Allergic to shellfish?

I decided not to rely on the tardiness of our Tae Kwon-Do club's Instructor to organise the Christmas do this year as we ended up in a 'last minute' venue last year.  I therefore took it upon myself to sort out the event.  As it happens it's quite late to arrange Christmas Dos in October - who knew?!

The consensus of opinion was to go to a national restaurant chain with an Italian theme locally and then onto various watering holes.  They can fit 25 of us in at the beginning of December with a set menu.  Ideal.  I provisionally booked.  It wasn't until later that I thought about myself and what I could eat, so then looked up the menu on line.

I don't know why this particular chain thinks this is a good idea - I thought we were really making progress in providing relevant information - but in order to find out which menu items are suitable for coeliacs, I had to send an email (in the 21st century?) to a "Guest Relations" person, requesting the allergen information.  Now I'm sorry, but that is about 40 steps backwards from where we were two years' ago.  What if I wanted to eat then and there with a hungry child?  How ridiculous is that?

However, what makes me more mad......and sad really.....is the set menu choice, and I quote.......

"I can confirm the following dishes from our Christmas Set Menu which are gluten and wheat free are the King Prawn starter without Ciabatta Bread and the King Prawn Risotto."

Inspiring? Not very.  As it happens I am mildly allergic to shellfish.....I come up in an attractive red blotchy rash, but in small amounts I can eat them.  Even without this, I'm not sure I would fancy king prawns for a starter (without the bread - I eat carbs too you know!) and then king prawns for main.  This has to be the 'epic fail' Christmas Menu of the year.

To be fair to the company, I can eat off the Classic Menu, which means that I don't receive the Christmas Set Menu discount, but that's not really the point.  In what chef's kitchen, did they decide that the only set menu items that would be gluten free would be king prawn starter and a king prawn main? Even if one of the dishes were without prawns, that would be a little more adventurous.

The upshot of this is that it further convinces me the need for the KISS Campaign.  We need to inspire companies to cater for us.  It's not that hard to do and it makes eating out so much more pleasurable and less stressful.  Despite that I know I will have a good time out - but as usual, will probably eat before I go.......just in case......


This week's recipe is "Winter spiced fruit with a hot meringue topping".   For further information about our KISS Campaign, this recipe and others, please see www.glutenfreetraining.co.uk

Winter spiced fruit with a meringue topping

Droppa & Droppa’s KISS campaign – Keep It Simple & Safe

As Christmas draws closer, so the festivities begin.  This is, however, generally a coeliac’s worst nightmare.  I‘ve been to many a Christmas do in my working life and it’s fair to say that, at the majority of places I have been poorly catered for.  In fact it may shock a lot of people to know that I’m not the only coeliac who eats before they go out to eat…..just in case there is nothing for me when I get there. 

As a manufacturer of food, I totally understand how difficult it is to cater for special diets when you have to serve over 200 covers at once.  Fear not, I have a cunning plan.  I have produced some gluten, wheat and dairy free alternative recipes for caterers.  All the dishes are ‘naturally’ gluten free and use regular kitchen ingredients, so there is no reason why these dishes (or similar ones) shouldn’t be on the menu for all diners.  They are not intended to be followed to the letter – more inspirational than anything else.

So, my campaign is going out to as many caterers as possible.  Wouldn’t it be amazing to eat from a menu, where some of the items are gluten free anyway.  The kitchen doesn’t have to prepare anything special for you, you won’t feel like a social pariah and be made to feel different, but you can eat out safely.

Please let as many people know about the KISS Campaign as you can and then hopefully we’ll really start to make a difference.  The first recipe – two ways with rostis is already up on www.glutenfreetraining.co.uk//Pages/Recipes.html.

If you have any recipes that you feel would work in any kitchen, feel free to email them to me and I will test them out and post them on my website.  I’m after recipes that use normal kitchen ingredients, no fancy flours that are costly and hard to source.  We really want kitchens to buy into this, not make their lives more difficult and this can only be achieved by making it as easy as possible.

Christmas kisses to one and all.

Still getting it wrong......

