Training could have prevented this.......

For those of you who follow my twitter and Facebook accounts you may be aware of a recent article in The Sun

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4896909/Jamie-Oliver-pasta-meal-nearly-killed-me.html

regarding a lady suing because she was accidentally served normal pasta instead of the requested gluten free pasta.  It was heightened by the fact that she had checked three times with the serving staff that the pasta she was given was definitely gluten free.   Despite being a little sensationalist (after all that’s the nature of the newspaper), the fact remains that a renowned restaurant offered a gluten free meal and then failed to deliver.  Unfortunately for Ms Richardson the ramification of that is that she was too ill to undergo a life saving operation.

What I’m astounded by is the responses to the article.  The issue is not whether coeliacs or those with any allergy should eat out at all, but that a restaurant promised a certain meal and did not provide it.  If any establishment offers any gluten free meal it has a responsibility to ensure that it is doing so within strict guidelines.  It is no different to chopping cooked meat on a raw meat board…..the likely outcome is that someone will be ill.

Sadly, and I really hope this is not the case, it may put some catering establishments off providing gluten free options.  Putting together gluten free meals should be part and parcel of any eatery, but the trick is the management of it.  It should be set out and handled properly, to not only protect the business, but also to enhance the experience of the diner.

Coeliacs only make up one percent of the population.  However, we rarely dine alone, so if a company does not offer a well-managed gluten free option, then a business could potentially lose out on two plus diners – can anyone afford to do that?

Yummmmmmy lunch!

Okay so I have turkey steaks, breadcrumbs coming out of my ears and leftover spring onion, lime & coconut flatbread......with my ready steady cook head on I create........

....... a breadcrumbed turkey steak, spring onion, lime & coconut flatbread sandwich, with mayo, lettuce and seasoning..........was so yummy!

Where did that year go?

I can't believe that my last post was over a year ago!  So much has happened:

Due to the success of our face to face seminars "Catering for a gluten free diet", Mr D and I have spent an inordinate amount of time developing an on line webinar to deliver the seminars across the globe - well the UK at the moment anyway! - via Cisco's Webex.  The fully interactive seminars teach caterers and those in the food service industry how to cater safely for a gluten free diner.  They cover all aspects of catering including procurement, contamination, menu design and front of house management. www.glutenfreetraining.co.uk

Whilst doing that we're still cooking our socks off!  We have secured many new clients - mainly a range of exclusive,  five star plus and luxury boutique style hotels.  We decided to focus on that market a while ago and so far we have been very successful in securing new business. 

The Red Carnation Group of Hotels has come aboard with vigour and we now supply some of the London hotels and The Summer Lodge Country House in Dorset, with a varied range of products that are used for afternoon teas, breakfasts and banqueting.

We still maintain our 'buy local and focus on seasonal food' as much as we can.  In fact we have just released our Spring range, which entails lamb 'samosas', vegetable 'samosas', rhubarb & ginger muffins, watercress soup and a flatbread made with spring onion, lime and coconut.

Most importantly of all of course is that we're still doing our 'around the world food tour' with our friends.  In fact we are going for a 'T' dinner tonight!  We have been to Afghanistan, Barbados, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Greece, Hawaii, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lesotho, Malta, Nepal, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Quebec (artistic license as we had been to Oman!), Russia, Spain and now........pics and blurb to follow!

Phew............back to normal again!

Now winter is finally setting in (well it should be at any rate, but we have daffodils coming out in Devon!), we have two seasonal products for you.   


The first is our parsnip and tomato soup - ideal in a flask for lunches or for a hot warming light meal in the evening.   

And the other, as promised, is the chocolate and beetroot muffin.    The texture is a cross between a cake and a brownie, and the flavour is to die for!    It really is a rich velvety chocolate delight!

Merry Christmas!

With just over three weeks to go we're getting festive! The Christmas decorations have been bought out for their annual excursion from the shed, the Advent Calendar is straining under the weight of chocolate and the maturing mince meat mix has finally been opened.

We've introduced a new Christmas scone to give you something a little bit different during the Christmas period - orange zest and dried cranberries go fantastically well together and make this scone a real change from the norm.

Please be aware, our last orders for Christmas goods need to be in by 14th December. If you can get your order in earlier, then please do so - this will not only assist us with our busiest time of year, but also help us factor in any future bad weather - we don't want to get caught out by the snow again...like we did last year. All our products can be frozen, so why not order early and that's one less thing to worry about!

Last deliveries are on December 22nd and then we take a well needed break. We'll be open again week commencing 9th January with some exciting new seasonal products including a beetroot and chocolate muffin.............yes beetroot! It's fantastic - really makes the chocolate rich and the sponge moist.

We'd like to wish you a merry and peaceful Christmas and hope that 2012 brings you all you hope for.

Fame at last.........!

Check out the link to ITV West Country news tonight:

http://www.itv.com/westcountry-west/gluten-free-bakery47242/

The soup is finally here!

Better late than never! The pumpkin & butternut squash soup's recipe has been finalised. It's a fantastic warming soup - ideal for these colder days now that autumn has well and truly set in. We'll leave the soup up for as long as pumpkins are available locally.

All the other Autumn products are still available until week commencing 7th November when we then start on the 'Season to be Jolly' products (can't quite say the 'C' word until at least after Bonfire Night!).

Remember postage and packaging is FREE for all orders of £65.00 and over.