A Dastardly Plot
I am a coeliac as well as being an Ipswich Town supporter. A couple of years ago, Delia was on the radio promoting one of her books and I got to ask her about gluten-free food. She admitted she didn’t know anything about it.
So why at the next away Derby match at Carrow Road don’t we give Delia a test? Let’s get four coeliacs and book a table for lunch before the match. I should say that I’ve asked Ipswich hospitality and they can do gluten-free as can Newmarket Racecourse and the two Premier League Clubs I’ve contacted.
There is one point has to be said. I also talked to Gordon Ramsey about gluten-free food in a restaurant. He said that if you book at least 24 hours before and say you want a gluten-free meal, the restaurant has no excuse for not giving you what you need. I have found that his advice usually works, except in a couple of cases where they have said they can’t, so I’ve just gone elsewhere.
Let’s hope she gets the message.
I always wonder if she got those “Wish You Were Here” postcards Town fans sent on the European adventures a few years ago.
A Good Trip to Crewe and Chester
It was a good trip, not only because Ipswich won and I was able to renew old memories in Chester, but also because of the little things that happened and that I discovered.
- Virgin’s First Class lounges made travel in my condition a bit easier.
- The Crewe Arms offered a comfortable bed and good coffee in the morning close to the station and the football.
- I had a very good curry in Passage to India in Crewe.
- The staff and stewards at Crewe Alexandra were pleasant and welcoming.
- Real pubs still exist in the most unlikely places.
- I got a nice complimentary gluten-free salad on the way back. So Virgin can do gluten-free, despite what I said earlier.
I shall definitely go to Crewe again, if Ipswich play there!
The Albion, Chester
I was walking the Chester city walls with the intention of going back to a nice restaurant in Bridge Street, when I saw this pub called the Albion.
The Albion, Chester
What had caught my eye was the various chalked boards on the outside of the building. This one which was readable from the walls, said that this could be pub that was to my taste.
Perfect Advertising for a Pub
So did the Albion live up to what it said on the outside. I just had a half of cider to drink. This could have been better, but then I come from Suffolk, where they make the best;Aspalls. As they do sometimes have Adnams on draught, it shows how much the county of my conception is influencing the taste of discerning drinkers, all over these Isles.
As I said, I was ready for lunch, so I chose a cottage pie from the menu.
Cottage Pie at the Albion
I suspect it was wrongly named as it is more of an individual house pie. It was of course gluten-free. It was certified by the pleasant barmaid, who said that her mother was a coeliac like me!
I should say that the Albion also does bed and breakfast, which if their beds are as well-proprtioned as the pies, might well be something.
Crewe
After reading the Wikipedia entry for Crewe, I was apprehensive, as it is not complimentary and quotes Bill Bryson as saying it isw the armpit of Cheshire.
But I also have had the other view from the late MP for Crewe; Gwyneth Dunwoody, who used to be my next door neighbour. She was the sort, that if you went to borrow some sugar, you didn’t return until after several stiff drinks.
Even last week at Crystal Palace, a fellow Ipswich fan had said that he’d enjoyed a couple of trips to the town to see Ipswich.
The Crewe Arms Hotel, Crewe
I stayed in the Crewe Arms by the station, which is typical of many station hotels all over the UK. It has mahogany panelling, deep red carpets and brown leather sofas. One unexpected thing it has is free and high-speed wi-fi. It definitely didn’t have that in 1880 when it opened.
I slept reasonably well too, as the bed was comfortable. The room was very clean with a bathroom that looks like it had been refurbished in the last year or so.
In the morning, I skipped breakfast because I ate well the previous night, but the coffee I had in a proper china pot was of a high standard.
I would certainly stay there again, if I went back to the football at Crewe.
The town centre was fairly clean with a lot of flowers and had most of the usual names.
Shopping Centre, Crewe
But the highglight last night was an excellent Indian meal in the Passage to India.
Passage To India, Crewe
The building was best desribed as clean, smart and comfortable, the staff were polite and professional and I give the food at least five bricks in honour of Brick Lane, where C and I had one of our most memorable Indian meals together. How about this for a seious shami kebab.
A Serious Shami Kebab
Nothing Gluten-Free on Virgin Trains
There were complimentary sandwiches, but nothing that was gluten-free, except for an apple, coffee and diet-Pepsi.
Sandwiches are always a problem, as you can’t expect gluten-free ones. I would have liked a banana, as I find apples a bit difficult with my mouth from the stroke.
Virgin’s First Class Toilets
Some coeliacs can be paranoid about toilets as many like me, have had so much diarrhoea, that it becomes a way of life. Now that I’m strictly gluten-free I rarely suffer that way, but I still sort out the best toilets. Certainly, one of the pleasures of travelling on Virgin is the quality of the First Class Lounge at Euston The free toilets were definitely up to the best standard expected.
On the subject of toliets,those at Portman Road are pretty good. It will be interesting to see how Gresty Road stacks up tonight.
Carluccio’s Risotto is Now Gluten-Free
Carluccio’s new gluten free menu has this satatement.
Our risottos are gluten free. We serve a different one every
week, so please see our Specials Board or ask staff for details.
I had a serious and very good chicken and spinach risotto in their Spitalifields branch last night.
The only trouble with Carluccio’s, is that there aren’t enough of them.
