Gluten Freedom For Coeliac Travellers in the UK
When I went to Plymouth, I bought a gluten-free ham salad from Marks and Spencer in Paddington station, to sustain me on the journey.
It was excellent.
Today, I had an egg salad sandwich from their shop in Moorgate. It was equally good.
They’ve even got a list on their web site of all their stores that stock the gluten-free sandwiches.
Travelling just got a whole lot easier for coeliacs in the UK.
How To Do Food At An Event
If I’d wanted I could have pre-ordered a Gordon Ramsey-styled picnic box, but as I’m a coeliac, it didn’t say if they were gluten-free or not, so I opted to buy at the event. This is the chicken kebab I had, which was certified by the chef who was cooking it as gluten-free.
Gluten-Free Chicken Kebab at Zoo Lates
It was delicious and the salad was fresh and not of the limp variety you tend to get in many places. They also gave me a discount because I didn’t want the pitta bread.
But it was only one of many varieties of fast food and drink, including Aspall Cyder on offer. There was for example this Korean stall.
Korean Fast Food at Zoo Lates
And even this splendidly politically incorrect one.
Buffalo and Ostrich at Zoo Lates
Sadly, there was no Cambodian for me. This is the only completely gluten-free cuisine in the world.
The food on offer did show how fast food should be done. You would have had to be very picky not to have found something you could have eaten.
Let’s hope the Olympics follow the lead set at the Zoo. But I bet they’ll produce the sort of stuff I can’t eat, like they do at Wembley Stadium.
The High Cost Of Gluten Free Food to the NHS
The Times yesterday had a piece about the high cost of gluten free food to the NHS. They quoted an NHS gluten-free loaf at 32.27 and I know I pay a lot less than that for acceptable ones in Marks and Spencer, Waitrose or Tesco. They also said that you could buy gluten-free afternoon tea in Fortnum and Mason for £34 a person. I think I’ll try the latter out one day!
Anyway I was moved to write to the paper and here’s what I said.
As a diagnosed coeliac, I am entitled to various gluten-free prescriptions. But I don’t exercise my right, as most gluten free products available that way are inferior to products bought in normal shops and supermarkets. I do buy bread from a well-known chain twice a week and if I feel like some pasta I go to a chain of Italian cafes, where the penne is as good as any.
It would be much better if all of those entitled to gluten-free products were given vouchers that could be redeemed in shops against suitable products. That way we could eat quality rather than processed cardboard. Some might blow the vouchers on gluten-free chocolate biscuits, which are not available on the NHS, but then having coeliac disease, doesn’t mean you have to be miserable!
But innovation is the real solution. My local pub has a chef who is a coeliac. He made an alternative muffin from slices of grilled aubergine, a sliced tomato and some spinach. It was much better than any gluten-free bread I’ve ever tasted and complimented the Eggs Royale superbly.
Last night, I cooked one of Lindsey Bareham’s simple gluten-free creations; a chorizo, chicken and chickpea stew, all cooked in one pot. Delicious!
I do think though there is a much more cost effective way of getting coeliacs, gluten-free products. Why should we be subsidised so heavily, when there are people in a much worse state than we are? I would happily give up my right to gluten-free food on the NHS, which I don’t exercise, for a monthly voucher to be spent on something gluten free. I would probably use it to buy a gluten free pasta dish in Carluccio’s or some chocolate chip cookies or Damm Daura in Waitrose!
I do remember going through the gluten-free list with a pharamcist once. There is nothing there with any excitement at all.
Lakeside On The Slide
The leader of Thurrock Council has said that the development of Eastfield on the Olympic Park will harm the Lakeside Shopping Centre at Thurrock.
Let’s face it, Lakeside is a tired dump and impossible to get to be public transport, so it has no appeal for me. But then when Bluewater opened C and I always crossed the bridge to a much better place. As a coeliac too, where’s the gluten free food at Lakeside?
The Interaction Between Coeliac Disease, Hay Fever and My Stroke
I had the stroke about twelve months ago and I thought that by now I would be starting to feel better, but as time goes on, I seem to be feeling worse and worse.