We were out in town after school with our daughter the other day and decided to treat her to a meal at one of her favourite restaurants.  She’s eleven years old and, if she had her way, her diet would consist entirely of junk food and ice cream.  Anyway, she decided she wanted to eat at a well-known pizza chain (more for the availability of said ice cream and a variety of toppings!)  Groaning internally we agreed…..

Now don’t get me wrong, I, like others, welcome the fact that these big chains now provide gluten free pizzas so that I can feel ‘normal’ when eating out, but I just don’t like eating that kind of factory made, processed food and I particularly don’t like it for my children.  Unfortunately, my previous arguments of “mummy can’t eat there, so let’s go to X restaurant instead, don’t stand up anymore!”  I should have known better than to offer her the decision making responsibility, but hey ho…… So, off we toddled.

Having eaten in this establishment a couple of times in the last few months, I know that some of the toppings aren’t gluten free – or rather should I say were “made in a factory blah blah blah.”  So, when our waiter came over, I asked him to check the toppings that are gluten free.  “All of them” he said with confidence.  “Can you please check,” I said as I’m sure not all of them are….”

He duly went off to the Manager and came back brimming with even more confidence and said “I’ve just checked with my Manager and definitely all of the toppings are gluten free.”  This is when it gets awkward.  I know that’s not quite true, yet I don’t want to appear as if I’m being difficult, but I know he’s wrong.  At this point he tells me he’s only just started, which is absolutely fine - we all have to start at some point!  So what do I do?……husband to the rescue….!  It’s so much easier to be more assertive when it’s for someone else.  “Please can you check your ‘book’ as I know you have a full ingredients list with allergens?”

So off goes the new guy again and I turn around to see him and the manager discussing the matter at length.  Again he comes back and confirms that all toppings are gluten free.  The Manager still has the ‘book’ in his hand, so being very brave I get up and say “I’m really not being difficult, but it is very important as I don’t want to be ill.”  And I check the ‘book’ with him.  Lo and behold there is a contamination risk associated with the ham topping.  I point that out to the Manager and waiter and explain that the risk is too high and I would prefer not to have something with ham on (shame as I was going to order a Hawaiian pizza!)

As it happens, I had a Cajun chicken.  Sadly, I still had a dodgy tummy when I got home and two days later I was still feeling a little icky.  I get very tired, short tempered and experience an overall feeling of lethargy when I’ve been exposed to gluten.  Now therein lies the dilemma - deprive child from stuffing her face with pizza and ice cream for my sake; or just put up with it and make it my mission to try to train these establishments, so that they do not keep making the same basic mistakes……resolutely, I choose the latter.

New and temporary staff will always come and go, but the rules and regulations that surround the delivery of allergen information - is here to stay.  Appropriate training materials and systems are essential to keep your staff up to speed, keep the business compliant and above all your customers happy.

Apple 'Brumble'

As part of our gluten free training for caterers, we intend to provide some simple recipes that even the busiest of kitchens can produce, using ingredients that are to hand in most kitchens.

Please watch the video below and follow the recipe. 

Crumbles are extremely cost effective in two ways.  Firstly, this particular recipe allows you to make use of any stale bread in your larder (thus reducing waste); and secondly, seasonal fruits are cheap, in plentiful supply and should be at their best.  As with the Yorkshire Puddings (see an earlier Blog) the following recipe is very easy to make and all the ingredients can be easily sourced.

A crumble is best served hot.  Why not finish it with a generous helping of custard; a healthy dollop of cream; or a scoop or two of ice cream - there are dairy free alternatives available from most supermarkets.

The topping is quite sweet, so it doesn’t harm to use slightly tart / sharp fruits to give an excellent contrast to the dish.

The picture above shows an oval-shaped oven-proof dish measuring 11” x 7” and is enough to feed approximately four to six people.

GLUTEN FREE, WHEAT FREE & DAIRY FREE

Eight eating apples (or four cooking and four eating) or any seasonal fruit

125g golden granulated sugar

125g dairy free spread

125g golden syrup

250g fresh gluten & wheat free breadcrumbs

50g of nuts of your own choosing (35g ground and 15g larger chunks for added texture)

BE SURE TO CHECK – Nuts are inherently gluten free.  Processing can result in cross contamination, so check any labelling carefully to ensure there is no gluten present.

Butter can be substituted for the dairy free spread where appropriate.

