WAG Free Bakery, Brixton, London

Going to a shop or cafe where you can eat everything in sight is absolutely impossible when you are Coeliac. Until now. Head down to Brixton Village, an undercover 1930's market recently saved from desperate times, and nestled amongst an exciting mix of independent shops, cafes and restaurants is the  WAG (Wheat and Gluten) Free Bakery.

I discovered their baked goods through their only other stockist, Franklins Farmshop in East Dulwich. A few cakes and pies grace the tables heaving with seasonal produce, but are usually gone by saturday. They are that good. I can't tell you my disappointment if I don't get there in time. So to prevent such situations I dragged my brother over to Brixton to sample the whole package.

I totally underestimated how excited I could be about unlimited food choices. And choices of things I have not had for such a long time. In the past, my sweet tooth has driven me to bake gluten free cakes, puddings and dessert recipes, because I have honestly not missed things like pies, quiches or sandwiches. Or maybe not? I think I has forgotten what I was missing.

Perched on the tottering bar stools with my 11month old son bouncing on the counter, we sampled a toasted cheese and onion sandwich for lunch which was excellent. Good strong, oozy cheese and crunchy tasty bread. But I had to try more, knowing what the sweet goods are like so we ordered two little steak pies, a Bakewell tart, the legendary Wagon Wheel plus a box of pasta from Dialsi which owner David raves about, to take away. And I was being restrained.

Over the past couple of days I have enjoyed the continued sampling (all the in name of research of course) and can honestly say that all the products are excellent. Such high quality pastry across the range, although the pie in particular was excellent as vouched for my "normal" pie eating brother. But then David admits to being a pie man, so no surprise he has perfected his recipe.

What else, can I say? Get down there. Support the WAG Bakery. Enjoy their products whether you are gluten free or not. I would challenge you to know the difference.

Please note - there would have been pictures, but I ate it all then realised I wanted to photograph them. Oh well. Just have to go again!

Graze on nuts, seeds and fruit

As a Coeliac I rely heavily on fruit, nuts and seeds to fill me up and give texture to dishes where wheat would normally do the job. Naturally gluten free and super healthy, my current favourites are walnut pieces on my stewed apple and yoghurt breakfast, a snack of whole skin on almonds with plump raisins and I always have a stash of blanched almonds ready for cake making moments.


However if you don't feel the inspiration to make your own mixes there is always Graze. I am not one to promote specific companies, however I was so impressed with a response to my gluten free enquiry that I wanted to share them here. 


Graze send through the post a weekly snack box with your personalised choice of fruits, nuts, seeds and snacks for just a couple of quid a week. My friend Pip has been raving about them, so thought I would give them at try. Looking at the selection, there are many gluten-ous snacks, some with soy sauce but there is no mention of Coeliac friendly options on the site... for now. 


They are currently working on a list of gluten free options, and can remove the gluten containing snacks for you. So snack away...or make your own!

Countryside Game Butchery Course

I felt like a right city girl, as I ploughed through 6 inches of snow in my light converse trainers and the rest of my group graced the snow, weather proofed in hardy wellingtons and walking boots. I had popped up to Kingham on the edges of the Cotswolds for a morning’s education about game butchery with the Daylesford Organic Farm School. The snow had long ago melted in the metropolis, not that London had really seen that much anyway. But as I sat there on the train, heading through the Home Counties still deep in snow, it slowly dawned on me that I was somewhat under-prepared.


Grateful for a coffee on arrival to thaw my fingers chilled by a draughty train journey, we trudged out the back of the Daylesford country complex through untouched powder to their Chelsea Flower Show Garden. Thankfully we were butchering inside the stunning, Bamford styled glass room – home to the Organic Farm School – against a backdrop of beautiful countryside swathed with drifts of snow.

