Should you sanitise your strawberries? Experts on the right way to wash fruit and vegetables

You know the cost-of-living crisis is biting when videos of influencers unpacking their grocery “hauls” are viral on TikTok. Chewing through millions of views, fruit and vegetables are aesthetically plopped into a sink filled with water, piece by piece. “Sanitising” products are then added, ranging from the fizz of baking soda and vinegar to specialised vegetable soaps (“Amazon link in my bio!”). There are even expensive electronic purifiers, which shake, shimmy and bubble away in the basin, supposedly removing any nasties.But is ASMR deep-cleaning your fresh produce really necessary? And is it all too late for those of us who can barely remember to rinse our pears?For Queensland’s Rebecca Scurr, who shares what it’s like to “sell fruit for a living” to her 26,000 TikTok followers, fruit-washing videos make her “cringe so much”

Do you really need to chill cookie dough? | Kitchen Aide

Does chilling cookie dough really make for a better result?Emily, by email “It all depends on what kind of cookie it is,” says Guardian baker Helen Goh. “Let’s say it’s a cookie that you need to stamp out – the dough needs to be firm enough to roll it, but not so firm that you can’t.” That said, the question of whether to fridge or not to fridge is probably most prevalent in the chocolate chip cookie sphere. “There’s a perceived wisdom that chilling helps the dough develop the flavour and caramelisation,” Goh says, “but, to be honest, it also makes the dough a little easier to roll and ensures it bakes evenly, which is worth far more than that slight improvement in flavour.”Recommended chilling times vary from 30 minutes to overnight, although Goh finds the latter results in a “cakey” cookie: “I’m a real Goldilocks, so I like crisp at the edges with a chewy centre

José Pizarro’s recipe for roast carrot, saffron and chickpea stew with spinach

This is everyday cooking, the kind that comes naturally in winter. Carrots are always around and often forgotten, but they give a lot when you treat them properly. The saffron brings warmth and colour, and always makes me think of home. February can feel quiet and grey, and this stew suits that mood. It is comforting without being heavy, made for evenings when you want something ready on the stove and bread on the table, eaten calmly and enjoyed without any fuss

Rise of the ‘daycap’: is this the end of late-night drinking?

Forget nightcaps – an afternoon tipple is the new way to squeeze socialising into your evening, while still getting to bed on time. A great idea or a recipe for disaster?Name: The daycap.Age: As old as fermentation, and impatience.Appearance: Nothing new, under the sun.It’s not a hat, then

Supermarket hot cross bun taste test: Choice gives top score to a chocolate bun

Some might be scandalised by the idea of a hot cross bun containing anything other than fruit. But in the annual taste test of supermarket hot cross buns, consumer advocacy group Choice has awarded one of its highest-ever scores to a less than traditional product.This year Choice tested 15 buns from Coles, Woolworths, IGA, Aldi and Bakers Delight, including traditional fruit, chocolate and gluten-free varieties.Woolworths Bakery Chocolate Hot Cross Buns Made With Cadbury Milk Chocolate Chips, which cost 73c a bun, received an overall score of 95%, taking out first place in the chocolate bun category. That is one of the highest scores in Choice’s 10-year history of hot cross bun taste tests

‘Tinderbox’ UK may be one shock away from food riots, experts say

One shock could spark social unrest and even food riots in the UK, according to dozens of the country’s top food experts, because chronic issues have left the food system a “tinderbox”.The group first identified a series of issues that are making access to food vulnerable in the UK, including the climate crisis, low incomes, poor farming policy and fragile just-in-time supply chains. These have left the UK dangerously exposed, the researchers said.They then analysed the shocks that could tip this vulnerable system into a full-blown food crisis, with major extreme weather events, cyber-attacks or international conflicts ranked top. These shocks would hit supply chains and push up food prices, which could lead to increased social tension and hidden market sales of unsafe food and, in the worst-case scenario, civil unrest or riots