In this tale of Family Circle, crème brûlées and billowing smoke, learn how my Parisian correspondent worked through his custardy obsession to deliver a how-to guide to burnt sugar custard for Syrup & Tang's readers.

Last year I came across a recipe for Korean-style oven-browned short ribs in one of my favourite meat books. It sounded very tasty, braising tasty beef with ginger, garlic and other flavourings to produce something deeply delicious. The outcome was nothing short of heaven. Fatty heaven, but heaven nonetheless. If you haven't cooked beef this way, I highly recommend it.

[UPDATED: PRODUCTION HAS ENDED FOR NOW. SEE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT]Some people are organised enough to document a project and then tell their readers all about it, blow by blow. Not me. All good intentions of snapping photos evaporated as I juggled the eccentricities of an induction stove, the buttons and dial of a fancy Rational oven (it does almost anything, except tell me why it's not doing what I want!), and the largest macaron batter I've ever made! You see, on Monday I stepped into the kitchen of the new food venture, EARL Canteen, by Jackie and Simon.

For the most part, I'm not the kind to dally over, under or prior to breakfast. Once upon a time, I could barely manage the few minutes of showering before my stomach felt like it was devouring me. Breakfast easily becomes a torture of digestive impatience and longing for tasty treats, and after quite a few years of travelling, I can now manage almost 45 minutes without food before my stomach starts gnawing... luckily, 45 minutes is just right for making puffy pancakes (pikelets, etc).

On the occasion of Jour du Macaron 2010 (I'm a few hours late) and the approximate occasion of Syrup & Tang's third birthday, I have decided to write about ovens, rather than presenting more pretty domes of deliciousness. Why ovens? Because a lack of understanding of how ovens work is one of the main causes of so many home bakers' problems. And I promised to write about them a year ago. I hope there's something in here to hope any inexperienced home baker.

Yet another unreality food show has hit our Australian telly screens. My Kitchen Rules, where teams representing five states vie for the title of most-self-confident but not-quite-expert home entertaining maestros. People showing off to each other isn't exactly my idea of fun cooking viewing, but hey, maybe there's something to enjoy in it.

I feel myself drawn inexorably to baking projects that have no end, just a rocky path of discoveries, flops, experiments, successes, flops... Not content with macarons and pasteis de nata to add girth and grey hairs to my existence, I started playing with canelés de Bordeaux about a year ago. Why? Why? The lure of something that absolutely required expensive copper moulds and beeswax must have clinched the deal.

A delicious pairing of whole roasted hazelnuts with sweet, buttery hazelnut shortbread and the lovely tingle of salt crystals. Even people who aren't enthusiastic about hazelnuts might find themselves longing for more. It's just a pity these sablés noisette are a bit tricky to make.

Nut pastries involving layers of thin pastry and ground nuts are eaten all the way from Greece through the Middle East to Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and beyond, typically known as baklava/baklawa. Rather than making one of the many recipes I have, I combined the essence of a number of traditions, using spices and scents typical of much of the cuisine of that very broad region.