Hello,
Caroline Oldham
It's my first 'Christmas Column'! I hope you are all looking forward to celebrating Christmas with friends, family and loved ones. With the countdown the Christmas I will be sharing with you some recipes to help you and hopefully inspire you to get into the kitchen and cook! There are so many ways you can get cooking for Christmas no matter the diet.
I have just arrived in NYC this week to find out how New York handles food allergies and special diets. I am only on day one so will report back on my restaurant hangout next week. We flew with Virgin Atlantic, the cabin crew was so friendly and accommodating however choices for coeliac/ gluten free was really disappointing. For starter there were a few items on the menu that I could have had, however they decided to serve me a bowl of chopped cucumber and tomato, no dressing, just plain. I spoke to the cabin crew and they said they actually feel embarrassed to serve the food to people with allergies.
I will be writing to Virgin Atlantic about the food and will let you know if I get a response. Last night we ate at Nobu 57, which was fantastic, we really like Nobu in London so wanted to see if the NYC branched lived up to the high expectations and we were not disappointed. As we walked in we had our first celeb spot of Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa, which is always exciting. The staff we fantastic so accommodating with allergies and intolerances, they adapted nearly all the dishes and they had gluten free soya sauce so we really enjoyed it. It has a high price tag so definitely one for a special occasion.
So my first Christmas recipes are these chocolate 'Snow Cones', these are so easy to make and you can get in the kitchen with the children and have some fun as you can get the silver glitter out for decorating and buy some fun confetti and make it really exciting and look great. These are great as they are gluten free, dairy free and vegan.
Check out the recipe here: http://blog.biteappy.com/blog/christmas-vegan-gluten-free-pine-cones/
Restaurant Hangout of the Week
On a recent trip to London my wonderful friends organised a fab meal for me at Niche, a 100% gluten free restaurant! I couldn't quite contain the excitement when I heard and was so excited. Located a short walk from Angel tube station is Niche, inside is lovely and fresh with white interior which has an almost calming affect on you as you walk in. The menu is extensive and also being lactose intolerant my choices were narrowed down but still lots of great options.
I opted for the chicken burger, which was delicious, and we also took pictures of everything we had on the table to give you an insight on the amazing gluten free food you can experience here. Definitely worth a visit when in London. The only downside was it would be nice to have some dairy free option puddings too but they only state they are a gluten free restaurant so I am just being picky here and was jealous of my friends having the gluten free chocolate brownie!
Top Tip of the Week
If you struggle with grains in general even if they are gluten free then I suggest baking with coconut flour. You have to use the right recipe for coconut flour as it can overpower the recipe with the flavor so that is something to watch out for.
Tagged in Caroline Oldham