Two London Products
At the Allergy Show, I found two good gluten-free products; Glamour Puds and Free’d crispbread.
Both are new London companies.
Does this say that it is easier to start a business in London or there is more demand in London for gluten-free products, because of a possible large number of people going gluten-free for lifestyle rather than health reasons?
A Choice Of Biscuits
Well not really biscuits, but something to dip into hummus, cream cheese or act as a base for a snack.
A Choice Of Biscuits
I haven’t had a choice since I was diagnosed as a coeliac. Pre then, I used to like Ryvita with butter and marmalade on it.
Now I can try it again!
Both biscuits are delicious.
Obviously, the one on the left is from Marks and Spencer and the Free’d is available in the deli in the village. At present Free’d only seems to be available in London, although the product is made in the green hills of Derbyshire.
Pure Bred Sandwiches
I said in this post that there are various criteria I use to judge good bread. Today I made some Pure Bred sandwiches.
Pure Bred Sandwiches
The sandwiches were good, but probably just not quite as these egg and watercress sandwiches I bought in Marks and Spencer. These must now be the Gold Standard for gluten-free sandwiches.
The Pure Bred bread has a similar flavour to the bread Marks use in their sandwiches, so could it be they are thinking on similar lines with respect to the flour used?
So would I use Pure Bred gluten-free bread in the future in preference to the Genius I normally use?
Genius has one good point and one fault.
The current formulation of Genius doesn’t seem to go mouldy, as quick as it did when first launched and usually a loaf is still edible a week after purchase.
But it does seem to have a tendency to have large holes in the loaf.
The Pure Bred was consistent throughout and it lasted as long as I needed it too.
If Pure Bred was available in my local Waitrose, I’d buy it in preference to Genius, which is not sold there. This would be mainly to avoid going to Sainsburys to have a second shop for just bread.
If Pure Bred was avaiable in Sainsburys, then I would always buy bread there and buy whatever I fancied that day.
A Fish Supper For One Using Gluten-Free Bread
I regularly use this recipe from Mary Berry. But I simplify it. I start by setting the oven to 200ºC, putting one piece of salmon in a greased baking tray. pulverising a slice of decrusted bread with a teaspoon or so of parmesan, and make a paste of cream cheese, garlic and lemon zest.
Fish, Breadcrumbs and Cream Cheese
I then cover the fish in the cream cheese paste and sprinkle the bread crumbs on top.
Ready For The Oven
I then put them in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
The Cooked Fish
This one was made with Pure Bred gluten-free bread and it tasted virtually exactly the same as ones I’ve made previously with Genius bread.
Marks and Spencer Get The Labels Right
I suspect that many groups like sports and social clubs and places of worship have their proportion of coeliacs. But as I threw the case away from the Marks and Spencer’s quiche, I noticed it was clearly labelled.
Marks and Spencer Get The Labels Right
And it was labelled in three places.
This is good and if it stops one person being glutened by eating the wrong quiche, it’s worth it.
Another idea would be to put one of the little flags like I saw in Poland in the box, so at a buffet the gluten-free food could be clearly labelled.
Quiche, Scotch Egg And My Favourite Salad Vegetables
This was my lunch and the Scotch egg and quiche came from Marks and Spencer.
It must be at least fifteen years since I’ve had a Scotch egg.
Quiche, Scotch Egg And My Favourite Salad Vegetables
But it was a good one.
If you’re worried I don’t get enough greens, I had a salad nicoise for supper.
The Irish Are Invading
One of the things I noticed at The Allergy Show was the number of new companies that I’d never heard of before. Several of these exhibitors were from Ireland and I stopped at one called Pure Bred from Donegal. I had a taste of their gingerbread and it was seriously good for a commercial product, that didn’t have a touch of the dry about it.
As I needed a loaf and buying Genius, where I live, means shopping other than my convenient Waitrose, I bought one of their sliced wrapped farmhouse loaves.
Bread to me must do three main jobs; make good toast, edible sandwiches when I travel and also make a good crust for some of the recipes I use like this fish from Mary Berry.
When I got home, I made some toast.
The bread certainly made seriously good toast.
One question that must be asked, is all this Irish gluten-free activity, a sign that the Irish economy is on the way to a full recovery?
Glamour Puds
The Allergy Show was busier than I’ve seen it before, with three supermarkets; Asda, Tesco and Sainsuburys exhibiting and a lot more stands generally.
One was called Glamour Puds, which in my view is a great name to get your product recognised. Especially, as glamour is a word rarely used with food, unless it’s Mae West suggestively eating something most of couldn’t!
I bought one of their raspberry jam sponge puddings and ate it with my supper. The pictures show the cooking sequence.
It was good and I’ll definitely eat another, when I can find a stockist. They will be in lots of Tesco stores soon, but then they don’t have a big store anywhere near me! But I don’t use them anyway! That’s another story!
If I have a complaint it’s not about the pudding, but the web site is factual and not glamorous enough.
I also think that they could add a touch of glamour to their presentation. The word drew me in and I wasn’t sure what they were selling, until I saw the packaged item.
One thing you have to remember is that I can be a showman, even if I’m a bad salesman, but I do know how to provide the ammunition for others to sell.
On the other hand Gerald Ratner was a showman and looked what happened to him. But then as he said, he was selling crap. This company certainly isn’t.
They’re also selling into a market, where a higher proportion of their target audience is on the thin side compared to the general population. So selling puddings to coeliacs doesn’t probably invoke the same guilt reaction in your customers.
I would wish them luck, but they probably won’t need any more than average good luck.
But how about a single pot custard to go with an individual pudding?
My Sort Of Salad
I don’t really like lettuce and other green leaves in salad. This was my lunch yesterday of one of quiches from this post.
My Sort Of Salad
I eat a lot of cooked green vegetables, like spinach and cabbage. But when it comes to lettuce, it’s something that I’m happy to leave to the rabbits, so that they’re nice and large, when I eat them.
A Pair Of Poison Free Quiches
Last week I had an excellent quiche from Marks and Spencer.
Today, at the Angel they had two different types; cheese and onion and Lorraine.
A Pair Of Poison Free Quiches
There is no provenance on the quiche Lorraine, but the ones with added poison are made in Yorkshire. So what with the Tour de France in the county next week, are they upping the anchors and moving across the channel?
But it was so nice to have a choice. I’ll have some of the Lorraine for lunch tomorrow and put the cheese and onion in the freezer for a very rainy day, when it’s too much to go to the shops.
The Anonymous Widower 