Linda Evans

I got mine from Tai Sun on Matilda St in a foil carton. I get the impression that it's eaten with all Korean meals, should be really hot, and once you're used to it food tastes bland without it.

Best curries ever were made by my husband. I have recipes; I do exactly the same, as far as I can; but while the curries I do are very good they aren't as good as his. Generally, recipes are a help but not the whole answer. And home-cooked curries are likely to be better than all but the best restaurant, because the ingredients are fresher and the spices ground specially. Not all Indians and Pakistanis are good cooks, any more than all English people or all French people. I'm sure a really good Indian cook in India would be better than anyone in England, because they have access to so many special ingredients we don't even know about. I read the other day about a spice called tirphal, found wild in western India, which doesn't even have an English name. What does it go into? How many dishes use it? How much difference does it make?