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Readers' questions are answered Time to answer some more e-mail questions. If you have any food questions, please e-mail them in to us-- it helps us with ideas of what you would like to hear about! 1. What is the difference between Thai basil and regular basil? Excellent question. There are actually several kinds of basil. Common basil has large soft leaves about an inch or so long. There are actually ruffled, lettuce leaved and purple varieties too. Thai basil has a strong anise aroma in its raw state. It is used widely in Thai cooking, but is not readily available in local grocery stores -- yet! Common basil should have a lemon/jasmine aroma, however, I have found recently that all store-purchased basil seems to have that anise aroma. The leaves still look like common basil, but the aroma is that of Thai basil. Kind of makes me wonder if the supplier hasn't crossbred his plants by accident! Basil is an annual plant-- not difficult to Mom's Meringues Ingredients · 2 egg whites · 3/4 cup sugar · 3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional) Lori Gysel & Gerry Kentner grow and should be a staple in your herb garden every year! 2. Can you put fish right on the barbecue grill or do you have to wrap it up? You can do fish on the barbecue in many ways. If you want to do it right on the grill, then be sure to spray the grill first with a non-stick spray (do not hold the aerosol can close to the heat or flame-- remove the grill, hold it away from the barbecue, then spray). You can also do fish in one of the fish baskets-- same rule applies about spraying though. Or, for an easier method, spray a large piece of foil with non-stick spray, then place the fish on the foil with a few lemon slices, a couple of celery tops, maybe some fresh herbs from your garden like chives, chervil, parsley, then wrap up the foil and place on the grill. Your fish needs to cook at a medium heat for about 8-10 minutes per inch, measuring at the thickest. 3. Is a tomato a fruit or vegetable? I get this question at least once a year-- always a topic we like to discuss in my house, with my husband being an arborist. Botanically speaking, fruit is the part of the plant that develops from the ovary of the flower and contains the seeds. That means that tomatoes are fruit, as are eggplants, zucchinis, cucumbers and nuts. So next time you are thinking of whipping up a fruit salad, why not think outside the box and include one of these lesser thought of fruits! Have fun and keep cooking! (Lori and Gerry can be reached at whatscookin@independentfreepress.com) Method Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually beat in sugar. Fold in chocolate chips if you like. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Then turn the oven off. Using a parchmentlined baking sheet, place small mounds of the mixture on the baking tray-- about 1 tablespoon per meringue. Place baking trays in the oven that is turned off and leave them there overnight. Be sure to put a sign on the oven door so that no one turns the oven on with your meringues in there! Store in an airtight container once cooked.