stocks are the woody ones that will stand up to prolonged cooking: sprigs of marjoram, tarragon and thyme, as well as bay leaves. A slice of lemon or pared lemon rind is a good addition to chicken stock and onion or tomato skins can also be added to give a strong golden color and extra flavor.

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Stock should be cooled then kept, covered, in the refrigerator for four days (two days for fish stocks) or in the freezer for up to three months (two months for fish stock). It is best to reduce the stock by rapid boiling to get a concentrated stock for freezing. Frozen stock can be defrosted or reheated straight from frozen, but should be simmered for at least 10 minutes; it can also be diluted.

** Asian Recipes **

Fish stock is made in the same way as meat stock in that the fish bones, heads and tails (and the shells of shellfish) are simmered in water with vegetables and flavorings. But fish stock is cooked for only 20-30 minutes as lengthy cooking will make it bitter. Once the stock has been strained it can be concentrated by further boiling. A glass of dry white wine added to the stock improves the flavor considerably.

After straining, the stock can be boiled slightly to reduce it to a more intensely flavored fumet. Fumet can be used in fish sauces, soups and stews. Court bouillon is the liquid used for poaching fresh fish such as salmon. It is made from water, white wine (or lemon juice or vinegar) and flavorings, but unlike fish stock, it does not contain any fish trimmings. Court bouillon is rarely featured in the finished dish.

** Making Stock **

Stock is not supposed to thicken while it is still cooking, but a well concentrated meat stock should gel on cooling and any fat can then be scraped easily off the top. When the collagen that is contained naturally in the meat bones dissolves during cooking, it forms the gelatine that later sets the stock. To make a really good jellied meat stock, try to get hold of a raw veal knuckle, calf's foot or beef marrow bone, and simmer it in plenty of water with vegetables and flavorings for about 4 hours before straining and cooling. If this stock is then reduced even further, it will form a syrupy glaze called a glace that is often used in classic sauces. Glace can be frozen in ice cube trays for convenience.

** Asian Recipes **

Meat or poultry stock needs long, slow cooking in order to extract as much flavor as possible from the bones. But vegetable stocks can be made quickly or slowly and fish stocks are always made quickly. Cooked bones can be used for stock and do not need blanching, but will have lost some of their flavor and are not as good as raw bones. For poultry or game stock, use the carcass from a roasted bird. Avoid using lamb bones, which give an unpleasant flavor.

It is often better to place raw bones in a pan of cold water, bring them to the boil, then drain and refresh before using them to make stock. This will remove impurities that would give the stock a tainted taste and unpleasant grey color.

Do not boil stock during the cooking process as this will make it cloudy. But after the bones and vegetables have been strained off, the stock may be returned to the pan and boiled to reduce it. Raw beef bones can be used for an all-purpose meat stock.

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Always remove any obvious gristle from stewing steak as this will not dissolve during cooking the way ordinary fat does. A little fat may be left on to add moisture and flavor to the stew, or trimmed off. A good compromise is to trim off any pieces of fat surrounding the meat but leave any marbled fat between the meat tissue as this will melt and add flavor to the dish. If you want to remove all the fat, make the stew a day ahead, chill and when cold, lift off any fat that has set on the surface. If you intend to trim off all the fat, remember to buy a larger quantity of meat.

Cooking your chosen meat on the bone, or adding the meat bones to the stew, will also give extra flavor and texture to the stew.

** Asian Recipes **