Dining out sans-gluten in France, Italy and Spain

After recently spending six weeks in France, Italy and Spain, I have been pondering why there is so little awareness of coeliac disease in France, in comparison to their European neighbours.

While the French were very helpful in trying to ensure my choice of meal was gluten-free, I didn't strike a waiter or chef who had heard of coeliac disease and most were unsure what gluten-free was.

This contrasted with Italy where if restaurant staff weren't familiar with the condition they knew what gluten-free was.  The situation was similar in Spain although there was a little less knowledge of coeliac disease. 

The website of the Associazione Italiana Celiachia has a comprehensive list of coeliac-friendly restaurants throughout the different regions. The Federacion de Asociaciones de Celiacos de Espana (FACE) does not offer as comprehensive list but significantly more than their French counterparts.

The Association Francaise Des Intolerants Au Gluten (AFDIAG) has information on where to buy gluten-free products in France but when it comes to eating out blogs of gluten-free travellers are more useful.

So why is there so little awareness of coeliac disease in France?  

Perhaps there haven't been any awareness campaigns, such as those conducted in Australia each March during Coeliac Awareness Week.

Maybe it's more of a cultural issue. The French are very proud of their food (quite rightly) and are reluctant to tamper with it. They also don't like fads, which is probably why I seemed to have more success with waiters when I switched to the AFDIAG translation, which explained that, "For medical reasons I am not allowed to eat any products made of wheat, rye, barley or oats etc."

I know that Italy is one of the leading countries in terms of research and diagnosis on coeliac disease and that every child is tested for the condition around eight years of age. This would certainly increase awareness among the Italian population but why so far ahead of France?

What do you think? Have you got any ideas? Maybe you have had a different experience?

Remembering a birthday at Macquarie Park Cemetery's cafe

Last Saturday, 2 July, was my Mum's 80th birthday. Although she's no longer with us it was important to mark the day.

So, as we have been doing for the past 19 years, some of the Sydney-based members of the family ventured over to Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium at North Ryde.  Bruce and I brought some wattle from our garden that after five years had finally flowered. My brother and his girls picked some home-grown St Patrick roses.  We arranged the flowers near the plaque on her grave and sang happy birthday. Thirteen-year-old Eimear also said a little prayer.

And after we'd remembered her big day and said hello to Johnny (our Dad) who rests next-door, we headed over to the cemetery's cafe.

Some people might think it's a bit strange to have a cafe at a cemetery but it's not - it's a great idea as many people gather there for funerals and to visit their loved ones.   And the best thing about the cafe at Macquarie Park is that there are gluten-free options. My gluten-free niece and I enjoyed a rhubarb cake with our latte and hot chocolate. Other choices were friands and orange almond cake.

If she was alive today, our mother Barby would have appreciated the gluten-free cakes as she was an undiagnosed coeliac.  The cause of her death was lymphoma of the small intestine, which is one of the serious consequences of undiagnosed coeliac disease and not being on a strict gluten-free diet.

The Macquarie Park Cemetery and is open from 6am to 7pm seven days a week. It is located on the corner of Delhi Road and Plassey Road, North Ryde. The cafe also includes an extensive florist so if there's nothing flowering in your garden, there's plenty of choices there. 

Happy birthday Barby.

Thai-style snapper, pilaf and another pavlova

It was fishy affair last Sunday with oysters and prawns followed by Thai-style whole snapper, which Bruce cooked in foil on the barbeque.

I made a pilaf with currants and cashews - another Bill Granger recipe - to go with the whole fish and Bruce cooked up some bok choy.

For sweets I made another pavlova, this time topped with banana and passionfruit. It was a bit of a feast shared with Bruce's family.

Here are the recipes:

Bill Granger's pilaf with currants and cashews (Feed Me Now!)

Ingredients: 1 tablespoon mild-flavoured oil, such as sunflower, 1 teaspoon butter, 1 onion, finely sliced, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 500g basmati rice, 2 pinches of saffron threads, 30 g currants (I added a few more), 2 tablespoons chopped toasted cashew nuts.

