Culinary mistakes aren’t always a disaster and may accidentally result in the creation of new recipes that prove to be a huge success.

The salt in our supermarkets now comes from far and wide, but whether pink, blue or black, it is no ‘healthier’ than traditional white salt.

Kombucha, kefir and kvass are gaining popularity worldwide. However, their impact on health has yet to be confirmed.

At first floppy, then tall and straight, the chef’s hat, or toque, became popular in the 19th century and continues to appeal to chefs as far afield as Japan.

In our collective imagination, brightly coloured, spicy or even fiery chilli peppers evoke faraway lands and their exotic flavours. They have been incorporated so well into so many culinary traditions that it is far from easy to guess their origin. Thailand? Mexico? Cameroon? Or perhaps India?

The fork is clearly an object that is emblematic of Western culture, with complex origins that blend legends and differing accounts of how it was used.