Hello everyone,
Caroline Oldham
So we are already at the end of April, I can't believe it! Since my last column I went up to London and was on BBC Radio London on Gaby Roslin's show, it was really good fun and you can download and listen to it via this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03q68hf#play So for the show I actually cooked for her and 3 other guests some samples of food from my blog. Her favourite was my strawberry and macadamia nut salad, she loved the freshness of it and was pleasantly surprised with the flavour combination. Gaby herself actually has a wheat allergy and being a coeliac myself we had a lot in common in terms of our issues on food and eating out and she loved Biteappy, the concept of trying to encourage restaurants to label menus and be more accommodating for those with food allergies and intolerances.
She was telling me about a similar experience that I had when you are served food you are told there is nothing in it, but as a coeliac or allergy sufferer, you can usually tell. After her meal, they told that in fact it had wheat in it and she spent the next 24 hours in pain, which is very similar to an experience I had in Dubai. It makes you feel very unconfident and this is why Biteappy tries to help the world become a better place when it comes to eating out. This upcoming weekend we are travelling to Italy but I probably won't have an update for you until the second week of May.
So this week I am going to share this dish which I cooked for Gaby on her show which is my courgette mixed with homemade sundried tomato pesto, it is suitable for vegans, dairy free, gluten free and many more. http://blog.biteappy.com/blog/courgetti-sundried-tomato-pesto/
Restaurant Hangout of the Week
The Cricketers Arms is a lovely country pub tucked away in Polegate in a small village called Berwick. It has a lovely garden at the front of the pub which is perfect for summer days so you can eat outside. As we walked in they had a lovely log fire burning which instantly added to the cosiness of the pub. There are a few different seating areas - if you have children they cannot sit in the bar area. We looked at the menu and to my delight, it was all labelled with gluten free options which makes it so much easier.
We decided to skip starters and go straight to main as we were both having burgers. When I was ordering the waitress went to check in the kitchen if they had gluten-free buns, which they did so I had the burger which was gluten free as it was all homemade. The food arrived and we were not disappointed, the portions were large, the burger was huge and looked so juicy, they accompanied it with a gorgeous tomato chutney which was amazing. The gluten free bun was also really nice, so it as a real treat to have a burger with a delicious bun. I would highly recommend a visit here, they are clued up on gluten free and other food allergies when I asked them about it.
Top Tip of the Week
If you are coeliac, wheat or gluten allergy or intolerance sufferer and you aren't too keen on pasta, then courgetti is a great alternative. I lot of people boil it but I have found frying it a little nicer to eat as a pasta style dish as it is softer and resembles the texture a lot more.
Tagged in Caroline Oldham