Method: Place a large pan (with a tight-fitting lid) over a medium-high heat. Add the oil and butter, then the onion and salt, and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the onion is light coloured. Add the rice and stir for 1 minute. Pour in 1 liters boiling water, add the saffron and currants, and bring to boil, stirring. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the pilaf to stand, covered, for 10 minutes; do not lift the lid. Serve scattered with chopped cashew nuts.

Hot and sour fish steamed in banana leaves (adapted from Women's Weekly beginner Thai cookbook 2003)

You can cook this in banana leaves or as Bruce did on Sunday in a large foil dish covered with foil.

Ingredients: 4 medium whole bream or snapper, 1 large banana leaf, 4 fresh small Thai chilli leaves,seeded, sliced thinly, 2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, shredded finely, 2 green onions, sliced thinly, 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh coriander leaves, 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh Thai basil leaves, 2 sticks of fresh lemon grass, cotton string.

Lime and sweet chilli dressing: 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 2 tablespoons peanut oil, 1 clove garlic, crushed, 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Method: Make lime and sweet chilli dressing. Score fish, both sides through thickest part of flesh; place on large tray, drizzle with half of the lime and sweet chilli dressing. Cover, refrigerate 1 hour. Combine chilli, lime leaves, onion, coriander and basil in a medium bowl. Halve lemon grass sticks lengthways, then halve crossways. Top fish with equal amounts of the herb mixture and place two sticks of lemon grass on top of each fish.  Cook on barbeque with closed lid on low to medium heat for 20 minutes.

Delicious and all gluten-free!

Easter Sunday pavlova

I have been making pavlova since I was about 12.  My mother was a good pavlova cook and her sister still is today. Whenever I am asked to make a sweet I often make a pavlova as I can almost make it with my eyes shut. I don't have to consult a recipe and they always seems to work out.

Up until recently I followed my mother's recipe which was essentially egg whites, caster sugar and a few drops of vanilla.  Yesterday I made Stephanie Alexander's recipe which is pretty much the same  as Mum's but includes two teaspoons of corn flour and a couple of drops of white wine vinegar.  It tastes pretty much the same but the addition of the small amount of corn flour possibly makes the meringue slightly more crispy.

For a long time we Australians claimed the pavlova as one of our national dishes but in recent years it was discovered that the pav was first made in New Zealand.  It's a great gluten-free desert.

Yesterday when my brother's family came over for Easter Sunday late lunch/early dinner I made a pav. When it came time to decorate the big meringue I had two excellent helpers in my nieces Eimear and Orla. After spreading the cream across the top (leaving a small section cream-less as Eimear does not like cream) we added sliced strawberries. The girls decided a bit of broken up Easter egg (Cadbury's gluten-free) would be a nice addition, with little Easter eggs around the edge for decoration. Normally I would also add some passionfruit but I forgot to buy some. Sliced banana also goes well, as does kiwi fruit. Just like Stephanie Alexander I always turn the crisp baked shell upside down. As Stephanie says, "this way the marshmallow middle melds with the cream and the sides and base stay crisp." Here is Stephanie's recipe:

Stephanie Alexander's pavlova

Ingredients: 4 egg whites at room temperature (add more egg white if you need to make a larger pav). pinch of salt, 250g caster sugar (add a tablespoon more for each extra egg white), 2 teaspoons cornflour, 1 teaspoon white white vinegar, a few drops of pure vanilla, 300 ml cream, firmly whipped pulp of 10 passionfruit.

Method: Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and draw a 20 cm circle on the paper. Beat egg whites and salt until satiny peaks form. Beat in sugar, a third at a time, until meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and fold in lightly. Mound onto paper-lined baking tray within circle, flattening top and smoothing sides. Place in oven, immediately reduce heat to 150C and cook for 30 minutes. Reduce further to 120C and cook for 45 minutes. Turn off oven and leave pavlova in it to cool completely. Invert pavlova onto a platter, pile on cream and spoon over passionfruit pulp.

One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns

I have to confess that I have never been a fan of hot cross buns. When my family would eat them on Good Friday I would always pass. I just didn't like the taste of them but maybe that was because they were full of gluten.

Perhaps I would like them if they were gluten-free? 

So with Good Friday upon us tomorrow I have found a few gluten-free (GF) hot cross bun recipes.  The first one is from Coles. An alternative is this gluten-free and dairy free recipe. Fellow coeliac blogger, Adventurous Me, Gluten-Free offers another recipe as does Springhill Farm.

