If you have a food question email Glenys at glenyswoollard@clear.net.nz
Do you have a recipe for Jerusalem artichoke soup?
Melt 25g butter in a large heavy-based saucepan and cook 1 large chopped onion until transparent. Add 1 sliced stalk celery, 1 large peeled and diced carrot, 500g peeled
and chopped Jerusalem artichokes, plus 1 teaspoon salt. Cook over a gentle heat for a few more minutes before adding 3 cups light chicken stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer 25 minutes then blend until smooth. Add a good grinding of black pepper and reheat before serving.
Can you suggest a substitute for mace?
You could try a little freshly-grated nutmeg. The flavour won't be quite the same though, as mace is sweeter and more subtle. Both spices come from the seed of a tropical tree, but mace is the lacy red fibre surrounding the nutmeg. Once removed this fibre is flattened then dried, and often ground before packaging. The unground spice is sold as blades of mace, and these hold the flavour better than the ground version. Try a specialty food store for supplies.
