Chefs' Top Tips

Mike Cushing of
The Perfect Pavlova: Use a metal bowl, slice half a lemon and rub onto the bowl you are using before adding ingredients, this ensures that no grease is on the bowl which allows your meringue to be whipped perfectly!
Ashley McCarthy of
Ye Old Sun Inn 		Experiment- try different foods together, who’s to say it doesn’t work…everyone has different tastes and use local- it helps the community and has provenance, use the knowledge of the small producer to help you with ideas for different dishes
Stephanie Moon
of the Wild Cook's Blog

Simply drop a spoon full of Rosehip syrup into a mug of boiling water for a healthy dose of antioxidants. These antioxidants are supposed to help Arthritis folks, so it is good stuff and the best of it is - it’s free!
Simon Phillips

For great sushi, start with a quality sushi rice and cook it with exactly the correct volume of water. In Japan, trainee sushi chefs work for their first three years (of a 10 year apprenticeship) perfecting rice cooking, so its important to always take rice seriously.

Robert Ramsden of

 Always roast your peppercorns, in a dry frying pan, before adding them to your peppermill. This intensifies the flavour as they get warm and the milled pepper will be the best you have ever had.
Malcome Storey of
Royal Oak, York

Get to know your butcher and green grocer then use their knowledge to get the best produce. They can often help out with tips and hints of how best to use the produce too.

Durga Sundara A pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda can be stirred into milk to in order to prevent it from curdling while heating.
Debbie Waite of

 If you're using dried herbs instead of fresh ones in a recipe; you need 1 teaspoon dried for 1 tablespoon fresh, which is a ratio of 3 to 1.