This week saw the launch of "Gluten Free Baking and Living" e magazine. If you haven't had a look yet it's definitely worth a peek. £2.50 gets you the full first edition with recipes and some interesting articles about coeliac disease and leaky gut syndrome. I always appreciate anyone raising awareness so go on....have a look...
http://glutenfreebaking.realviewdigital.com/?xml=GFBL&iid=81396#folio=1
.....if my link doesn't work you can google it and it should appear!
So, on with the food...
Dale and I had a friend round on Thursday and she is definitely becoming a dab hand at dining in a gluten free styleeee. Nevertheless, I don't think she was expecting the full on cooking demonstration Dale brought to the table! He proudly presented "How to make a GF cake in a cup" as if he were the new Jamie Oliver!
Bless him! you've got to admire his passion for the cause! He'll be taking on school dinners next! If you're interested in the recipe it's not that mind blowing! You blitz 1 egg, 2 and half tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp GF self raising flour, 1 tbsp of cocoa and 2 tbsp melted butter in the microwave for 4 mins.....et voila!
Friday night was Taco Night courtesy of Discovery World whose taco shells and salsa are all gluten free. Perhaps not the healthiest option but quick, easy, tasty and hey, it was Friday night!! ( please note these were not the only two I consumed! They just looked prettier for the pic this way!)
Saturday....shopping day!! I took my life in my hands and headed to Brent Cross shopping centre with Dale in tow! I had thought the promise of a burger at the end of the trip Dale would be enough to keep his spirits high, however, the moans of "I'm bored" 10 mins after our arrival made me quickly regret my decision.
Finally, with a slightly down trodden Dale kicking his heels, we made it to Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Now, I don't want what I'm about to say to reflect too badly on the staff at GBK. They were all so lovely and desperately wanted to help however, I do feel GBK could make great steps in training their Brent Cross staff on their allergy advice.
After quickly explaining that I would need to see some allergy info I was presented with the following booklet
Arghhhh! More charts and symbols! While I was desperately trying to cross reference the coeliac info with the menu info, my very friendly waitress made her first blunder. Referring to my strict GF coeliac diet she asked "Just how severe is it?" After explaining that it was "very severe" (!!!!!!!!) she then tried to make sense of the GBK allergy booklet she had given me. Here comes blunder number two.... "It's a bit confusing isn't it?!" Arghhhhhhh!!!!!! YES IT IS!!!!!!!! If the staff can't work it out how am I expected to make any sense of it?! Unfortunately, the booklet gives conflicting information and I was starting to feel quite nervous.
After much discussion, I finally decided on a Persian Lamb Burger that comes with minted feta, rocket and a harissa mayo. Fab, decision made! Or so I thought..... 10 mins later another waitress appears. The Lamb burger is not GF according to their "other allergy" info! Help!! So glad they spoke up, would much rather they said something than kept quiet!
Anyway, it turns out GBK will be getting new, clearer allergy info in the near future.....Hallelujah! For the moment the Persian Lamb burger (bunless) with accompiaments is GF!
And it was also very tasty!! GBK......lovely staff, great food but clearer allergy advice needed! Also, had to pay 50p extra to replace bun with mini corn?! A tad unfair methinks!
Well, I left last week saying I was planning to email the FSA regarding the changes to allergy info listed on food. As yet, I have had no reply and I am also waiting for a reply from my MP. I'll keep you posted. For details on the changes to food labelling can I suggest you read the following blog
http://yesnobananas.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/is-no-reason-good-reason-more-on-allergy-labelling/#comment-786
Very informative and well worth a look!
Have a great week everyone! Happy GF eating! X
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