Naked pheasants graced our chopping boards, plucked, gutted and awaiting our attention, whilst a couple silently hung from the beams in their just shot feathery form. Hosted by a seasoned Hunter, Master Butcher and Cookery Teacher we talked through types of birds to eat, different species of venison, the dangers of shot, the ethics and sustainability of shooting for meat and how to make the most of the prize in the kitchen. 


As with other courses I have taken, this class was largely hands on. I need to get my hands dirty to really grasp and appreciate the skill and precision required in a craft such as butchery. We spent most of our time handling the meat, tying knots and stuffing birds as expertly as possible. Very quickly the team erased my fear of wild birds and beasts and equipped us with names of mysterious cuts. Did you know haunch is the same cut as rump or that saddle is the same as loin – well you do now! The best bit of course was leaving with a pheasant jointed, deboned and stuffed by our own fair hands, to cook at home and consume with pride.

With my meat in the bag and knowledge on my mind, I zipped back to the city with a taste for the wild. So, whilst this proud city girl won’t be found shooting the local pigeon population at Trafalgar Square, she will be in wilds of Peckham roasting her pheasant breasts, preserving legs a la confit and hunting for venison next time at the butchers.


For more details of the courses run by Daylesford, check out their website and please note that I was a bog standard paying customer, so no bribes were accepted for this glowing review (except a lift to the station...)

Competition for Borough Market?

London Farmers's Markets, who run authentic and certified produce markets with a selection that enables you to complete your weekly shop have begun their foray south of the river. Brixton opened to much acclaim from local residents a month or so ago, and at the beginning of November they opened in Bermondsey.

Most Londoners, let along Brits are unfamiliar with places south of the river, and Bermondsey may not mean much to many. However to those in the know, this area is a foodie mecca, home to the food temple that is Borough Market, awesome local coffee roasters and merchants Monmouth Coffee and legendary fromagerie Neal's Yard Dairy. Just a five minute walk from here is Bermondsey St, an extension of foodie heaven with a great selection of restaurants, coffee shops and bars and now Bermondsey Farmers Market.

As a local (just 6minutes from my home by train) it's a real breath of fresh air to have some well priced, local, seasonal produce being sold by the producer without jostling with tourists and long lens cameras to get near to some over priced food, as is the case at Borough. A great selection of meats, seasonal veggies, apple and pear varieties demonstrating the diversity of British fruit, fresh fish prepared in front of you...these traders are why I love farmers markets.

So, for those of you in the mood for buying your weekly shop in the tranquillity of an open square free from tourists head to Bermondsey Farmers Market, open from the very sociable hours of 10am til 2pm, and you will discover the real heart of London food shopping.

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Coffee Fix

A leaving present from my colleagues at FoodLovers Britain was a pack of coffee from what I believe to be the best coffee shop in London - Monmouth Coffee. This had priority packing status when I left the UK, and it was safely transported to New Delhi for our morning fixes in our new home. The coffee - Fazenda Barreiro from Brazil and ground for our cafetiere - is so fruity and fragrant it tastes like the tropical climate we are living in.

We have been savouring the intense taste and perfect crema, as India is not known for its high quality coffee. The travel books all talk of "stand your spoon up in it" milky Nescafe, but actually this is not the case.

India has a long history as a coffee drinking nation, and today is the sixth biggest coffee producer. Back when the Mughals ruled Delhi between 1526 and 1857 men loved to debate, discuss politics and listen to poetry in the coffee houses of Chandi Chowk, in what is now Old Delhi. Brought to India from Persia, the coffee houses were extremely popular largely due to the Hindu abstention from alcohol - much like the Delhi of today.

Coffee shops in Delhi today are at every market and dominated by two chains; Barista serving Lavazza coffee in a fast food style environment and Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) which has a more relaxed feel. Although CCD is a huge chain with 733 outlets nationwide, their coffee is really very good, and not remotely like Starbucks to whom I initially compared them.

