The Gluten Free Blog

If you’re in the London area at the end of May and you suffer from any kind of allergy, you’ll want to check out the Allergy & Gluten Free Show at Olympia.

The ‘All New’ Allergy & Gluten Free Show from Friday May 21st to Sunday May 23rd is the only national live event for people with asthma, eczema, sensitive skin, hay fever, chemical sensitivities, food intolerance, coeliac disease and other allergies or intolerances.

What’s there to look forward to?

Free seminars covering food allergies, asthma, anaphylaxis, autoimmune disease, eczema, migraines and much more.

Expert advice from leading charities, associations, societies and support groups.

Free workshops for parents of children with allergies.

Cooking demonstrations from expert chefs using ‘free from’ ingredients.

The biggest and best allergy shop and clinic rolled into one with 1000’s of products, therapies, treatments, and ideas.

There will also be stands from UK medical charities, Allergy UK, Asthma UK and Coeliac UK as well as a number of companies specialising in ‘free from’ goodies. Hopefully we’ll get to taste a few new products.

Tom Treverton, event director of The Allergy & Gluten Free Show commented:

“…allergies and intolerances are negatively impacting approximately one third of the UK population. In many cases, lives are being devastated by related conditions, with effective treatment proving agonisingly difficult to find.

The Allergy & Gluten Free Show represents that only live platform for allergy sufferers to access the latest treatments – all in one place at one time.”

Tickets for entry into the exhibition, for both health professionals and the general public, cost £6 (plus booking fee) if bought in advance.Or £9 on the day. Under 16’s accompanied by an adult are free.

To book a ticket to the show in advance, visit TicketSoup or call the Box Office on 0844 481 8898.

See you there.

Phil Vickery

UK chef Phil Vickery has been appointed Food Ambassador for Coeliac UK.

Phil Vickery has been involved with Coeliac UK for a few years now helping to promote awareness of coeliac disease and trying to get catering establishments to offer gluten free options on their menus. Last year Phil wrote a book in association with Coeliac UK called Seriously Good! Gluten-Free Cooking (read our review). The book has sold over 70,000 copies!

Phil said: “I am very honoured to accept the role as Coeliac UK’s Food Ambassador and to continue to support the work of the Charity. I’m passionate about improving knowledge in the food industry and the necessity for more gluten free cooking as more and more people are diagnosed. Since embarking on the cookbook I have learnt so much and it is essential that chefs understand the importance of having gluten free recipes. I am therefore delighted to be judging this year’s competition and urge chefs of all experience to enter.”

Phil’s role also includes judging the Gluten-Free Chef of the Year competition. Last year’s competition was judged by Raymond Blanc. The competition, in association with the Institute of Hospitality and the Craft Guild of Chefs, is open to professional chefs over the age of 23. There is a separate award, Up and Coming Gluten-free Chef of the Year, for catering college students and trainee chefs under 23. All entrants have to design recipes for a three course gluten free menu.  If shortlisted they are then required to recreate the menu for four people in a 90 minute live cook off.

Entries must be received by Friday 15 October 2010 with the cook off starting week commencing 8 November 2010.

We will let you know the winner later in the year.

Do you remember the first time you were in a restaurant and you said you were gluten free? I don’t know about you but my waitress looked at me like my head had just spun round and I’d puked up green bile. Suddenly, every visit to a restaurant or a friend’s house felt like an ordeal. ‘Oh what can you eat?’ ‘You’re so difficult to cook for!’

Well listen up people. Being gluten free is the new black. So much so that, The Daily Beast has declared it number three on their list of top ten food trends for 2010. (Number 1 and 2 being organic chocolate and coconut. Go figure.)

In fact, Globe Life declared ‘being gluten free’ as one of the top stories of last year (along with keeping your own chickens; why local produce isn’t always as good as it seems; and how we should all be eating less salt.)

So what’s happening here? Is it now uber-trendy to be gluten free?

No, not really. It does seem that people being diagnosed with coeliac disease is very much on the rise. Globe Life reports that researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota found that one in 100 people are now affected compared with only one in every 400 to 500 half a century ago.

Has modern production, processing and additives led to an increase in the disease? Or are medical professionals now recognising the disease and its debilitating affects more readily?

Either way, people following a gluten free diet will hopefully have even more choice in the coming year, whether that’s in their local restaurant or local grocery store. And that’s a good thing.

An interesting article appeared in the Los Angeles Times this week.

Dr Robert Anderson, a gastroenterologist based in Melbourne, Australia, is working on a vaccine or pill to prevent or switch off a person’s reaction to gluten.

Currently there are two types of treatment being developed. One would work alongside a gluten free diet and protect sufferers from the occasional ingestion of gluten. The other would train the immune system to accept gluten and would enable a sufferer to follow a regular diet.

The first system uses enzyme therapy which breaks gluten down into tiny particles and therefore doesn’t cause inflammation of the intestine.

The second system uses immunotherapy and allows patients to eat a regular diet by stopping the immune response in the gut.

Phase 1 of the trials are due to be completed in 2010 and Anderson says that patients would receive a series of injections of the vaccine, followed by occasional maintenance doses.

Are you coeliac sufferer? How would your life be different if you could take a pill before a meal or receive regular shots to stop your reaction to gluten? Is it something you’d do?

Read the full article in the Los Angeles Times.

Raymond Blanc presents Gluten Free Chef of the Year award 2009

World renowned chef Raymond Blanc was on hand this week to present Peter McKenzie of South Lanarkshire Council with 2009’s Gluten Free Chef of the Year award.

Designed to raise awareness of gluten intolerance and to highlight the need for gluten free menu options, the competition, run by Coeliac UK, awards Gluten free Chef of the Year for professional chefs and Gluten free Chef of the Year for catering students.

The competition included a three course meal, which had to be prepared using seasonal gluten free ingredients, and have a balance of flavours across the courses.

The winner, Peter McKenzie impressed the judges with his beautifully cooked and presented breast of pheasant with wild mushroom polenta. See Peter’s full gluten free menu below.

Pan seared fillet of red mullet

Starter
Pan seared fillet of red mullet nestling on a chick pea gateau, topped with a plum tomato achar with fresh oysters and a horseradish cappuccino

Main Course
Breast of pheasant, wild mushroom polenta, with seasoned savoy cabbage, oven roasted shallots and baby beets with a marsala jus

Dessert
Vanilla and basil panacotta with balsamic roasted strawberries with strands of golden sugar

He wins a one week placement at Gleneagles with twice Michelin Star chef, Andrew Fairlie.

Raymond Blanc judged the entries and commented “I was really impressed by the quality and attention to detail displayed in the entries for this competition and congratulations to all the winners!”

He added “although more common than many people realise, gluten intolerance is not taken seriously enough by far too many chefs. We all need a few really good gluten free recipes in our repertoire and I hope that more restaurateurs will understand the importance of, and gain an aptitude for, having tasty, interesting gluten free options on their menus.”

Chief Executive of Coeliac UK, Sarah Sleet, said “we are really grateful to Raymond Blanc for all his support and for highlighting the needs of people on a gluten free diet. He is showing the way for others in the catering industry by providing added choice and piece of mind for people with coeliac disease when dining out.”

See all the winning recipes on the Coeliac UK website.