shellmo
Registered: 03/01/10
Posts: 6
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| | 03/12/10 at 10:33 PM | Reply with quote | #1 |
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i have been living gluten-free for the past four years. a lifesaver in my gf journey has been Shauna James Ahern and her blog at
http://www.glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com
the way she looks at food as an adventure and not just something to put in your mouth to live is a revelation. when you are living gluten-free, it's the small things (pasta, cookies, cakes, breads...all gf) in life that allow you to feel like you are just like everyone else.
as a chef, are you finding yourself being asked by clients for more gluten-free options?
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ChefMike
Host/Producer, The Radio Kitchen
Registered: 02/27/10
Posts: 12
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| | 03/13/10 at 07:05 PM | Reply with quote | #2 |
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Shauna is a great writer, and her blog is cool. It's great to know you are not the "Lone Stranger". I love the line in her blog that for someone with celiac disease: "Food is the path to healing".
I have found that people with celiac are hyper-aware of the food they eat. And can that be a bad thing? I would rather make a meal that pleases my customers, so offering gluten-free options has become something that I am more and more aware of as a chef.
I do think that it is incumbent on the customer to make their needs known right up front. I just did a dinner banquet where the guests had been aware of the menu since the time they RSVP'd. And yet, as we were plating up all the dinners, one diner said they did not eat meat. We of course, got busy straight away making the guest an alternate dinner, but their table had finished the entree by the time we could get the special request fufilled. Had we known ahead of time, the wait could have been avoided.
But the kitchen is full of options, and it's our job as food pros to make the guest aware of all the options. That said, websites like Shauna's help me out a lot in gathering more options that will please not only my guests with a gluten-free lifestyle, but also in offering delcious options for everyone.
I'd sure be interested in hearing what other people in the Radio Kitchen community feel about food and lifestyle choices. Your comments are always welcome. And thanks Shelly for sharing. Glad to see you are doing well these days.
(Shelly and I worked together in radio more years ago than either of us will divulge at this point. Well, she might tell you, but I won't)
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ChefMike
Host/Producer
The Radio Kitchen |
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shellmo
Registered: 03/01/10
Posts: 6
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| | 03/14/10 at 03:26 PM | Reply with quote | #3 |
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it's the responsibility of the diner to politely make their needs known. i ask a ton of questions when eating at a restaurant. if something isn't safe, i don't eat it. i do have enzyme capsules that help digest gluten which i use when i eat somewhere the ingredients are questionable...which turns out to be most chain restaurants. the cooks don't know what's in the sauces or dressings, so how can i expect the waiter to know?
i can not imagine going to a dinner, knowing the menu is set, and asking for something different. how easy would it have been for the vegetarian to contact you to ask for a different meal? i can imagine it would not have been difficult. i know most chefs want to please the diner, but diners need to respect the chef. its not only the wait that could have been avoided, but i imagine you put something together with the ingredients you had. if you had a few days heads up, you would have turned out a spectacular entree and that particular diner would have been ecstatic with their meal.
there are a few ingredients restaurants could use to make their food a bit more gf friendly:
-use cornstarch in sauces instead of flour. roux made with cornstarch is safe for the gluten-sensitive.
-use rice pasta. (Tinkyada makes pasta that tastes and textures exactly the same as "regular" pasta!)
-organic tamari instead of soy sauce. tamari is wheat-free.
just a few quick shifts in thinking would make it easier to accomodate those with gluten issues.
thanks Mike, for the opportunity to jump on my soapbox for a minute. and don't worry about me ratting you out about how long ago we worked together...that would mean i am older than i feel, so i ain't tellin' !!!
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