Dear Truffler: Lamb gravy, white peppercorns, gold leaf

Why is it that when I roast lamb I'm not left with sufficient gravy? Last time it was a shoulder, nice and pink, but all I had was a dribble of juice – hardly enough to dampen the meat. Am I doing something wrong?
Shaun Byrne, Newcastle

Roasting the meat at a temperature high enough
to seal in the flavour will also seal in the juice, and any that does escape will evaporate in the oven. If you want gravy, you must make it. First, pour off as much fat as possible, put the roasting pan on the stove, add red wine or stock and stir into the sticky, baked-on residue. For slightly thicker gravy, pour off less fat, stir a spoonful of flour into the pan juices, cook off, then add the stock and wine and bubble together until the gravy's the consistency you like. If you're planning another roast, make gravy in advance. Sybil Kapoor has a recipe for lamb gravy in Simply British (Penguin, £7.99).

Why is it that the only place I can buy white peppercorns is Morocco?
Simon Rudge, by e-mail

You didn't ask, but I'll tell you anyway, about the difference between white and black pepper. Black peppercorns are the berries picked while green, then fermented and dried. When picked, the white ones are riper. They are soaked, the outer skin removed, and then dried. The flavour's gentler and they're less aromatic than black; ground white pepper is preferred in white sauces because it doesn't leave black specks. The best white pepper is said to come from Muntok in Indonesia. I'm indebted to Jill Norman's excellent new book, Herb & Spice, for all this. Fashionably liberal use of ground black pepper seems to have driven out the white and it's hard to find as peppercorns. Wholefood distributor Suma in Halifax (01422 313840) supplies shops with them, but says demand has dwindled. You could ask who they supply locally to you. Harvest Gold Wholefoods in Blackpool has white peppercorns in its shop at 40-41 Abingdon Street Market and from www. harvest-gold-wholefoods. co.uk at £1.29 for 100g.

I've been looking for gold leaf for the halos and crowns on a biscuit nativity scene. My local cook shop doesn't sell it, and the art shop said theirs wasn't edible. Are they right?
Claudia Perkins, London N16

If the art shop's gold leaf is 24 carat, you probably can eat it. Gold and silver are inert (see Richard Johnson's restaurant review, page 49) and harmless if they're unadulterated. But if they are not produced to food hygiene standard requirements, they don't qualify as edible. Cake decorating specialist Squires Kitchen in Farnham, Surrey (01252 711749; www. squires-shop.com) supplies sheets of gold and silver leaf from its shop and by mail order. But it's cautious about recommending that you eat it, due to food hygiene regulations. Indian stores may sell silver leaf, to which the same caveat applies. To be on the safe side, Squires has to suggest that you remove gold or silver leaf from food before you eat it – not very practical if it's floating on a bowl of soup. For biscuits, though, Squires supplies metallic lustres in two shades of silver and gold. These are made specifically as food – though they consist entirely of E numbers. You apply a coat of Gildesol, a kind of edible glue and then brush on the lustre. This is also better value than gold leaf: the Gildesol is £3.50 for a 20g pot, and the lustre is £2.75 for a 2g pot. There's cheaper, though less sparkling, edible gold and silver paint, too, with a 15ml pot for £3.20.

E-mail truffler@independent.co.uk or write to Dear Truffler, 'The Independent', 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS. I'll try and truffle around for answers. Sorry I can't reply personally to everyone, but I will try to solve your culinary conundrums, queries, and problems here.