If I get lazy I might take the easy option and buy some Simple Wize ones sold at Coles. Alternatively Silly Yaks also has traditional and fruit-free hot cross buns, which you can order online, and Lifestyle Bakery sells its GF, HC buns at outlets across Australia.

Have a happy gluten-free Easter.

Markets, muffins and morning tea

These gluten-free apple muffins were a hit on two occasions last week. They accompanied coffee on the verandah with my cousin Andrew, wife Louisa and son Declan (my godson) last Friday, and went very nicely with a pot of tea on our deck on Saturday with our friends Jenny and Stephen.

After a walk to Orange Grove markets at Lilyfield and a bit of an explore around the back streets of  Leichhardt, Jen, Stephen, Bruce and I returned home for a well-earned morning tea.

The Kim Coverdale recipe which I found on taste.com.au is very quick and easy to make, and once out of the oven, delicious to taste.  Each muffin contains 1.9 g of fat. Here is the recipe:

Gluten-free apple muffins

Ingredients: 2 and 1/2 cups of gluten-free self-raising flour, 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 a cup of vegetable oil, 1 egg, lightly beaten, 2 small pink lady apples, warmed honey, to serve (optional).

Method

• Preheat oven to 190 degree Celsius or 170 on fan-forced. Grease a 12-hold, 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pan
• Combine flour, cinnamon and 2/3 cup brown sugar in a bowl. Make a well in centre.
• Add milk, oil and egg
• Using a wooden spoon, stir until just combined.
• Peel and grate 1 apple. Fold grated apple into muffin mixture.
• Spoon mixture into holes of prepared pan.
• Core and quarter remaining apple. Thinly slice. Arrange 2 to 3 apple slices on top of each muffin.
• Sprinkle remaining brown sugar on top of each muffin.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Stand in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Serve drizzled with honey, if using.

Notes: Don't over mix muffins, or they become tough and chewy. Freeze muffins in snap-lock bags for up to 2 months.

Prawns with peaches at the Hazelhurst Gallery

It's not only beaches, bikinis and flag-waving Aussies in Sydney's Sutherland Shire. It's also home to the Hazelhurst Gallery at Gymea where you can take in some art and enjoy a gluten-free (GF) lunch.

The regional gallery and arts centre has a lovely terrace cafe/restaurant which overlooks the garden. The day Bruce and I met his shire-residing Mum and Dad for lunch, there were three GF options (marked with asterisks) on the regular menu and one GF special. 

My meal of king prawn and grilled peach with pan seared haloumi, asparagus and rocket salad and lemon dressing was absolutely delicious and very fresh. It was a good choice for lunch as it wasn't too heavy and I love the addition of fruits like peaches and nectarines in salads.

The other two gluten-free dishes were seared chicken tenderloin with spiced fig, fetta and hazelnut salad drizzled with shiraz caramel and tea-smoked Atlantic salmon in lemongrass/lime butter with glass noodles (hopefully gluten-free) cucumber, coriander, mint salad, sesame dressing and crispy eschalot.

While I didn't need dessert I couldn't resist trying the rosewater pavlova with double cream coconut ice cream and fresh strawberries.  You could really taste the rosewater but it wasn't too overpowering.

At most restaurants there is usually only one GF option on the sweets menu but not at Hazelhurst. I had the choice of three out of five. There was also an individual flourless chocolate cake with chocolate ganache, berry coulis and double cream and a classic creme brulee with poached peaches.  My mouth is watering now! Hazelhurst also has a breakfast menu with GF bread served on request.

The day we were there the staff were setting up The Leslie Walton Collection, which opened last weekend.  The collection includes works from Australian artists Roland Wakelin, Grace Cossington Smith, Elioth Gruner and John Peter Russell.  It runs till 8 May.

Another exhibition which also opened last weekend is 'Made in the Shire'. Thirty years on from the surf book and movie 'Puberty Blues', the exhibition features photographs of some of the Shire's desperate romantics and high school sweethearts by Emma Thomson, taken during her residency at Hazelhurst.

Hazelhurst also runs art classes for adults and children. The gallery is at 728 Kingsway Gymea and is open Monday to Friday from 10am-5pm.