Part of the Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company who grow, cure and export India's finest beans from Chickmaglur in the state of Karnataka, they work with 11,000 small coffee farmers, to create a smooth and rich coffee. In the cafes, the list of drinks they serve is endless with lots of iced versions to beat the heat. But, their chocolate or mocha versions – even for a coffee purist such as myself - are really very good, albeit more of a desert than a drink. They use a shot of real espresso coffee (not the ready-made mixes like Starbucks) and rich, strong dark chocolate. We often pop along to our local friendly Cafe Coffee Day of an evening for a Cafe Frappe caffeine hit as we would visit the pub back home.

As the stock of Monmouth coffee dwindles, one of the conditions for family coming to visit us is "bring good coffee (or decent wine)". But even as we enjoy our last sip of Monmouth coffee, in the mean time we can sample the drinks in Delhi’s exploding coffee shop culture made from locally sourced coffee beans.

Oh, and for all those coffee lovers out there... here is a warning to you all.

Indian food provenence

Looking back to life in the UK, I have quickly realised how much importance I place on the provenance of the food I buy. In India - food shopping is a whole different kettle of fish - with small supermarkets only just making their mark in upper class areas and most food is sold by indepedent traders - fruit carts, fruit and veg market stalls, butchers, bakers and corner shop style supermarkets. However, the provenance is not really mentioned. To be honest, trying to get the vegetable seller to understand that I want to buy some coriander - hana dhania in Hindi I think - is challenging enough, let alone trying to find out where it was grown!

These eggs that I picked up in the crammed shelves of Star Bazaar demonstrate exactly this. I have no idea whether these eggs are free range or organic and I am assuming they are from India.... but there is nothing to confirm this. They're good eggs though...

So far in my research about where Indian food is grown and produced I have yielded little information, but I have come across navdanya.org/index.htm">Navdanya. This Indian organisation which has partnered with Slow Food works to preserve Indian food culture, biodiversity, seed sovereignty and farmers livelihoods. Focusing on closing the food circle - they have a farm to fork policy and have opened a a Slow Food Cafe in New Delhi and food outlets for their provenance focused food across the city.... This may be where I discover more about the origins of what I am cooking with... and maybe even free range eggs?

Pork Butchery Class

This is the third butchery course I have taken at the Ginger Pig under the tutelage of Borat and Perry – this time it was pork having already taken the beef and lamb editions. The courses feature lots of hands on experience, crucial when getting to grips with where muscles and bones of the animal are placed.


Beginning with the farming practices used to rear the rare breads of pigs on their 4 farms, we learnt about different types of fat, how they make their renowned sausages (albeit brief as there is indeed a sausage making course too) and the differences between organic and free range pork husbandry.


Eager to get into chopping up the meat, we moved over to the butchers block as one lucky student was tasked with lifting half a pig off the hook onto the bench. Wanting to be at the heart of the action, I got a little too close and was surprisingly smacked in the face with the pigs’ trotter. After we’d chuckled about the dangers of handling pigs we began to identify the different pork cuts, taking turns to hack, chop and slice our way through 3 sides of pork.

Being hands on is the most efficient way to learn, so for the end of the session created a porchetta roasting joint from a section of pork loin to take home. Removing and scoring the back fat for crackling, then prizing the bones from the precious loin meat we each concentrated on not slicing our fingers with the sharp boning knifes. Smothering handfuls of salt, pepper, fennel seed and garlic pulp to the flesh, the back fat was then tied back in place with masterful butchers knots (after half a dozen attempts... I wish they would run knot tutorials!)

Whilst we had been butchering away, Borat had been roasting a porchetta for us to devour with a well earned glass of wine. Accompanied with potatoes roasted in beef dripping we devoured the meal as we swapped hearty foodie stories on road kill butchery and wild boar hunting – not for the faint hearted!

So, the weekend has forced a Saturday supper of porchetta (although enough to serve about 6, we’ll be enjoying leftovers all week) roasted to perfection with cracking crackling. Only the sausage course to go and I graduate from the Ginger Pig School of Butchery – maybe an apprenticeship next?