                                                                                                                                           

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves / makes: 4-6 portions

1.  Peel and core the apples.  Dice half the quantity of apples (or all of the cooking apples) and gently heat them in a saucepan with a little water.  Cook them until they are soft.  Dice the remaining eating apples into larger chunks and set aside in a bowl of water.

2.  Place the sugar, dairy free spread and golden syrup into a separate saucepan and once again heat slowly until all the contents have dissolved/melted.

3.  Once melted, stir into your breadcrumbs and nuts mixing thoroughly.

4.  Grease your oven-proof dish.  Drain your diced (non-cooked apples) and put them into the dish followed by the cooked apples.  Then pour the topping over and smooth down until you have an even covering.

5.  Place the dish in the middle of the oven for approximately 30 – 40 minutes.  Cook until golden brown.  Serve hot.

Saw it ...... nailed it!

Last week was my little girl's birthday.  As is the want of an eleven year old, she wanted a special cake, however she actually doesn't like cake (who doesn't like cake?  Must be from her father's side!), but she wants a party tea with a few friends and a pinata. Now call me a grumpy old woman, but over the last twelve years of having kids I have been to many a party with a pinata.  Sugar fueled hooligans bash the life out of a pink and purple donkey stuffed with more sugar.  Inevitably someone has been hit accidentally with the stick and moreover the thing never breaks, so dads step in and bash the life out of this poor thing causing all the sweets to scatter everywhere and children then push and shove each other out of the way to grab what they can. Utter carnage!

So in the interest of public safety, I decide against the pinata, but remembered the front cover of an Asda magazine recently.......hey presto all problems solved.

The inspirational picture on the front of the magazine can be seen here: http://issuu.com/asdamagazine/docs/asda_july_2014compressed.  The cake consists of coloured layers of sponge with a hole cut out of the centre and filled with sweets.  What a cool idea. 

So I toddled off to the shops to get some food colouring.  Got home after popping to Morrison's, as I had to pick up other stuff from there, only to read the back of the colouring to find that theirs "may contain gluten, wheat, shellfish, dairy etc".  Why?

Anyway, so I went to Asda (completely in the other direction) and picked up their natural food colouring.  I decided on orange, red and blue.  There wasn't any yellow, but I figured normal sponge would do.

The big day comes when I decide to make this cake.  I made up a double normal sponge mix and quartered it.  I then added orange to one quarter - not a bad orange colour (although I used more colouring than the recipe recommended).  I then mixed up the blue.  We now have a grey insipid looking sponge.  In the vain hope that it will cook up with more vibrance, I put it in the oven anyway.  The red looked more purple than red and I once again decided the colour may take more when cooked.  The big risk was that if I added even more colouring it would not only change the consistency of the cake, but also taste foul.

So, after cooking and cooling, we now have one plain layer, one orange, one grey and one grey/purple.  Not quite the look I was going for.  I cut the middle out of two of the layers, smothered butter cream over the layers so that they would stick together and filled with lots of sweets.  I topped it with the plain layer and then iced it with butter cream (I never professed to be a cake decorator!) and stuck loads of sprinkles, wafer flowers and gummy bears on the outside.

Although it wasn't quite the look I was aiming for, she was still absolutely bowled over by it and her mates thought it was the coolest thing ever...............not sure the parents thanked me for the sugar rush though!

The 'rise' of bread mixes

Pardon the pun but I just couldn't resist!

As you can imagine as a manufacturer we buy in our flours, nuts, seeds etc. from a couple of wholesalers.  I had to suppress a wry smile the other day when our sales representative from one of these companies was a bit put out that we didn't attend a 'gluten free' day at his premises.  The purpose of the day was to sell gluten free bread mixes to bakeries - the fact that we are specifically a gluten free bakery must have missed him.  He didn't quite get the point that we make everything from scratch and that we don't use mixes, but never mind.

Anyway that got me thinking about what follow-up is there re: these gluten free mixes?  If a wholesaler is marketing these mixes to 'normal' bakeries with a view to producing gluten free products, where's the education in making these products in a gluten free environment?  Do the bakeries concerned even know that they can't call the fruits of their labour gluten free without sending the products off to be tested for levels of gluten; or at least batch testing internally? 

