HTTP_COOKIE does not appear in phpinfo()

I have cookies enabled but that var does not show on my phpinfo either.

Are you wanting to use cookies or sessions?

And have you tried just some simple tests like create a php script with the following just to see which is working:

<?php
$value = 'something from somewhere';
setcookie("TestCookie", $value, time()+3600);
 
session_start();
$_SESSION['test'] = 'Hi';
 
// Another way to debug/test is to view all cookies
var_dump($_COOKIE);
 
var_dump($_SESSION);
?>

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It is not showing up because you are not passing it any cookie info for that domain on that request.

Try the code below. You will have to hit the page more than once. The first time it sets the cookie. The second time the browser will pass the cookie back, then you will see cookie info.

<?php
session_start();
phpinfo();

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Sorry for the delay in replying to the comments - I have been abroad for a few weeks.
With the above code snippets things still didn't work.
I finally resolved to reinstalling the system on the MacBook, thereby falling back to the original PHP installation as provided by Apple. After that things worked as they should.
However: since the apple installation doesn't come with all the extensions that I'd like to use for the website (like mcrypt and gd), this is not a very satisfying solution.
I've read articles on the net on compiling PHP yourself, but this does seem a daunting task.
Any suggestions ?