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A return to real porridge on a cold morning

I could not believe my eyes when talking to a small producer back in April at the Real Food Festival who was selling oats. When offered a taste of her Scottish porridge oats, I babbled my usual "thanks but I have coelaic disease so....) when Gill, the owner of Tilquhillie Fine Foods interrupted me to tell me they were gluten free.

Rather excited by this, I want to really understand how they were gluten free so Gill explained how they are certified gluten free by the Coeliac Association. Grown on land that has only ever seen oat seeds, they are processed in an oat only mill - which is where the cross contamination usually occurs.

In addition to the plain, simple and delicious oats, Gill also makes steamed gluten free puddings, including a Christmas version - perfect for this time of year.

So, my days now begin with a steaming bowl of Socttish porridge with an energy boosting drizzle of golden syrup...and finish with a steamed almong and apricot pud.

To get hold of these wonderous oats - contact Gill on 01330 822 037... or at GFF Direct

...and watch this space for gluten free oat and raisin cookie recipes...

Supermarket Sweep

One of the most eye opening things about being diagnosed with Coeliac Disease is discovering those unknown places where gluten lurks. I always check the packet and ingredients list - which can make supermarket shopping more of a chore than it is, but is massively important as you just never know - I am often caught by surprise! So here is a list of less obvious foods that can contain gluten:

Soy sauce - wheat is one of the main ingredients, however Japanese tamari is often gluten free and Clear Spring produce an organic gluten free one, aged in cedar wood over two summers.

Crisps - flavourings in crisps use wheat flour as a way of making the minute amounts seasoning distribute properly, so always check the ingredients. For some GF flavours - which are often hard to come by, Devon based Burts Chips do a mature cheddar, plus their salt and vinegar flavour replaces the usual suspect of malt vinegar with a sherry one.

Buckwheat noodles - Despite the name, buckwheat is gluten free, however some brands of buckwheat noodles add wheat to the recipe. King Soba produce very tasty 100% buckwheat noodle, great for a filling cold salad.

Pickled Onions - Complement your ploughman's with onions that are pickled in spirit vinegar rather than malt. They don't have quite the same flavour however still have that vinegary hit.

Chocolate - Expensive chocolate ahoy. Cheap chocolate manufacturers use flour to make sure the bars to not stick to the production line belt and unfortunately, with the Cadbury's take over of Green and Blacks their bars are no longer GF. In my experience I have found artisan, handmade chocolate to be much more reliable and regularly stock up at British gluten free goddesses Montezuma.

Ice Cream - Strangely, some ice creams contain wheat to stop the fruit from sinking in the mix. If you think about it, many of the premium ice cream have indulgent goodies such as cookie dough, crumble, biscuits bits in which is annoyingly off limits. Even Green and Blacks, also a premium ice cream use their own brand of chocolate which is not safe (see above) so always check the ingredients.

Ice Lollies - Check the ingredients on these - just discovered retro lollies FAB contain gluten in their cheap chocolate...what a shame?

Oats contain a protein similar to gluten, and there are some oats available that are certified GF by the Coeliac Association, from Scotland.

Spelt is an ancient form of wheat and is therefore a no go for Gluten Free diet, however those who are intolerant to wheat can eat spelt.

More will be added as I come across them...

Finally I think the gluten free message is getting though.

Not sure about everyone else, but I am increasingly noticing gluten free sections and products popping up in more mainstream and foodie places. For example, I have just seen British Fine Foods – a recently launched website where you can buy the best of produce from these shores and they have a gluten free section. In it are sausages from Redhill Farm using free range Landrace-Duroc pigs, plus a range of Pates, and even a cake from seemingly all natural ingredients.

Are there any other places where you have come across gluten free sections unexpectedly?

Picked and Pickled!

