Coeliac UK - Hassle free gluten free

For my amazing Mum and Dad and Mark, my wonderful husband.

Without you none of this could have happened. You have supported and loved me through both the hard times and the very good times.

Love you lots,
xxxx

Contents

introduction

Its an incredible feeling to be sitting writing the introduction to my very own book, a book which is first and foremost about some of my favourite home recipes with treats and everyday food included. It also just happens to be gluten free because thats how I have cooked at home for the last 14 years since my youngest son, Ben, was diagnosed as a Coeliac aged two.

If you eat everything and anything, food is one of the most inclusive parts of our lives. It brings people together. Some of my very best moments in life have been sitting around a table sharing every type of food, from the most humble of dishes to the occasional Michelin starred meal. The simple joy of being able to order whatever I wanted from a menu or being included in a no fuss way in any party was something I have always taken for granted.

I was lucky that I have always had an absolute love of cooking, and to me food is just integral to my family. The word foodies perfectly represents my family, as food is just one of our central and grounding cores. I truly believe that families that eat together stay together.

My father was a market trader and food salesman who brought home incredible produce from work. My mum was an amazing cook who could churn out wonderful food, often from very humble ingredients, so I grew up eating things like giblet stew and rabbit, as well as whatever was left behind or had caught dads eye at market. This was in the days before the plethora of cookbooks, and access to huge numbers of recipes on the internet. Mum just has an intuitive understanding of food which I have taken on board, just by being in the kitchen and working with her and my nan. I am proud that I am not a fussy eater and that I have brought up my children to eat the same way.

However, Bens diagnosis changed all of that. I began to appreciate how alienating it can be to not be able to partake in this most everyday of customs. Childrens parties in particular were a minefield; pizza parties and fast food so often associated with childrens activities became complicated. Ben had to learn to take a packed lunch with him and to be different, which is so hard when everyone is learning to fit in. Sometimes he didnt even get invited because obviously he couldnt go to a pizza-making party.

We were faced with the challenges of educating him dont just eat any sweets at a party (honestly who would have thought Smarties have gluten in them!) to teaching him to say no to adults who were adamant that what he was eating was OK. On one infamous occasion, one of our dearest family friends peeled the breadcrumbed skin from some fried chicken and told him it was fine to eat it. She was absolutely mortified by her mistake but it could so easily have been a nasty experience.

Food had become a minefield but I didnt want it to become the defining thing in Bens life. For me, he had to learn to live with his diagnosis, understand it and get on with it. It was not an excuse to not be everything he wanted to be.

It became so important, therefore, that at home we ate gluten free. Yes Ben has a separate bread bin and toaster, and a separate cupboard for some of his food, but everyday meals were going to be inclusive. We were all going to eat the same.

So my challenge was to cook meals that my eldest children wouldnt moan about (a miracle in itself some days), and that Ben could eat. The last thing you want around a dinner table which is fraught with all the normal traps that all parents encounter was the refrain why do we have to eat this just because of Ben I like real pizza or proper gravy The list was endless. My kids were great but they were kids, and who could blame them?

In all fairness, I could understand what they meant. Fourteen years ago, when Ben was first diagnosed, there was not a vast range of products available for people who needed to eat a gluten-free diet. Some of the food on offer, including basics like bread and pasta, was unpleasant to say the least. So I had to start from scratch at home, making recipes up, having total disasters, triumphs and genuinely discovering a way that I could daily feed my whole family a gluten-free diet.

We have had some real challenges, bread probably being the main one and cost another, but through necessity I persevered. Its now a constant joke in my house, but the question I ask most often is not do you like it, but can you tell its gluten free? The children are brutally honest and it has taken a while, but this is what I strive to achieve; to make food that people coming into my house are unaware is gluten free, but just think it is good food.

And why should Ben accept food of a lesser quality or taste? My answer: he shouldnt.

Being gluten free is not always a personal choice or preference. I am no food nutritionist and would never advocate any major changes in diet for most people. However, there are those who are genuinely intolerant to gluten as well as those that are diagnosed Coeliac.

I have found it so frustrating over the years to see Ben palmed off with food that is not fit for purpose, that is so sub-standard in flavour and texture. And sadly it happens in both restaurants and supermarkets. In addition, ready-made gluten-free food can be scarily expensive and, like a lot of ready-made food, it is full of additives and preservatives.

Of course I dont make everything for Ben, and he does have shop-bought treats. He loves ginger biscuits and I often buy them along with the occasional cake for a treat. Like any mum, I am not superhuman, and gluten-free fish fingers have been a favourite standby for a number of years, while the ability to buy the occasional pizza is a blessing when I am working away.

However day to day I cook, and I am lucky I love it. I am intrigued by it and want to persevere to get things right. Its my passion. Hence the MasterChef thing!

For years we have watched it as a family; I love it and admit to being a total addict. From Lloyd Grossman Sunday afternoons to watching the very first series featuring John Torode and Gregg Wallace, its been a must-see programme in my house. For years the children had prompted me to enter, but I never thought I was good enough. This culminated in them taking matters into their own hands and filling in the form for me. Ben was instrumental in this and we did it one rainy summers afternoon.

That silly afternoon has changed my life. I never believed I could win, I never believed I was good enough but I persevered and cooked what I loved and am still pinching myself that I have the trophy sitting on my mantelpiece. I loved my time on the show and it allowed me to experiment and push myself in a way I would never have achieved without it. It was a truly amazing experience and one I will always treasure.

There were ups and downs, not least the day I couldnt cook an egg(!), but I learnt so much and have gone on to make a career doing what I love; talking about and cooking food. The MasterChef experience taught me how creative I could be and how I could elevate my food to fine dining but truthfully my heart lies very much in family cookery, its what I love and how I cook every day at home.