Asking for gluten-free is the key to a) getting gluten-free food and b) making chefs realize you need it! As a gluten-free advocate, you are in a unique position to extend the repertoire of chefs everywhere (oh the power!!).
The more people that ask for gluten-free goodies, the more they will arrive. By asking, you’re helping people learn the importance of gluten-free eating and spare a thought for all us gf peeps when they’re preparing food.
It can be too easy to think ‘oh they don’t have gluten-free’ if you read many menus or look across food counters. But you’ll be amazed how many café and restaurant staff will respond positively when they know you’re gluten-free.
It’s actually completely normal to ask if cafes and restaurants can cater for you. Staff will usually either offer a gluten-free meal or substitute ingredients so your meal will be magically transformed in a gluten-free wonder ….. e voila!
If staff aren’t helpful I suggest ‘voting with your feet’ (that’s code for ‘exit the building immediately’!).
And my personal mission has become educating chefs and bakers about not churning out endless gluten-free orange syrup cake!
To give them the benefit of the doubt, they probably think they’re being very considerate of us gluten-freers but really …. how much orange syrup cake can one ingest in one’s lifetime?
So I’m attempting to change the trend by asking cafes if they have anything else gluten-free. I notice a number of places are now providing gluten-free chocolate brownie. It’s a start!
My best consumption of gf baking was at a café which produced a gf banana café with custard in the middle ….. de-vine!!
