Custard is controversial: what makes it a custard, how best to cook it and, crucially, is it to be eaten or put in a pie and thrown?

Good asparagus needs minimal treatment and is best eaten with few other ingredients.

The differences between a tart, a pie and a quiche are a blur.

Like brown rice, black rice is unmilled, and it is the dark outer husk that makes it so nutty and chewy. It's also why it takes longer to cook than many other rices.

The way to entice people into cooking is to cook delicious things.

I have a terrible tendency to lick my fingers when I cook. So much so that I got a telling off from my pastry teacher years ago, who said it would hinder my prospects.