I can only imagine the amount of flour that is flying around in a non-gluten free bakery.  We have traces of gluten free flour that cover every work surface literally minutes after cleaning as the flour is suspended in the air for long periods, especially really light flours like tapioca starch.  What must a 'normal' bakery be like?  And what about the bread tins that despite industrial cleaning still contain crumbs from years of use cooking bread products.

This is where the responsibility side has to kick in.  I hope that the company that produces these mixes provides at least basic gluten free training so that as many measures are in place to limit the contamination risk and that the purchasers of these loaves are made fully aware of the environment that they are produced in.

All in all I'm a little bit anxious about it.  Even if the bakeries used the correct terminology and stated that the bread was made with "no gluten containing ingredients", I personally would steer well clear, but I am extremely sensitive.  I really hope that those bakeries that buy the mixes are doing so with the best intentions and not jumping on the gluten free bandwagon.....

A little bit misleading ......

A few days ago there was an article published by The Daily Mail on the new European legislation in respect of providing foods with potential allergens. http://www.dailymail.co.uk  Fundamentally the law is changing in December this year and makes it an offence not to declare any one of the 14 allergens listed below in food products:

Celery, Cereals containing gluten, Crustaceans, Eggs, Fish, Lupin, Milk, Molluscs, Mustard, Peanuts, Sesame, Soy beans, Sulphur dioxide at levels above 10mg/kg, or 10 mg/litre, expressed as SO2, Tree nuts (such as walnut, hazelnut, almond, etc.).

As anti-European legislations go, the article is quite vociferous in its approach with its opening line on the legislation being…..

“Restaurants, cafés and schools are being forced by the EU to identify and list 14 potential allergens in their food.”

I love the word “forced” here!  Anyone would think that the experts from DEFRA (The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs) and the FSA (Food Standards Agency) haven’t had a say in this legislation, which has been drafted, re-drafted, consulted on and honed for the last few years.  It’s not the EU putting a stamp on us at all, it’s about the European Community at large agreeing on some food industry standards to protect the consumers (and the businesses) that operate in the Union.

The premise of the law is that any food item sold, or provided at functions etc., has to be labelled (whether verbal or written) if it contains one of the allergens and that allergen needs to be communicated to the consumer.  I am very surprised that a ‘renowned cook and TV Food expert’ would think this a bad thing.  Surely any cook of any worth at all would be totally up to speed with what ingredients go in the food they cook?  Have we learnt nothing from the recent horse meat scandal?

As it happens I disagree that the small businesses will suffer.  Small businesses that buy in a lot of pre-prepared food will be ok as all goods supplied by manufacturers have to be labelled accordingly under the legislation anyway, so approaching the suppliers is not an issue.  Those small businesses that cook from scratch using fresh ingredients will also be fine, as they will know all the ingredients that go into each dish.  Yes it’s a bit of work initially writing out all the ingredients and highlighting those allergens, but even dishes of the day are repeated again and again.  I‘m also not really quite sure how listing an ingredient will 'kill innovation'.  I can’t imagine making a decision on cooking a dish being dependent on whether I have to declare it contains celery or not.

I do take the point that massive fast food chains will have it easier as they have standard food items and whole departments dedicated to writing out menus and ingredients lists.  They still also have to go through the process of raw ingredient traceability and ingredients listing and changing all labels and information sheets accordingly, but they have known about this change for quite a while now.

It is also quite misleading that the allergens need to be shown on the menus.  It has to either be made available verbally or be visible in writing, not necessarily on the menus.

According to the article the chairman of the Restaurant Association, the 7^th Earl of Bradford, stated:

‘What people who have allergies need to do is to alert the staff when they visit a restaurant. If the staff are trained properly, they will then be able to explain which dishes they will have a problem with,’ he said.

This is very true; however this is where the legislation falls down in my opinion anyway.  There are two sides to this. 

