Why does eating out become a lesson in label interrogation with being Gluten Free?
There was once a time when going gluten free felt like an impossibility for me, I'd tried and failed, but enjoyed the bread too much!
I decided to give it another go around the same time I chose sobriety, and it's rapidly become another lifestyle change I wouldn't give up. I feel so many differences within myself and my health that it just wouldn't make sense to compromise on it! I'm less bloated, more energetic, my acne has pretty much disappeared, my stomach and gut feel so much better for it, but on the odd occasion I've unintentionally consumed barley (0% beers mainly), I've flared up and my skin breaks out ... not a coincidence surely?
Seeing those changes is what spurred me on to continue for myself, but also to find ways to implement these changes within the business to make GF products, meals, sweet treats and goodies more accessible to people.
In the ever-changing dietary world, the gluten free options on offer are expanding and improving every day.
As the owner of a business that specialises in baked goods, I've been well aware as to how many ingredients and products have wheat starch and other additives added to them unnecessarily for quite some time, but becoming gluten free myself has reiterated it in so many ways. It's harder than not to find ingredients without, which is just crazy to me.
Would you believe that even fresh ingredients, such as meat, have wheat starch added to them? I've overheard people on a few occasions in the supermarkets asking why a steak has a gluten free sticker on the front when it's "just meat" but if you look on the back it's there in black and white - you'd just assume it's a piece of meat wouldn't you? Nope... a few additives, some wheat and water thrown into the mix, amongst other things. Starch is added to meat simply because it's the most economical way to retain the moisture inside it. Its cost-cutting, effectively, and doesn't add any nutritional value to the end product at all.
We decided to make a lot of what we sell at the shop gluten free - most of it is these days, actually. We have a full menu! Feedback on our GF menu is overwhelmingly positive especially when it comes to meat products, with customers saying they are a better quality, farm fresh standard, and definitely enjoyed more. There are a few bits in the shop front that still contain gluten, simply because we haven't yet found *good* alternative ingredients to make them otherwise. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely some that are tolerable, but we want more than tolerance for our customers so won't change the ingredients until we have it perfected with no change in the taste.
This isn't me imposing my dietary preferences on customers who visit our shop, using a flour that's "as good as" regular flour for the majority of bakes instead of just specified GF bakes streamlines our process massively, reduces the risk of cross contamination, and makes it suitable for more people to enjoy. Why use a product only suitable for 80% of customers when we can use one that can be ingested by 100% of the people who walk through the door? Makes sense economically for the business, absolutely, but it also makes more sense for customers who would otherwise be restricted.
And it's all pretty good, if I say so myself ;)
You can see our menus here:
We look forward to seeing you at the shop to try one of our GF goodies.