The Highs and Lows of Glutenfrei Eating in Berlin?!

So, the half term hol is nearly over and Dale and I returned from our trip to Berlin last Friday. Now don't get me wrong, I had a great time and Berlin is super interestingting BUT I write a food blog NOT a travel blog so the following is my opinion on the GF food available. Before we went I decided to put out the feelers in Twittersphere to see if anyone had any tips on where to go and what to eat.......with hindsight, I should have read more into the lack of response! As the tumbleweed blew through cyberspace I still didn't put 2 + 2 together..... and  I went went away with a disillusioned spring in my step! My trip (from a food point of view) was disappointing and frustrating. I honestly had some of my most "Coeliac Lows" at this place and nearly 2 years into the whole Coeliac Game I thought I was unsociable. However.....I did not get glutened so that's cause for a big wooohooooo in my books!! Mind you it's a jolly good job I didn't cos in a city that charges 50cents to €1 to use their facilities I would have needed to extend my mortgage to pay for it!!

So please find below the highs and lows of my experience of eating in Berlin!

Highs

1. Discovering Vitalia, a health food chain that is in some train stations (I went to the Alexanderplatz store).

Yep, all of this yellow stuff is glutenfrei! I honestly thought I'd stumbled upon glutenfrei heaven! I stocked up on bread, biscuits and snacks to tide me over (thank goodness I did because I didn't find much else!). The yellow packaging is predominantly Schar products. All the usual dry, carby items you would expect but the few I tasted were fine and dandy!

Slightly windswept and worn out...I had been travelling since 2am!

2. Schnitzer buckwheat and mixed seed bread. Became my staple breakfast / lunch option. Had an interesting twang but I soon got used it and actually quite liked it towards the end!

3. Discovering chocolate spread and dipping biscuits by Schar woop woop!

4. Finding Block House in Alexanderplatz http://www.block-house.de I had read that they may be GF friendly and after not eating a decent meal for well over a day I could have merrily hugged the waiter who knew what I was talking about when I mentioned gluten free!! 

Yes it's a chain, yes it's a steak house BUT they knew about GF eating, I had a choice what I could eat, it was hot food and good quality meat!! I could have cried with happiness! We went twice!! I had sirloin steak and the turkey medallions, I can reccommend both!

5. Sucre et Sel www.sucreetsel.de yep, a French restaurant in Berlin....why not eh?! Run by a French couple who were not at all phased by my dietary requirements! We were speaking to the French owner in English with a German translation of what I could and couldn't eat! Fab eh?! Anyway, all was well and I had chicken with cream and plum sauce with pomme purée 

I could even have pudding here....creme brûlée! Delicious!! One very happy Coeliac!

6. Weinhenstephan restaurant... I know it's a brewery but it seemed to be the name of the restaurant too. Understood what I was on about and were happy to speak to the chef about what I could have! 

Very nice.....good job I like steak eh?!

7. Good ol' Marks and Spencer and Gatwick airport South Terminal! I ran in like a kid in a sweet shop!

Oh joy, never have I been so happy to see a Sarmiento!! Thank you Marks and Sparks!!!

Lows

1. Crying in the street after "rejection gate". I seriously felt a little bit like Mary and Joseph as we arrived on the streets of Berlin (Ostbahnhof to be precise!) tired from travelling all night and hungry from lack of GF snacking available on the plane! One restaurant after another either shrugged their shoulders at my glutenfrei plea, just said "no" or looked genuinely confused by my needs! In the end I did what every good woman should do.....burst into tears! I need feeding, I need feeding at regular intervals......my needs are simple but if they are meant.....jibbering idiot alert!! Cue one big "give up strop" and more Schnitzer bread for dinner....ho hum!

2. Discovering the previously mentioned chocolate spread and dipping biscuits contain hazelnuts! PAH!    Good job I discovered before I ate but...... Big fat booooo to multiple intolerances!

3. Paying just short of €10 for this

Oh yes, it's lettuce with cheese on top! After much explaining about my GF diet which went along the lines of "....Can I have the feta salad....no dressing....no croutons.....etc etc" I thought we were onto a winner! My salad then arrived in a deep fried taco shell thing! Argh! Back to the drawing board.....explained again and got this! Feta?! I think not!! Salad??.... maybe just qualifies as salad. I think we had got past caring by this point!

