In a taste-test battle of supermarket mite-y bites, which will win? (Spoiler: it isn’t Vegemite)

At the end of most taste tests, I have a clear idea of winners and losers, and I’m usually confident enough in the findings that I’d bet if I repeated it 100 times, with a different set of testers, the results would be similar. This is not a normal taste test.After blind tasting eight yeast spreads, readily available at Australian supermarkets, I don’t even know what my favourite is, let alone which are the best and worst.In Australia it is impossible to taste yeast spreads without comparing them with Vegemite, for better or worse. So this isn’t really a yeast spread taste test, it’s a taste test of Vegemite and things that taste like it

The secret to perfect roast chicken | Kitchen aide

What’s the best way to roast a chicken?Nicola, by email “Fundamentally, people overcomplicate it,” says Ed Smith, who has, rather conveniently, written a new book all about chicken, Peckish. “Yes, you can cook it at a variety of temperatures, use different fats, wet brine or dry brine, etc etc, but, ultimately, if you put a good chicken in the oven and roast it, you will have a good meal.”To elaborate on Smith’s nonchalance, he has three key rules: “One, start with a good chicken: free-range, ideally slow-reared and under the 2kg mark – small birds just roast better, I think.” Second, it doesn’t need as long in the oven as you might think. “Whatever it says on the packet will be too long,” says Smith, who roasts his chicken for about 50 minutes in a 210C (190C fan) oven

Cabbagecore: why are fashionable people going wild for the green vegetable?

It’s on handbags, in flower arrangements and is even being used in a Burberry campaign. Just how did this humble brassica become the hottest new trend? Name: Cabbagecore.Age: Ready for 2026.Appearance: Red, green or white – your choice.When you say cabbagecore, are you referring to the tough central stem of the familiar leafy cultivar? No, I’m alluding to the idea that cabbage is having a moment

Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy reccipe for crispy baked gnocchi puttanesca | Quick and easy

Puttanesca purists, look away now. This dish takes the classic elements of a puttanesca – that is, anchovies, capers, olives, tomatoes – and combines them into a rich sauce for gnocchi, which are then covered in mozzarella, breadcrumbs and parmesan, and flashed under the grill. It’s exactly what you want on a rainy night. In fact, my sauce-averse toddler thought it smelled so good that she stole half of my plate – a win all round. (Although her pretty decent suggestion was that next time I use it as a pizza sauce, rather than on pasta or gnocchi

Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for ginger sesame meatballs with rice and greens | Quick and easy

I make variations of these meatballs every fortnight for my children, usually with chicken mince. The texture is fantastic and, whisper it, they’re even better made in an air fryer. Yes, I finally got one and it’s fantastic. You do, however, have to cook them all in one layer, which, depending on the size of your air-fryer basket, might mean cooking them in multiple batches. It feels more efficient to make them all in one go, though, so I’ve provided oven timings below

How to make the perfect chicken massaman – recipe | Felicity Cloake's How to make the perfect …

Bickering pleasantly over the menu in a Thai restaurant with my family recently, I realised I was unable to explain exactly what a gaeng massaman was, beyond the fact it was probably a safe bet for those concerned about the three chillies next to the green curry (a dish I first tackled for this column back in 2010). The gap in my repertoire was explained later when I opened David Thompson’s pink bible of Thai Food and learned that “a mussaman curry is the most complex, time-consuming Thai curry to make”. The fact the esteemed Australian chef also describes it as “the most delicious” is scant comfort given I’ve just promised my editor I’ll make at least six of the things … but then I remember how incredibly tasty it is, and knuckle down to my research.Though the first recipe dates from 1899, massaman, whose name suggests an association with the country’s Muslim minority, probably dates back to the 17th century, and reflects either Persian or Malaysian influence, or perhaps that of the Indian and Middle Eastern spice traders who travelled through southern Thailand on their way to China. It’s unusual in its use of dried spices like cumin and cinnamon, bay leaves and cloves alongside more classic Thai aromatics like lemongrass and galangal to create a richly savoury gravy that cloaks the protein and potatoes like a warm hug direct from Bangkok