Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts

Wednesday, 8 January 2014

2013. The Best Bits

Happy new year! I do hope you're all getting used to writing 2014, instead of 2013. I'll still be getting it wrong in April, but that's nothing new! Before I rush, head first, into the brand new year ahead, I thought I'd take a moment to look back at the highlights of 2013. Predictably, my favourite bits are all food related.


The absolute best bit of 2013, for me, was my trip to River Cottage for their gluten free cookery course. As well as completely changing the way I approach my baking, it showed me how removing the gluten from something doesn't automatically require me to add loads of rubbish in its place. I've embraced many more grains and different gluten free flours than before, and I've even made my own sourdough starter! I'm dropping serious hints to my family about the advanced course that's running in August (coincidentally, just after my birthday)!


The most moreish cake of the year was Honeyrose Bakery's Banana Cake. They sent me a sample back in April and I'd eaten the entire thing before I had a chance to photograph it! In fact, I've bought many more banana cakes since then, and they all seem to magically disappear in a matter of minutes. The Husband doesn't even like banana, so I can't blame him - this cake really is good! Actually, all of the free from products I've tried from Honeyrose Bakery are excellent. I particularly love their individually wrapped brownies and macaroons, I can pop a couple in my bag for peckish moments when I'm out and about!





Back in Spring, I started to notice that Asda's distinctive yellow and black free from packaging was being used for non-gluten-free products, and wondered what was going on. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I work for Asda, but until 2013 I had very little in the way of praise for their gluten free offerings.) I was delighted to discover, however, that they were phasing out the old packaging to make way for an extended range of free from products, in new purple packaging! As well as their own-brand products (of which, the cheese sauce mix and cous cous are my personal favourites) they have introduced an increased range of products from other producers, like Isabel's and The Good Little Sausage Company. Well done, Asda! Now when people ask me what I think about my employers' own gluten free effort, I don't have to change the subject.


Eating pizza has never been better for us gluten free types, has it? Pizza Express and Pizza Hut showed the rest how it should be done, and Dominos did all they could to encourage us to eat our pizza at home! I don't know what 2014 holds for Coeliacs eating out, but the brand new Free From Eating Out Awards are sure to reveal a few gems.

Speaking of the Free From Food Awards (at least, indirectly), one of the highlights of last year's awards ceremony was the opportunity to try the Indian Coeliac's fabulous parathas. They are available to order, and I really do recommend you try them too. As the judging starts soon for this year's awards, I'm excited about what brilliant products I'm going to discover this time!


So, what were your free from highlights of 2013? Was it the chance to eat a decent bagel again? Maybe it was gluten free pasta turning up in the fresh food aisle of the supermarket? Could it have been the much discussed quarter final of The Great British Bake Off and its free from elements? Or, was it something else altogether? Let me know in the comments section!

Monday, 29 April 2013

Gluten Free at Pizza Express

When it comes to introducing gluten free items to your menu, Pizza Express have really gone the extra mile. Instead of simply adding a GF pizza base and feeling smug, they spent 18 months trying hundreds of bases to find the very best one, worked with Coeliac UK to make sure they were doing everything right, introduced measures to prevent the risk of cross contamination and invited a group of gluten free bloggers to give the seal of approval to the menu. Not content to just introduce a gluten free pizza base, Pizza Express are also launching a delicious risotto starter, Green's GF Pilsner and a rich gluten free brownie for dessert! The children's menu is getting the same treatment, with a gluten free piccolo pizza base and brownie.

A gluten free pizza you can order with confidence!

Last Monday, I went along to meet the team behind the new gluten free menu items and taste the results of their hard work. To say that Pizza Express listen to their customers would be an understatement!  Head of Marketing, Emma has been carrying a print out of a guest post, written by @DavidJ_GF, voicing his concerns about the trials of the gluten free menu at selected restaurants. The whole team have been using the (very eloquently written) post as the basis for addressing the commonly held issues most Coeliacs have with GF items in chain restaurants. Pizza Express really care about how we (customers and Coeliacs) feel about eating at their restaurants and have been working with Coeliac UK to get NGCI accreditation so that anyone ordering a gluten free meal can to so with confidence. 

Instead of being apologetic about their efforts at gluten free dining, the team at Pizza Express decided to work toward something they'd be proud to shout about and I think they should boast about the new menu!

To deal with the risk of contamination from airborne flour, Pizza Express have replaced all flour with a gluten free flour mix for dusting surfaces and stretching dough. All gluten free pizza bases are individually wrapped and as soon as the first GF pizza is ordered in a restaurant, the kitchen will open a new passata and mozzarella, use separate ladles and pizza screens and serve the pizza on special boards to distinguish the gluten free ones from the wheaty ones.

If that's not enough to fill your heart with cheer, then you'll be pleased to know that Food and Drink Manager, Holly and Development Chef, Anton's mammoth global effort (they actually sampled bases from as far away as Australia!) to source a really great pizza base has paid off. The pizzas are outstanding and all the more delicious for the peace of mind that comes from all the measures Pizza Express have put in place to ensure that cross contamination is not an issue in their kitchens. 

A delicious Risotto d'Oro for starter.

Every member of Pizza Express staff have undergone thorough training, ready for the launch of the new menu tomorrow (30th April) and all new-starts will receive exactly the same training as part of their induction, so you can always be confident that your order is treated the same in every branch, every time you visit. 

I'll definitely be heading to Pizza Express for the new menu launch on 30th April, find your nearest restaurant and try it, too!