3. Eating this

while Dale was merrily tucking into Dunkin Donuts, pastries and cake left right and centre. Berlin does cake well....Berlin DOES NOT do GF cake well!

4. Feeling slightly smug to have found a fruit bar (woop woop....not exactly cake eh?!) with lovely clear GF labelling....

....only to discover it contains almonds...double drat!! Really need to check these things before I purchase! 

Well, our school motto is "Perstare Praestare" ...To Persevere is to Suceed! I think this sums up my trip to Berlin beautifully! After the initial lows over the first couple of days our perseverance definitely paid off! No, it's not easy to find GF food in Berlin but it's not impossible! If you're planning a trip in that direction please get in touch on Twitter, (@lizprice79) I'd be more than happy to help or point you in the right direction. Berlin has lots to offer. I definitely "heart"

Berlin! But boy, oh boy did I need to make this cake when I got back!

Have a great week everyone! X

 

Oodles of Noodles!

Wow, just a bit of weather wer're having at the moment eh?! I'm certainly not in a position to complain sitting in my warm, dry London flat watching the horrors of the elements battering the UK on the TV! However, I can't help thinking the warm, dry weather needs to hurry up!! As I listen to the wind and rain hammering against my window I have been snuggling up and making a serious dent in my hot chocolate collection!

Not stated as GF but all ingredients OK and there are no GF allergy warning on the labels. You can probably tell by my flavour choice I have a little sweet tooth! Might not be everyone's cup of tea (or chocolate?!) but they definitely brighten up the cold dreary weather for me! I make them in the microwave with milk....ahhhhhh very soothing! All good, all chocolatey but I can't really tell the difference between the fudge and caramel flavours! No worries though, still enjoyed! But...if you fancy a creamy little treat try heating one of these in the microwave

I love these cold but there is something a little bit naughty about having them warm! (I'm easily pleased yeah?!) Tip in a mug, blitz for a minute or so in the microwave and enjoy......no need to thank me!

Now, there has been much talk in the GF community about the launch of the new Genius Frozen Pastry. As always with these new little luxuries they are only launched in one supermarket.....one supermarket in the whole of the country it seems as no one (including myself) can track it down! Unfortunately, that started a whole "pastry craving" thing going on in my mind. I haven't eaten pastry for nearly 2 years, never really bothered with it in my gluten filled days anyway but all of a sudden I had to have the pastry!!! Well Genius' loss was DS gain! I could not locate the aforementioned frozen pastry but I did stumble upon DS frozen quiche!! Quiche!!!! Who'd have thought it! Quiche was a dim and distant memory so I rushed home, put the oven on and sampled straight away!

Doesn't look bad does it!? It didn't taste too bad either! I can't say I was blown away but it certainly scratched my pastry itch! As I'm not a huge pastry eater I cannot really compare with other pastry brands. I thought it cooked well, held together well with a little crumble (which I'm guessing is what you would expect), the only negative was that it was a little greasy. I felt it coated my teeth a bit as I ate it which was a sensation I didn't really enjoy! Nevertheless, there are 2 in a pack and I won't think twice about cracking the other one open the next time the pastry cravings start!

Before Christmas I was lucky enough to receive a little Gluten Free gift from the lovely people at King Soba noodles! I now have a collection of different GF noodles to try which is hugely exciting! King Soba are my preferred brand of GF noodle, the only problem is that I can't always locate them. However, I have often found them in health food shops and they are available online. This week I tried these

Dale whipped them up in a stir fry

I appreciate the Tamari sauce makes everything a rather dull brown colour but it actually tasted really good. The noodles almost reminded me of those packet super noodle things! They stuck together a little but were really enjoyable and were quite light to eat. Can't wait to wade my way through the other oodles of noodles from King Soba! 

Well if you heard some faint whoops of delight at about 4pm on Friday it was me, running out of the school gates cheering for half term!! Yey, Yey and a bit fat YEY again!! I'm off to Berlin tomorrow hence my slightly early blog post.I have a few fail safe GF treats stashed in my luggage and will definitely be taking these which I discovered last week

I enjoy the large rice cakes but didn't know Kallo did small flavoured ones! I was always a big Snack a Jack fan but cannot eat them now so these are perfect!! (Again, rather embarrassingly, I'm noting the sweet flavour!!)