Take today, I got up just around six and felt reasonably good after about eight hours of sleep. I used the hay fever spray on my nose, but when I left home about eleven, I felt that the optimism of the early morning had disappeared. My left shin was tight, as it often is and my nose was blocked solid with the hay fever. After lunch with a friend, I returned to the Angel to do a bit of shopping and could hardly walk back from the bus to my house, such was the tightness in my shin and the pain in my left arm. I checked my e-mails and then lay on the bed, where I fell asleep for a couple of hours. I feel reasonably bright now, although there is a pain in the back of my left shin. What is strange is that I only get pains in my left shin and left arm. I know that was the side of the stroke, but I’ve always had occasional pain in my left arm from where a bully broke it at school and over the past couple of years, I’ve had pain in the back of my left shin, since I trod on a razor shell on Holkham Beach. I couldn’t be sure, but these pains could have been worse in the spring, or should that be hay fever time.
In trying to find out what is wrong, an MRI Scan has shown problems in my neck, where a nerve might be trapped. But it’s nothing serious that good physiotherapy shouldn’t be able to sort out.
If I go back a few weeks, when the pollen was low for a few days, all of the pain disappeared. So it does seem that the pain is partly caused by the pollen levels, which at the moment are moderate. But then they have been for several weeks.
Another point is that at times my gut feels not quite right. It’s almost like being glutened and it feels as though something not too nice is upsetting my digestion. In some ways, it’s something that may have plagued me for years. So do histimines created by the pollen upset your digestion system? Especially, if you’re a coeliac.
I have a feeling that the only solution is to take a gluten free cruise.
Hayley Turner Wins The July Cup
This report from the BBC describe how Hayley Turner won the July Cup at Newmarket on Dream Ahead.
This was the first outright win by a lady jockey in a Group One race in the UK. There had been one dead heat in the past.
Not only is she the best female jockey we’ve ever had in the UK, she’s also a coeliac.
She’s also a very nice person in every way. She rode for me several times and I would recommend her to anybody.
Is The Public To Blame For The Antics of Tabloid Newspapers?
I don’t like the celebrity culture and to paraphrase the evil doctor, when I see any celebrity culture, I reach for my off switch or turn the other way.
About the only time I have anything to do with it, is when I hear some Z-lister being named in the media, I might search the Internet to see who they are. But that is as far as it goes! I do read the obituaries in quality papers, as I’m interested in what makes people tick or worth remembering.
I will also admit to buying the Sun occasionally. Of the tabloids, with the exception of the Evening Standard, it is the only one with any sensible horse racing coverage.
But as to most of the dross they print, about celebrities, I have no interest, except where there is a serious side, like with superinjunctions and business practices, that may have cost us all dear as taxpayers.
To me the tabloids are summed up by this true story.
I was at the Ipswich Inter Milan match in the San Siro, when I found myself sitting next to a journalist, who worked for one of the more outrageous tabloids. We chatted about various topics concerning football and Ipswich in particular and I can’t remember how it came up, but we started discussing my coeliac disease. I then said that the statistics indicated that there must be at least one footballer, who must be a coeliac. I suggested it might make a story, as it might help those with the disease. He then said that the readers of his rag wouldn’t be interested. But if I knew a footballer who was gay, then that would be a very valuable story.
So do these crap newspapers exit because it’s what the general public wants. Or at least what they think they want?
I’ll put in a true story from way back and incidentally from before anybody in the UK had heard of Rupert Murdoch.
During the enquiry into the Profumo Affair, which was held in public, only one newspaper printed the proceedings in full. It was The Times and they printed it because they said they were a newspaper of record and it was their duty.
Sales soared!
Is Novac Djokovic’s Success Down To Going Gluten-Free?
According to some web sites, like this one, it is.
I’m sceptical, especially as that site has an agenda!
But statistically, the fact that I only know of one top class sportswomen, Hayley Turner, who has been diagnosed as a coeliac is way under the expected odds.
Kangaroos in Walthamstow
I went to the Village Kitchen today in Walthamstow and had a kangaroo steak for lunch.
It was good! And gluten-free too!
I’ve been skipping down the road since, as a friend will confirm, as we met for a coffee afterwards at the Angel.
Lamb Leg Steaks With Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
This is another recipe off the side of a packet of meat from Waitrose.
You will need.
- A packet of four lamb leg streaks. The ones I used were new season Welsh ones.
- 200 ml. of lamb or chicken stock
- 2 tsp sun dried tomato paste
- 2 tbsp of creme fraiche
- 25g of fat soft cheese
- lemon juice.
- fresh basil.
And this is how you do it.
- Grill the steaks, which should take about 15 minutes. Keep them warm.
- Put the stock in a pan and bring to the boil with the tomato paste.
- Add the creme fraiche and the cheese, a squeeze of lemon juice and season well.
- Simmer for one minute, add a few shredded basic leaves and pour over the lamb
It says serve with rosti potatoes and sugar snap peas.
The Anonymous Widower 