The first is that I’m not sure he understands what it is like to have an allergy or food intolerance.  I am a coeliac and thus cannot eat any foods containing gluten.  I hate ….and can I just emphasise HATE a little bit more…. going to eat in a restaurant and having to have the conversation about what food I can and cannot eat, the waiter/waitress then goes to have a chat with chef, then comes back to tell me what I can and can’t eat if they remove this that and the other from the meal etc. etc. etc.  Meanwhile my fellow diners are all a bit bored of having to discuss my diet yet again.  Then it doesn’t stop there.  The meals come out and I look suspiciously at the food handed to me (no-one mentioned the coleslaw…..is the coleslaw gluten free). Then we have the whole conversation again with the waiter/waitress. He/she then goes away and checks again.  Meanwhile everyone else’s food is getting cold.  I ask them to start.  I’m still waiting for confirmation and it’s either “no it’s fine” or, “oh we’re really sorry you can’t eat that bit”.  My food is now cold.  Everyone else has finished and I’m chewing my way through mine…… ! This is a normal regular dilemma.   

Does he have any idea how liberating it is to go to one of the, generally fast food, restaurants and order either straight off the special menu or specially labelled dish.  I can read what I fancy in my own time without numerous conversations with the staff.  I don’t feel embarrassed about being different and I can just enjoy eating out, because let’s face it, it’s supposed to be pleasurable.

The second issue (and this will always be true) is the contamination issue.  It saddens me greatly that some companies go to great lengths to provide a gluten free meal and then fall over in the preparation, cooking, plating and serving of it.  It’s not enough to know what is in the food, it is also how it’s prepared that is significant and the legislation does not take this into account at all.

There is a dire need for compulsory training of all staff on allergens.   There is so much blind ignorance as to the impact of consuming an allergenic foodstuff.  Phrases like “estimated 21 million Britons who claim to have food allergies” further add to the perception that we are all just fussy eaters and that a little bit won’t hurt us.

A further curveball is just around the corner.  The gluten free labelling legislation is being amended yet again in 2016….more on that to come I think!

An interesting challenge.......

Quacking cakes

As a coeliac I have cooked gluten free food for twenty years. Since my daughter was born ten years ago I have also been making it dairy free, and commercially making food for the last nine years. So you would have thought that a client asking me to make food with duck eggs instead of chicken eggs wouldn’t be a problem at all…..and pardon the pun….that I would take to it like a duck to water!

However, I experienced something quite unlike I ever have before and that really resonated with me. When cooking the special mixes to make them chicken egg free, I duly cleaned down all the equipment and substituted the eggs where appropriate. What I didn’t account for was my anxiety. I checked and double checked that I used the white eggs, not the brown and that no other ingredient could contain chicken egg (such as icing sugar). It really concerned me that I had covered all bases (knowing what it’s like to be ill from food) and that the food would turn out tasty.

That got me thinking….what must it be like for chefs in a busy kitchen. Someone like me turns up (either with or without warning) and takes them right out of their comfort zone. I cook gluten, wheat and dairy free food every day. I’m used to reading food labels and looking out for those allergens (in fact I don’t have them in the kitchen, so during food production it’s not an issue) and used to the process and results of my cooking. What if I were not used to that?

Most people that cook food for a living are passionate about the food that they cook. They want diners to enjoy it and endeavour to make it as tasty and look as appetising as possible. This means that they will generally stick to tried and tested food items, cooked in a certain way to show off their culinary skills to the max. And then I come in…..

I want food that’s appetising and free from certain food allergens, that, let’s face it, completely change the way some other foods work due to the chemical reactions, and I want my taste buds to be stimulated and tantalised. I don’t want boring run of the mill jacket potatoes. Safe, but extremely uninspiring.

So, here’s the dilemma. I train chefs and catering establishments how to manage gluten free diets. I advocate that chefs should do more than a jacket potato, that they should cater for people like me, because I’m a diner too and my family’s money is worth just as much as another family. I advocate that the food offering should not be ‘special’, to draw attention to me and make my meal an issue…..but it is an issue.

Catering for those with allergies is outside of a chef’s comfort zone if, and this is the crux, it’s not managed correctly to remove the fear. If there are a few dishes that are made naturally gluten free, the same way, every day, then making them on the day that I come in and eat becomes just part of a normal day’s service for not only the kitchen staff, but front of house too. Don’t make me a special meal and put extra pressure on the kitchen….have some safe, manageable, workable meals that can always be used.

Anyway my anxiety proved unfounded. The bread and cakes turned out fab and just as light and tasty.......