Belfast - Living gluten-free might seem like a bleak scenario. Life without the bread, cakes, pastries and pies that so many of us love is a grim existence indeed.
But the Coeliac Society of Ireland insists that ditching the bad stuff didn't have to be a tasteless slog. So we challenged them: Five days to convince a bread-loving, pasta guzzler that life's worth living without gluten-filled goodies. Here’s what happened:
Day One
First things first, if I'm going to be Coeliac for the week I'd better find out what it means.
“Coeliac Disease is an inflammatory condition that causes you to react abnormally to the ingestion of gluten and other cereal products,” explains Emma Clarke Conway from the Coeliac Society of Ireland.
“Left unchecked, the intestine finds it hard to absorb iron, folate and calcium which can lead to sickness, anaemia, bone disease and even increase the risk of some cancers.
“But with gluten excluded from the diet, the intestine recovers and can function normally.”
She delivers me a bulging membership pack complete with food lists, restaurant guides and even a gluten-free recipe book.
However, never one to read a manual, I forge on to the shops after only half-reading the literature. It's a time-consuming nightmare of label-checking and I break into my Mrs Crimbles Macaroons before reaching the checkout.
I'm fairly sure vegetables, fish and meat are all fine. So with my gluten-free soy sauce ready (a substantial 500ml bottle of Meridian Tamari sauce purchased earlier at a health shop for a costly €7), I make a dinner of salmon in ginger and soy sauce with steamed vegetables and rice.
Having left my literature in the car and being too lazy to leave the kitchen, I ditch the rice only to learn - when I finally do the sensible thing and read the helpful guides - that rice is naturally gluten-free. Which will at least make this diet more fun than Dukan or Atkins.
Day Two
Keen to make my challenge as pain-free as possible, Emma sends me through a weekly menu plan tailored around the meals I make most often.
Surprisingly, my kitchen staples - such as spaghetti bolognese, chicken curry, gnocchi with pesto and shepherd's pie - mostly just need a few tweaks to make them safe.
Gluten, I've now discovered, is a protein found in wheat, but Coeliacs also need to be wary of similar proteins - secalin, hordein and avenin - found in rye, barley and oats.
However, the tricky thing is that gluten and its gut-inflaming buddies aren't always found in the likeliest of places. King-size Mars bars, for example, are fine but the fun-size ones aren't.
It's because they're made in different factories, apparently, and the makers of the mini ones can't guarantee they've not come in contact with wheat.
A lot of it is to do with foods being contaminated by gluten wherever they're made, so it really is vital to cross-check everything from chocolate to cheese in the Coeliac Society's food list to make sure it's safe.
At least while I'm cooking I feel in control of dodging danger foods - the real difficulty comes when someone else is chef.
Tonight a friend is coming over for a night of wine, rubbish TV and takeaway food. Initially I'm seized with panic - is booze safe? Will the delivery man have a clue what I'm talking about if I say I'm Coeliac? Can I order take-away?
Happily I'm reassured on all points. The restaurant guide reveals my local Thai takeaway, Kanum on Mespil Road, is “knowledgeable” on the condition and on closer inspection I see their menu has little Cs beside the dishes suitable for Coeliacs.
More importantly it's only beer (brewed from barley) that I can't imbibe, leaving me free to enjoy wine or indeed sherry, brandy, rum, whiskey, vodka, cider or gin should I choose to - hurrah!
Day Three
Bread seems to be a real sticking point for many Coeliacs. Several years ago I ate gluten-free bread by accident and found the experience akin to gnawing on an old mattress.
“Bread is a problem for a lot of people when they're diagnosed,” says Emma. “But I can assure you that since I was diagnosed 30 years ago, the quality and the choice of gluten-free breads available has really improved.”
Since Aldi has just launched a range of fresh white and brown gluten-free loaves at the relatively bargain price of €1.99, I decide to try them out.
I'm not going to lie: it doesn't taste exactly like 'real' bread, but it's flavoursome, has the texture of real bread and, especially when toasted, it's pretty darn close to the floury stuff. The Genesis brand, found in Tesco, Supervalu, Centra and Dunnes, was also good but cost an eye-watering €3.19.
For dinner I try out one of the recipes from the Coeliac Society's Gluten Free All-Sorts book. I go for roast peppers stuffed with mince (using my gluten-free soy sauce again) which is quite safe but definitely doesn't taste like I'm missing out on anything.
Plenty of the dishes are ones I'd like to try but especially good are the sections on children's party food.
I'd say parents trying to keep kids gluten-free at birthdays, but without feeling like their depriving them, would be delighted with options such as chocolate fudge squares and queen cakes.
Day Four
I decide to embark upon the ultimate challenge and see if my bread-loving other half is wooed by a gluten-free pizza.
We book a table at Manifesto, an Italian restaurant in Rathmines famed in Coeliac circles for its tasty approach to gluten-free dining. We order a Don Corleone, paying an extra €2 for the right kind of dough.
During the wait, my partner looks as nervous as he might if he was awaiting the real Don Corleone, but the when it arrives the pizza is a triumph. The base is slightly denser than average pizza but still light, crispy and delicious. Cheered by success, we order a gluten-free tiramisu.
“That was great,” he declares, replete with cream. “So what exactly is gluten?”
Day Five
I wake to find himself scoffing my gluten-free, low-fat bran flakes which he says are exactly like the real thing.
Later I meet a friend for lunch in Starbucks to avail of a gluten-free chicken and pesto sarnie. It's nice enough, not life- changing, but meeting somewhere mainstream stops me from feeling like a picky eater.
The more I look, the more I see gluten-free products everywhere. I did a big shop in Sprucefield Sainsbury's on the way to Dublin from Belfast, but even smaller stores - such as my local Tesco in Sandymount - have shelves dedicated to gluten-free stock.
By night I make a quick, easy dinner of pasta with a ready-made tomato sauce, and aside from a slightly coarser texture, I can't taste much difference.
I thought I would have to make a separate batch of normal pasta for my partner. This would have meant being careful not to dip my fork from one pan to the other - cross contamination is a huge issue for Coeliacs and even sharing utensils can render a gluten-free dish hazardous. But as my dining partner is now a convert, I don't have to worry. Easy!
Conclusion
It takes more planning and quite a bit of organisation but living gluten-free definitely doesn't have to be tasteless or involve drastically changing the way you eat.
I was surprised by some things - gluten-free biscuits such as jaffa cakes and bourbons were much smaller than regular brands but cost more. In fact, everything bearing the gluten-free label cost more, but there's tax relief and financial assistance available to Coeliacs which should help to manage the cost of shopping.
To qualify for tax relief, you need to have a letter from a consultant or GP confirming Coeliac diagnosis, keep all receipts of gluten-free products and enter the expenses on a Med1 form at the end of the tax year.
There's also plenty of 'normal' food that's safe to eat, and once you've mastered the food guide it would be more than easy to stick to the same brands.
Admittedly, I didn't have to face dining at a friend's house, but in these days of vegetarianism, veganism, Crohn's disease, nut allergies, et al, I feel it's the modern host's duty to check their guest's dietary requirements before they waste their own time making something that could kill their diners.
Now I'm off to scoff my gluten-free toffee sponge before someone else gets his hands on it ... -
Irish Independent