The Gluten Free Blog

Eat Natural Gluten Free Bars

These bars from Eat Natural have become a huge favourite at Gluten Free Towers in recent weeks. Chewy and nutty with a smooth yoghurt coating they have no artificial flavours or colours, and no preservatives. And most importantly they’re gluten free. Yay. Perfect for that mid-afternoon slump.

Next time we might actually have a picture of one of the bars. (Thanks guys for scoffing them before I took a pic!)

We’ve been buying ours in Waitrose and Sainsbury’s but I think they’re pretty much available everywhere.

Not sure which restaurants in your area serve gluten free foods? Or which ones have a good choice of vegan dishes? Or are nut-free? Wonder no more. Because we’ve recently come across LeaveItOut.co.uk, an all new specialist eating out online guide.

Whether you have a food allergy or intolerance, are vegetarian or vegan or even need to find a child-friendly venue or a place with disabled access, Leave It Out can help.

Simply enter your post code, click which intolerance you have and Leave It Out will show you your nearest restaurants.

You can even win dinner for two at a restaurant of your choice by writing a review or sending the site a new listing. Got a fantastic local restaurant you want to talk about? Just register here (it takes about 30 seconds) and write a review. Or if you want to see your favourite local restaurant listed just contact the Leave It Out team.

You’ll also find lots of informative articles on the site written by Medical Consultant Dr Adam Fox and Dietician Tanya Wright, such as Coeliac Disease And Malt Extract and When And How Can Wheat Allergy Occur?

We think this site is going to be a great resource. Remember to get your reviews and recommendations in. And you might be enjoying a gluten free pizza free of charge at the end of the month!

This is pretty cool. Gluten Free Girl and Gluten Free Guy received an invitation to tea this week: Claridge’s in Mayfair, no less. Now, I’ve always wanted to go for afternoon tea at this London landmark. But aside from the cucumber slices there’s not much we can eat on the menu.

So we’re thrilled to see that the people over at Genius are involved. And as you know we’re huge Genius fans here at The Gluten Free Blog. Genius bread is delicious. So we can’t wait to see what scrummy fillings Claridge’s serves up.

It’s Monday May 10th. So we’ll give you a full report after the event.

Corn-based gluten free pasta

I’ve just been on a snowboarding trip to a small resort called Baqueira-Beret on the Spanish side of the Pyrenées. Luckily, being able to successfully manage a gluten free diet in Spain has become increasingly easy in recent years.

I was in Barcelona before I went to the mountains and there are a few restaurants that are pretty knowledgeable when it comes to coeliac disease. I discovered these thanks to an article by those CeliacChicks. This led me to the Celiac Society Catalunya Restaurant Guide which has a larger list, although the site itself is in Spanish (or Catalan).

When cooking at a friend’s house, I used some gluten free corn-based pasta that I picked up in a great little shop on Via Laietana called Veritas. Expensive at €4,35 (see photo) but very good none the less. And probably pricey because it’s actually an Italian brand! They also stocked Clearspring products, which I know from the UK.

Anyway, back to the mountains. The resort of Baqueira-Beret wasn’t so easy. The hotel was accommodating but eating out proved more difficult. So on my return I did a quick search on eating gluten free whilst skiing/snowboarding. I found an article by a guy in the US on his site Gluten Free Snowboarder. The site isn’t about gluten free snowboarding per se: he just happens to be a keen snowboarder who is also gluten intolerant! The crux of the article was that, although a few resorts in the US are starting to be more accommodating, it’s probably worth taking a packed lunch with you when you hit the slopes. Let’s hope the resorts in the US and in Europe catch up soon with the major cities.

So plenty to enjoy when eating in Spain even if you are slightly more on your own when in the mountains. Just make sure you take your Catalan or Spanish gluten free restaurant card from Celiac Travel with you!

Wold Top Brewery's Against The Grain gluten free beer

There’s a lot of confusion on the internet as to whether beer is gluten free or not.

Beer is mostly made from barley which contains hordein, a type of gluten. (Wheat’s gluten is known as gliadin.) But some manufacturers claim that all the gluten is removed in the brewing process. This is almost certainly not the case though. And if you’re a coeliac, it’s best to avoid traditional beers altogether rather than run the risk of becoming ill.

The great news is that there are plenty of gluten free beer brands on the market. And they all taste pretty good too.

Here in the UK we’ve tried a few gluten free beers. And, in no particular order, here are our favourites.

Green’s produces eight gluten free beers, lagers and ales which are made using pseudo cereals such as sorghum, millet, buckwheat and brown rice. Our favourites include Endeavour dark beer with its flavour of roasted grain and winter fruits; Quest triple blonde beer with flavours of pear, melon and citrus; and Pioneer lager with its flavours of dried apple and apricot. (Green’s are UK based but distribute in the US and Canada as well.)

The Fine Ale Club produce an award-winning gluten free beer called Against the Grain which is smooth, rich and creamy. It’s also suitable for vegans

Hambleton’s Ales produce two gluten free beers: GFA and GLA. (You can order online or find them in your local Tesco or Sainsbury’s.) The GLA is a honey coloured ale with a full body and fruit and citrus flavours. The GFL is a pale lager style beer, best served chilled, with fruit and citrus flavours.

St Peter’s Brewery produce another of our favourites: G-Free™. This gluten free beer was launched in August 2007, and with its aromas of citrus and mandarin from American Amarillo hops, it has already become a favourite with real ale lovers.

If you’re based in the US or Canada you might want to try out Redbridge gluten free beer produced with sorghum. Or Bard’s who make ‘great tasting sorghum malt beer that just happens to be gluten free.’ True.

New Grist from Lakefront brewery is brewed from sorghum, hops, water, rice and gluten-free yeast grown on molasses. Whilst New York’s Ramapo Valley Brewery produces the beautifully named gluten free Honey Beer made from molasses, hops and of course honey. It’s also a Kosher beer.

Don’t forget: Gluten free beer still contains alcohol. So remember to drink sensibly! Enjoy.