Corn syrup is a clear, thick, sweet syrup with little taste, derived from corn kernels. It is very useful in cooking, as its moisture-absorbing qualities help to keep cakes and other baked items very moist. There isn't really an exact substitute for corn syrup, which is widely used in the United States. There, it is available both in its clear form and with added coloring and flavoring to give it a flavor similar to molasses. In Australia, many of the larger supermarkets stock the clear version, but if you have difficulty finding it you could substitute golden syrup (although the flavor will be different) or glucose syrup.

** Asian Cooking **

No, they are not. Molasses is the syrup left over after sugar has been refined and crystallized from sugar cane. It is sold in several grades, from sweet and refined 'first' or light molasses, to thick, dark and slightly bitter blackstrap molasses. Treacle is a form of molasses, one that has been blended to produce a sweeter syrup which is less prone to becoming gritty. Golden syrup, which is sweeter than treacle, is made from refined white sugar.

Molasses has a dominating taste that gives a powerful flavor to sticky, moist cakes: gingerbread and fruit cakes are probably the best known. It is also used for making toffee and fudge, and its slightly bitter taste can enhance savory dishes such as pork and dried bean casseroles, gravies and American-style barbecue sauces. Golden syrup is used as a sweetener in baking, or as a topping for ice cream or steamed puddings.

** Dessert Recipes **

Swiss rolls are made from a light sponge mixture that contains flour. Roulades are based on a whisked egg mixture and contain very little or no flour, and are moister and softer than Swiss rolls. To prevent a Swiss roll cracking when rolled, trim off its crusty edges then, while it is still warm, put it on greaseproof paper dusted with caster sugar. Roll it up loosely, rolling the paper with it, and leave it to cool in its wrapping. Then gently open up the roll slightly, remove the paper and spread the interior with jam, lemon or lime curd or cream.

Roulades are easier to roll, so can be filled before rolling up. They do usually crack when being rolled, but look attractive when dredged with icing sugar and decorated.

** Baking Recipes **

Chinese culture is based on the yin-yang concept of universal balance and absolute harmony. Sweet and sour are only two of the many opposite elements which symbolize this philosophy, but they are the most commonly encountered. The permutations of sweet and sour are endless as long as you stick to the fundamental principle, balancing honey and wine vinegar, honey and malt vinegar, even marmalade with balsamic vinegar or tomato sauce and pineapple juice. It is a matter of ingenuity and the ingredients you use are less important than achieving a sauce that is a harmonious blend.

Traditional Chinese sweet and sour dishes are made with plum sauce and rice wine, vinegar or lemon juice. The authentic sauce is easy to reproduce. You can make a large batch, omitting the cucumber and the onion, and refrigerate it for up to a week. Add the vegetables just before cooking.

If you are using previously fried, battered pork or chicken, simply combine the sauce and coated meat in a wok or pan and stir to blend. Pork cubes are best floured and refrigerated for a few hours before being deep-fried for a sweet and sour dish as this makes them crisp.

** Asian Recipes **

Sugar should be kept in an airtight container in a cool dry place, and once opened, packets should be resealed between use. Moist light and dark brown sugars are the ones that tend to go hard and lumpy, as exposure to air dries them out. Adding a slice of apple or bread to the container in which the pack is stored for a couple of days should restore moisture. If you want to use the hardened sugar immediately, blend it in a food processor and then sieve it, or heat in a microwave oven. Wrap the pack in a damp tea towel and microwave it on Medium for a minute or two or until the sugar begins to soften. You can then use it as normal.

** Asian Recipes **

It depends on the sugar. There are various types of brown sugar, with different levels of coarseness and colors that range form pale beige to deep dark brown - the darker the color of the sugar, the richer its flavor will be. Demerara has a crunchy texture and is good for making chutneys, for grilling as a topping on creme brulee and for glazing baked ham. It should not be used when a quick-melting sugar is needed, or for jellies, as it will make them cloudy; for these, use white sugar instead.

Light and dark brown sugars can be used in fruit cakes and other moist cakes, some biscuits, fudge and chocolate icings, toffee and fudge, chutneys and some sauces (barbecue, sweet and sour, chocolate and so on). As these sugars are moist they should not be used in light cakes which need creaming or whisking, or in light icings where the additional flavor and color would not be desirable.

Black or very dark brown sugar (also called Barbados sugar) contains molasses; the darker the color is, the more molasses and therefore the stronger the flavor. It is used in the same way as light and dark brown sugars and is perfect for Christmas cakes and puddings, but take care it does not mask delicate flavors.

** Asian Cooking **

Most brown sugar is refined sugar that has been treated with color and flavor, and so there is no evidence to suggest that brown sugar is healthier than white. Golden demerara sugar and the light and dark brown sugars have traces of minerals and vitamins, so it could be claimed that they are marginally healthier than other sugars. However, to gain any benefit from these minerals and vitamins you would have to eat an enormous amount of sugar, which would not be healthy.

** Asian Cooking **

As caramel is usually made in fairly small amounts, it is important to use a small pan as then it is easier to control the degree of heat and prevent the caramel from sticking. In a large pan there is the danger that the sugar will caramelize quickly, burn and stick to the pan. The pan should also have a heavy base: a thin pan will buckle, then heat will not be evenly distributed and, again, the caramel will burn. If the caramel does stick to the base of the pan, the easiest way to clean it is to add some cold water, return the pan to a low heat and stir gently; the hardened burnt caramel should gradually dissolve. Repeat this process until the pan is thoroughly cleaned.

** Asian Cooking **

No. Sugar syrup is simply a solution of sugar dissolved in water, and different concentrations are used for different recipes. A thin syrup is three parts water to one part sugar; a medium syrup is two parts water to one part sugar; and a heavy syrup is equal volumes of water and sugar. In simple, clear syrups, the sugar and water are stirred over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, the mixture is boiled for a minute than removed from the heat.

If any of these syrups are boiled for a longer time, more water evaporates, the temperature of the syrup increases and the sugar changes color, deepening from pale yellow to dark brown and eventually turning into caramel. There are various stages to which the sugar syrup can be boiled and different recipes will require different stages of caramelization.

** Asian Recipes **

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.

** Asian Recipes **

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.

** Asian Recipes **

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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