Cake and Bread

Imagine life without cookies … or nary a bite of cake … not even a slice of whole-wheat bread, which is thought to be so good for you.

For people with celiac disease, and those with other gluten intolerances and allergies, these are forbidden foods.

If people with celiac eat dishes prepared with wheat, barley or rye, they get painful bloating, diarrhea, sometimes rashes and fatigue, and eventually osteoporosis and anemia.

The only way to get better is to avoid foods made with those grains – completely.

That’s not so easy since wheat and other grains are hidden in many foods, such as sauces and dressings. The bad guy, gluten, is a protein found in common grains. With celiac disease, a hereditary autoimmune disease, the digestive system cannot tolerate gluten. According to “Healthy Gluten-free Cooking,” by Darina Allenand Rosemary Kearney, the gluten damages an area of the small intestine, causing inflammation and subsequent malabsorption of food and nutrients.

Vigilant label reading helps with buying foods, but what about dining out? That can be tricky for people who must avoid gluten. Waiters sometimes say a dish is gluten free, and diners find out later they’ve been, essentially, poisoned.

Valerie Lobo, who was diagnosed with celiac disease more than two years ago, took matters into her own hands and organized Gluten Free Dinners at restaurants around town.

So far, the group has had four specially prepared dinners, one a month, at local restaurants Gertrude’s, The Nook, The Warehouse and Craftwood Inn.

“All the restaurants have gone out of their way to make a wonderful, safe meal for our group,” she said.

Some examples of how chefs have changed their recipes to make them safe for celiacs include using nuts to make a crust for cheesecake instead of the traditional graham crackers.

“We have had a fair amount of practice and had already had information and training sessions with our servers in regards to gluten intolerance,” said Lawrence “Chip” Johnson, executive chef and owner of The Warehouse. “We were a few steps ahead. Only slight modifications were needed in most cases: changing from linguini to potatoes or polenta, for instance, or leaving a crepe off the lamb dish we offered. The salad and soup took no modification at all, as these are always gluten free. The main courses of lamb, rib-eye and bass were already gluten free; we just had to modify some sides a little bit.”

“Chip even had a soup that was safe for us,” Lobo said. “I haven’t had soup in a restaurant since I was diagnosed.”

She didn’t know she could have been having this soup at The Warehouse long before the special meal: It always has been gluten free. A memo to chefs: Note such dishes on menus so customers who need to avoid gluten can zero in on them.

At Craftwood Inn, where the September dinner was held, executive chef Jeff Knight wowed the diners with gluten-free ravioli for a vegetarian tapas plate.

Kirsta Scherff-Norris, who lives in Pueblo and comes to the dinners, is very sensitive to gluten. Even cross-contamination from using a cutting board with a few tiny bread crumbs could cause damage to her intestines.

That’s a main reason she likes to come to Lobo’s dinners.

“I feel much more at ease at these meals because Val has already had detailed discussions with the chef,” she said, ” so I don’t have to ask multiple questions before I can even order my food.”

Cross-contamination was at the top of Johnson’s mind when he prepared for the group to dine at his eatery.

“Besides adjusting the recipes, I gave some forethought and attention to details like cross-contamination of equipment and work surfaces, airborne gluten, fresh gloves and sanitation materials,” he said. “And sharpening the awareness of the cooks and servers took more energy than actual menu design.”

The monthly dinners have attracted a growing number of guests.

“My largest group has been 32, and my smallest has been 24,” said Lobo, noting that the smaller number was due to weather cancellations. She said she enjoys “meeting the other folks who have the same issues with food and particularly being able to eat out without much thought of ‘is it safe?’.”

Molly Cassidy, who had known about her gluten intolerance for five years, has enjoyed going to the dinners. She said there are other ways to dine out, even if you need meals without gluten.

“I pretty much go where I want and find at least something to eat,” Cassidy said, “likely without any sauces or dressings – what I call naked food. When in doubt, go without!”
Celiacs have found other eateries where they can get safe meals.

“I also patronize any restaurants that have a separate menu for gluten-free diners,” Cassidy said, noting that P.F. Chang’s and Pei Wei offer safe options.

Scherff-Norris has had success finding gluten-free dishes at Sonterra Grill and The Olive Branch.

“Cere’s Kitchen in Briargate sells prepared meals (to be cooked at home), which are great since we can’t order a pizza when we don’t feel like cooking,” she said. “We also enjoy Galileo’s in Pueblo and Deby’s in Denver.

Lobo added Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, Luigi’s and Wild Ginger Thai Restaurant to the list of safe places for celiacs to eat.

“Some local restaurants accommodate us,” she said. “However, some of the local restaurants have never even heard of the disease.”

Johnson is not one of those chefs.

“We keep a menu reference posted in our server station, which lists our gluten-free menu items and dishes we can easily modify so that it is a relatively smooth process for our servers to accommodate the guests with minimal hassles,” he said. “We want them to have a comfortable and relaxed dining experience and not feel as though they are making a special request.”

While preparing for the gluten-free-dinner group, Johnson networked with other chefs. “In comparing notes, many common misconceptions were unearthed and wrangled over,” he said. “Destruction temperatures and practices for gluten-contaminated equipment and surfaces seemed to be a common theme. We also found that some restaurants just are unable to reliably take care of gluten-intolerant guests due to food and food-handling practices: a great amount of airborne gluten being present, gluten contact with cooking surfaces such as griddles and broilers.”

Fortunately for local celiacs, there’s Lobo searching out new locations where chefs are willing to take the challenge of feeding a safe meal to the growing number of members in the dinner group.

Source: http://www.gazette.com/articles/gluten_40882___article.html/free_dinners.html

Tags: bread, bread and cake, cake