Florence Knight’s secret ingredient: bicarbonate of soda

The best way to crisp up your Christmas turkey, bake really short shortbread, or make honeycomb at home

Bicarb provides that important melt-in-the-mouth almost sour flavour. I love short shortbreads that kind of disappear – it’s the bicarb that does that.

I use it to dry out meat prior to cooking as it helps make the skin super crisp. I tend to do ½ teaspoon of bicarb to 2 tsp of salt. You rub it all over a joint – or at Christmas, a chicken or a turkey – and leave it in the fridge overnight.