One hour, 3 people and 30 kilos of cherries later, the cherry tree that I have rented has been stripped bare. The orchard grows a range of modern cherry varieties such as Kordia, Colney and Sweetheart, and mine being Colney were second in the season to ripen in the middle of July, right on schedule despite the recent pouring rain.

Rain damages these precious soft fruits, so me and my fellow cherry pickers were pleased to see the perfect ripe round fruits. Not that a few splits would have made any impact on the amount that we picked.

The Sussex Cherry Picker - aka my mother was sent home from the orchard with a mere 5kilos with instructions to freeze the ones she was unable to eat. I only have an ice box which is already crammed with garden herbs, so there will be some Sussex cherry treats later in the year to look forward to if we're not sick of them by then.

Worried about my precious fruit spoiling, I prepared in advance for pickling and jam making. On arrival back at the flat, the reality of the situation dawned on me...the random collection of just 8 jars in varying sizes would not be quite enough. Off to the cook shop for some kilner jars - litre ones!

What I thought would be an evening making a few jars of jam and cherries in kirsch, turned into a week of evenings de-strigging and stoning cherries and sterilising jars. What fun though?! Never having preserved before, I quickly got to grips with the essentials such as making sugar syrups, jam making, and most importantly securing a good seal.

Preserving has come back into fashion, thankfully as I scoured the Internet for cherry recipes - spiced cherries for Christmas, cherries in kirsch, cherries in syrup, cherry jam - or rather compote (cherries are a low pectin fruit, which I learnt after making the jam when it didn't set!). So I have stacks of cherries preserved for the rest of the years puddings, breakfast yoghurt toppings - plus the cherry brandy. Not that I like brandy - good job I like cherries though!

Sharp knives and supper

This Christmas I had received a virtual voucher for a cooking course of my choice and I had been searching for a class I really wanted to do. So, last night I ventured into the Marylebone Ginger Pig shop after hours to attend a lamb butchery class.

In the name of eating good local food, but unable to justify a humongous budget for it, I am enjoying learning how to be thrifty. An introduction to the cheaper and tastier cuts by Hugh Fernley Whittingstall’s Meat book, I was looking to learn more about the subject; what part of the animal different cuts come from and how best to cook them, with the ultimate aim of buying great value for money local meat. The course was an incredible insight into the work and skill put into getting a simple lamb chump steak onto the plate and I will be returning to absorb even more from both their beef and pork sessions.

Unlike many courses, this one was really hands on – more than I expected when we were playing around with expensive rare breed meat - and I went home with dried blood under my nails to prove it. With only 6 per class, it was an intimate evening with Perry and Borut, two butchers who between them have 45 years experience in slicing and dicing meat. In typical butcher style, it was a light hearted evening with plenty of banter at the token girl’s expense, but there was a serious undertone of respect for the animals about to be butchered and the safe handling of deadly knives and saws.

Borut began the evening talking us about the three Ginger Pig Yorkshire farms, explaining how they control as much of the process as possible, from growing their own animal feed to selling it in their own shops, and hopefully to the point of building their own abattoir. Many mysterious butchery terms were uncovered, and we learnt that male and female lambs over 1 year are called hogget, and female lambs over 2 years are mutton. Unfortunately the boys are surplus to requirements after their reproductive duties – it is a woman’s world after all!

Talking over with, we moved to the butchers block to watch Perry expertly segment the first of the lambs. The beautiful dark marbled meat that was strangely dry but soft (due to the breed selected) was turned into recognisable cuts with admirable precision, ease and speed. Helping us to understand what part of the animal each part comes from, the group talked through the wealth of names used for different cuts and parts, the lambs anatomy gradually starting to make sense.

Then it was time to get stuck in as we each took a turn at removing the legs, belly, and shoulders using the company’s favoured continental butchery style of “seaming”, working with the natural seams in the meat to preserve the muscle quality. As I found out when removing the shoulders from the ribcage, much of this requires brut force and could be indicator to why most butchers are blokes.