I can't wait to see what glutenfrei delights they have to offer in Berlin and will enjoy telling you all about them when I get back next week! 

 Have a great week everyone! X

One Potato, Two Potato, Sweet Potato Roll!

This week marked a momentous occasion....not wanting to be out shone in the kitchen by Dale (Ok, let's face it, that ship sailed a long time a go!), I dusted off my apron and made tentative steps towards the oven. I had been inspired by a recipe I stumbled across while I was helping a friend find ideas for  GF + Vegan bread! I received a lot of help on Twitter and was given the following link to The Intolerant Gourmet's blog http://www.theintolerantgourmet.com/journal/2012/7/11/sweet-potato-rolls-gluten-free-vegan-dairy-free-egg-free-yea.html

The Sweet Potato Rolls looked delicious and I was determined to have a go! Undeterred by Dale rather unhelpfully turning his nose up at the idea of "sweet potato in a roll?!?!" I ploughed on regardless and am happy to say managed to wipe the sneer off his face! They came out just fine

Sooooo easy to make (oooops maybe I should have said how tricky they were thefore highlighting my skill in the kitchen lol!). As the recipe is vegan it uses an egg replacer, I just used 2 eggs and thankfully all was well. These were lovely when they were warm from the oven but we also had them warmed under the grill for breakfast and cold, like a bread roll with dinner

Dale was pleasantly surprised and even said he would like them again! Praise indeed! FYI the dinner above is fennel, chilli and pork sausage meat ragu with polenta......not made by me as Dale had well and truly returned to his domain by this time!

Another kitchen success this week has been baked plantain chips. In the search for a healthy mid week snack I thought I'd give this a go http://africanbites.com/?p=995

Again, easy peasey.....slice up the plantain on a mandolin (mind your fingers!! Note to self....don't do after a manicure!!) space out evenly on baking tray, spray with oil and sprinkle spices (we used paprika), bake at 180 degrees for 10 mins, turn and bake for another 10 mins. Crispy, tasty and perfect for guilt free snacking! (Note- green plantain is needed for this as it won't work if they are too ripe).

So, after enjoying eating out at Zizzi in my pre blogging life, I have at last managed a visit I can blog about!  Dale and I had a night out on Friday and enjoyed a pre theatre dinner at Zizzi in Victoria. How lovely not to be met with looks of surprise/ confusion/ annoyance when asked to see the allergy advice! I was presented with a rather trendy looking,magazine style booklet

How lovely again to have the information presented in a easy to use format.....no big ring binders, grids, or colour coded charts here. Just a plain and simple page per allergy, clearly stating everything I could have and not worrying about all the stuff I couldn't. I ordered GF pasta in a chicken and mushroom sauce

Tasty sauce, pasta held together well and I was stuffed! Well, ok, not that stuffed cos their gelato ice cream is GF too, so I thought it'd be rude not too. Anyway, I didn't want to hold my breath for GF ice cream in the theatre, so I stocked up while I could! Well done Zizzi fast, efficient, polite service with knowledgeable staff and delicious food. I will definitely be back!

Finally, I would like to share with you a little secret....you will definitely thank me for this! This week one of the little darlings in my care kindly shared their cough and cold germs with me, kids are good like that aren't they?! Interestingly enough, I get very few colds since being GF but as the annoying tickle set in on Wednesday I knew I needed to take action....I reached for my trusty, fail safe sore throat saver...

This honey is from Oliveology at Borough Market http://boroughmarket.org.uk/oliveology-2

I understand it has the same qualities as a Manuka but costs about half the price and, in my opinion tastes better too! A spoon full of this every so often and my tickly throat never developed any further. I have used this at the first sign of a cold over the last couple of years and this combined my my GF diet generally seems to keep things at bay! There, that's the secret...let's blitz those sniffles!! Now, don't get too upset if you don't live near Borough...you can buy online too! 

Soooooo I'm going to end with a little slushy moment.....just passed 5000 page views since I started blogging in September. Not many by some people standards but by mine it's a lot!!! I'm absolutely thrilled, thank you sooooo much for all the reads, shares, re tweets and follows....it means a lot! If you don't follow me on Twitter already and would like to me in the loop, you would be very welcome (@lizprice79). Have a great week everyone! Xx

Something Old and Somethings New!