Colcannon Chicken and Apple Pie
I was looking for something a bit different to add to the potato topped pies that I like and keep for suppers by myself in the freezer and I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com. Note that this website marks all recipes as to gluten-free, vegetarian etc.
The ingredients I used for the pie were.
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 450 gram chicken breast fillets cut into chunks
- 2 carrots, thickly sliced
- 250 ml. pf chicken stock
- 250 ml. of dry cider – Aspalls of course!
- 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
- 1 tsp dried tarragon
- 2 Cox’s apples, thickly sliced
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- salt and pepper
And for the Colcannon topping I used.
- 700 grams of potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 200 grams of Savoy cabbage, shredded
- 4 tbsp of semi-skimmed goats milk
- 25 gramsbutter
- 4 spring onions, finely chopped.
These quantities make enough for four, so I froze some of it for later.
The method was as follows.
- Heat the oil in a large, deep, non-stick frying pan. Add the onion and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes or until softened.
- Add the chicken to the pan and cook over a moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until it is no longer pink. Stir in the carrots.
- Combine the stock, cider, mustard and tarragon, and pour into the pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and cook gently for 10 minutes. Stir in the apples and cook, covered, for a further 10 minutes or until the chicken and carrots are tender, and the apples have softened but are still holding their shape.
- Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in a saucepan of boiling water for about 15 minutes or until tender. Cook the cabbage in a separate pan of boiling water for 4–5 minutes or until just tender but not soft; drain well.
- Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan. Add the milk and butter, and mash until smooth. Stir in the cabbage and spring onions, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover to keep warm.
- Using a draining spoon, transfer the chicken, apples and vegetables to a 1.7 litre (3 pint) ovenproof dish. Set aside.
- Mix the cornflour with 1 tbsp cold water, stir into the cooking liquid in the frying pan and bring to the boil, stirring until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then pour over the chicken mixture.
- Pile the potato and cabbage topping over the chicken mixture, spreading it evenly to cover. Place in the top oven of the AGA and bake until golden brown.
I made a couple of mistakes in that I didn’t make enough topping and the sauce could have done with more thickening. But it was well worth the ewffort.
Gluten-Free Food on East Coast
Readers may think, I’m just a whingeing coeliac, but no, I’m looking at this from a marketing point of view, as because I know that when there is nothing suitable to eat, I don’t! So that means that every trip I do up and down the East Coast Main Line costs them probably at least a tenner each way in lost revenue. Also, how many coeliacs don’t book say from London to York, because they know if they drive there’s a nice place for a meal halfway!
There are also alternatives at present, as because I live in East Anglia, I change trains at Peterbrough and as I usually have an hour or so, I can walk across to Marks and Spencer in the Queensgate Shopping Centre and have something in Cafe Revive or one of several other places in the city centre. But as I said in an earlier post, the route from the station to the shopping centre is not good.
If I move to London as I intend and I was going north for the day, I’d walk across to St. Pancras and have a gluten-free breakfast in Carluccio’s. I hope my favourite Italian caffes will book a place in the new King’s Cross, as it develops. But if it doesn’t, it’ll always be worth the walk!
But why should I have to, when I’m going on the train?
So what should they do in my opinion?
- East Coast offer a ready-made cottage pie in their Light Bites. As it is just microwaved there is no contamination problem. so this and I think the fish pie could easily be made gluten-free. After all, most peoples’ cottage and fish pies are gluten-free anyway, but then some food manufacturers can’t resist adding flour to everything!
- A nice curry would also be gluten-free. Incidentally, curries are often the gluten-free meal on many airlines. I remember one I had was excellent.
- There is also a smoked salmon salad, which should be gluten-free, but they’d run out last time I asked for it.
- I notice there is a full English breakfast. I might try it one day leaving out the sausage. If they are prepared individually, it should be possible to deliver them gluten-free. That is just systems and perhaps a little bit of training.
- The choice of snacks is important, as some are suitable and others are not! Most coeliac-friendly pubs just stock the basic unflavoured Kettle ones. I didn’t check the crisps on East Coast, but as they were Walkers, they’d have been marked suitable for coeliacs if they were. I’ve been in pubs, where none were!
- Coeliacs don’t drink beer, so perhaps a bottled or canned proper cider, like Aspall or Weston might be an idea. That may not be possible, but wine is fine though, although I find some don’t taste too good with my stroke.
Incidentally, I’d travelled on GNER some years ago and I had asked the waiter, if the salmon was gluten-free. The chef came and said it was, but he'[d cook it personally to avoid any cross contamination. I remember, it was very good.
I don’t always want or need service like that, but with just a little bit of thought and virtually no extra expenditure, train companies might actually increase revenue.
Fast Food – Loch Fyne Style
When you are a coeliac, snack lunches or quick meals on the go are a real problem. At times, I’ve been reduced to Crunchie Bars, Kettle Crisps or even McDonalds fries. But I always yearn for something better.
Whilst getting tickets at the Gilded Balloon, my stomach asked for lunch and I walked alongside the side of the venue into the fast food area.
What caught my eye was a caravan from Loch Fyne Oysters.
Loch Fyne Oysters Caravan at the Gilded Balloon
I’m not into oysters and muscles, but they did have something deliciously different; kedgeree.
They just put a generous portion into a cardboard punnet and warmed it back up in a microwave. Perhaps not very Gordon Ramsey, but it was certainly better and better for me than a greasy burger.
Let’s make kedgeree the fast food of the future.
The Anonymous Widower 