Here is a sample letter to a firm.
Dear Sir
Gluten-free Products without wheat, rye barley or oats
I am cooking for a gluten-free diet and would be most grateful if you would advise me as to which of your products are gluten-free. I enclose a stamped addressed envelope.
Yours faithfully
It is a good idea to keep a pocket notebook with your own lists of products to avoid. This will prove very helpful when out shopping. Customer service desks in large stores can be helpful, either when you shop, over the telephone or by e-mail, for their own products.
oats and research
In the late 1990s, new research in Scandinavia found some coeliacs could tolerate oats. The protein found in oats is avenin. It is nothing like as effective in baking as wheat gluten and some gluten free dieters find oats to difficult to digest. A medical practitioner’s advice should be sought before allowing oats in a coeliac’s diet. Controversy on the subject goes back many years.
fan ovens – temperature and baking times
As these may vary from one model to another, only guidelines can be given. Generally speaking, temperatures of 20° below those recommended for an ordinary oven and baking times of up to one third less should be effective.
gluten free and healthy?
Bear in mind that not all gluten-free foods are necessarily healthy. There are many brands of sweets, confectionery and junk foods available which happen to be gluten-free. By living just on these a health result will not be achieved. See Chapter 14 for help with balancing a gluten-free diet.
*Check brands to find a possible gluten-free product.
chapter three the kitchen cupboard
Clear out a particular corner or shelf in your kitchen for the special items you are going to need for baking and cooking. Some of the items you can make for yourself and some you can buy. All of them are suitable for the whole family so don’t think it is going to be that difficult to organize.
contamination in the kitchen at home
One of the problems of gluten-free baking is to avoid contamination by gluten-containing flours such as wheat. It can occur by contact with other items in the kitchen and store cupboard such as wheat flour; by using utensils and equipment which are also used for ordinary cooking, e.g. baking tins; and by airborne means such as flour dust from overalls and aprons. Other dangers are wheat flour under the fingernails and wheat breadcrumbs in the toaster.
If cooking for an acutely allergic person, separate baking tins and utensils are essential. If cooking for a not-so-allergic person, ordinary tins etc. can be used if they are kept scrupulously clean. However, there will be a slight risk of contamination and perhaps the answer would be to line the tins with baking parchment, to be on the safe side.
gluten-free essentials for the kitchen cupboard
Black peppercorns
Canned salmon, tuna, sardines in oil (not sauce)
Chickpea flour*
Cooking oil (sunflower, soya, corn, olive)
Cornflour (cornstarch)
Dried yeast, instant yeast, easy blend (check labels)
Fruit juices (pure)
Gelatine crystals
Gram (chickpea) flour*
Ground rice
Honey (pure)
Millet flour*
Potato flour (farina)*
Pure almond and vanilla flavourings
Rice paper
Sesame seeds
Soft, moist sugars e.g. demerara
Soy sauce (thin, Tamari-type, gluten-free brand)*
Spices (ginger, nutmeg, mixed spice – gluten-free brand – allspice, ground cloves, cinnamon etc.)
Sunflower seeds*
Wine or cider vinegar
note
Always check food labels before classing any food as gluten-free. Cornflour (cornstarch) should be pure maize. Some foods will actually be labelled ‘gluten-free’.
general items
(Available at supermarkets or grocery stores.)
Bicarbonate of soda
Cooking oils (sunflower, soya, extra virgin olive oil)
Cornflour (cornstarch)
Cream of tartar
Fruit juices
Ground rice
Instant yeast/‘fast action’ easy blend yeast
Spices (pure)
Wine or cider vinegar
specialized items
(Probably available at health stores, delicatessens or large chemists/drugstores.)
Rice bran
Gram (chickpea) flour
Maize flour (cornmeal)