It struck me this week, that if there was ever a time to be GF it's now! Yes, I know I'm not GF by choice and of course I would love to not have Coeliac Disease but the last couple of years has seen the launch of more and more GF brands and products. We are only at the start of 2014 and I am already running between supermarkets like a headless chicken trying to get my hands on the new releases! Exciting times for GF foodies!

Which leads me into a little confession.... "My name is Elizabeth Price and I overspend on GF products"! After my rant last week about not being able to locate certain bread brands I finally stumbled across GF bread heaven in the shape of Tesco's in Potters Bar! I'm not going to confess how many packets of Udi's bagels, Newburn Bakehouse Thins and crackers I bought but let's just say I didn't get much change from a £20 note oooops!!!

So here are my thoughts on "somethings new" that I have tried this week....

Newburn Bakehouse seeded sandwich thins (http://www.newburnbakehouse.com). Loved the plain white thins but love these more. Big fan of all things seedy and these are no exception. Had them toasted for breakfast and as a sandwich for lunch.....just a little tip though....make sure you carry dental floss with you, those pesky seeds get everywhere!

It's ironic that the more thins I eat the fatter I become.....nevertheless the Newburn Bakehouse Fruity Thins with Orange have been great for breakfast. Don't be put off by the smell! As I opened the pack, it smelled slightly of cheap air freshner, as they toasted Dale exclaimed "Your breakfast things stink!" (Nice eh?!). Prepared to have to write a bad review I sampled cautiously only to be pleasantly surprised......they taste great! A nice alternatively to my fruit loaf for brekkie! (Note the thin on the left was a little too thin as it snapped it toaster!)

Continuing on the new theme I also enjoyed Ilumi's  (http://www.ilumiworld.com/products) new dish

Harissa Style Chicken in a Smoky Tomato Sauce with Tilda Pilau Rice. I'm really liking the new Morrocan inspired range from Ilumi. The smokiness made a nice change and it smelled delicious while it was cooking! I've just restocked my "Ilumi Cupboard"! As I open the overfilled cupboard door and it "rains" Ilumi pouches on my head, I have wonder whether it's time to reign in the GF food spending!!

I actually managed to drag my GF backside out of January hibernation and visited a few local eateries!

The Jolly Farmers http://www.mcmullens.co.uk/jollyfarmers in Enfield was very successful

I ordered spit roast chicken and salad to be "safe" but when I explained about my dietary needs I was given several options from the menu. The very helpful member of staff also explained they have a separate fryer for GF food and their new menu (out in a few weeks) will have GF food clearly labelled (in line with the new labelling legislation). Fab! I'll be back to check out that new menu soon!

Al Fresco in Cockfosters http://www.alfresco-restaurant.co.uk/gallery/Cockfosters were also very helpful. I emailed prior to my visit and was told there would be plenty to chose from or I could take my own GF pasta and they would be happy to cook it with my sauce of choice. I went for the Ossobuco and it really was delicious!

The only trouble was I was too stuffed to have pudding....well not entirely true... I shared strawberries with my friend but I would love to have investigated some of the other puds on the menu! Oh well, there's always next time!!

Now, I know I'm probably already preaching to the converted but I was excited to receive my new Coeliac UK Food Directory 

If there are any of you out there that haven't signed up to Coeliac UK (https://www.coeliac.org.uk/home/) what are you waiting for?! Go and do it now!!! Amazing support for Coeliacs, helpful advice on the end of the phone or on the website and I wouldn't be without my directory! All the do's and dont's of what to eat in one place...it makes life so much easier!

Finally, I end with something old! Lurking at the back of my "Ilumi Cupboard" I found a pouch of Tomato and Red Pepper soup. It's been there for a while cos I don't like tomato soup, to me it's "ill food", you know, what you have when you feel grotty! I don't know what possessed me to order it (my compulsive shopping for GF food strikes again!!) and equally I don't know what possessed me to try it BUT I did and wooohoooooo I'm mighty glad I did!

Ok, I have to admit it.....this doesn't happen often but...ahem....*cough, cough *.....I was wrong! There, I said it!!! And next time I need to "scratch my GF spending itch" I will be ordering some more!!

Soooooo old things, new things (red things, blue things.....oooops slipped into Dr Seuss sorry!!) have all been good! Bring on 2014 and the GF revolution! In a weird way, I'm enjoying the ride!