More hands on experience, this time preparing a roasting joint by de-boning and rolling our own shoulder of lamb. Watching Perry pull out three clean shoulder bones, roll and secure it with terrifying ease…how was I ever to repeat that? I asked.

Surprisingly, once I got used to working with the tip of the knife against the bone, and looking for the natural seams, despite being one of the last to remove my bones, I got there. For some of the class, the real mystery came with tying the butchers’ knots, and thankfully my inner Girl Guide shone through meaning I was not last to complete. (Yes, there is alway an elemnent of competition!)

Finishing the evening with a delicious simple supper of slow cooked shoulder of lamb on the bone, and a well deserved glass of red, we chatted until the wine bottle was empty. I then hopped in the cab laden with my not so perfectly rolled shoulder of lamb, complete with bones to make stock at the weekend.

Happy Christmas!

Bumblebees - an increasingly rare find

Bumblebees are known as a keystone species, crucial to biodiversity ensuring the continued reproduction and survival of plants and those organisms that depend on them. In hazardous decline the impact of this pivotal species in our natural world summed up perfectly by Albert Einstein:

'If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.'

No, you have not come to the wrong place….its something that rather worries me, as does the lack of a similarly rare and crucial species; a good whole foods shop.

Since my relatively recent diagnosis with coeliac disease, and taking it upon myself to eat naturally gluten free I am spending increasing amounts of our food budget on nuts, seeds, pulses, different grains and dried fruits. I normally order my bulk and household goods online, which always includes the nuts and seeds. But now, armed with my new kitchen, food processor and a regular flow of hungry guests I am in the kitchen more and more experimenting with new gluten free recipes.

Cooking these gluten free recipes, using all natural and no ready made ingredients, means that I am steadily working my way through growing mounds of almonds, sunflower seeds and dried fruits, particularly since I have mastered my orange and almond cake. Unfortunately, as a result I am also creating a mountain of waste from all the little packets I have to buy, which I am unable to recycle and makes me wince every time I open the bin.

So, I have been on a mission these past few weeks:

To find a whole foods shop where I can buy the ingredients I need, in bulk, preferably organic to save on waste and a little bit of cash.

I have found my usual Holland and Barratt shops to be increasingly disappointing with a reducing selection of nuts and fruits, all in small packets, but I have found the most wonderful alternatives.

Unpackaged, is a new concept from brainchild Catherine ?? in response to the huge waste of materials and energy used to make and dispose of packaging. Having recently moved what was a stall at Broadway market into a corner shop in a residential area of Islington, complete with original vintage pharmacy façade, Catherine is attempting to change customer behaviour.

The aim of Unpackaged is to encourage consumers to bring and refill their containers from home, therefore negating the need for packaging. It comes with the financial incentive of 50p off each product when you refill, and for those impromptu moments, there are re-usable bags to by – but this rather frowned upon.

Selling an ever growing range of organic and fair-trade ingredients, alongside Ecover refills and local handmade products to support the community, I only hope she opens another branch soon – a little closer to my home.

Bumblebee on the other hand is a London institution that has been trading in this corner of Camden for over 20years. A sprawl of 5 shops selling organic whole foods, fresh fruit and veg and an amazing range of “free from” products, makes it a great one stop shop for this gluten free cook.

Although on my initial visit the service wasn’t too friendly, I was thrilled to find I could buy whole blanched almonds, lentils, tea, prunes, broken brazil nuts and more in bulk, plus gluten free pasta (for those rare indulgent moments of spaghetti carbonara) polenta, quinoa and soy sauce.

Buoyant from my successful mission, I just had to leave before I made it impossible to carry anything home on the tube, but certain that I would return again for as much as I could carry.

Wholefoods on Kensington high street is another destination for bulk ingredients and an incredible array of gluten free products – including an egg, dairy, nut and gluten free cake mix – safe my for “sister in law” and me! But being so far west, it is not the easiest place to travel home from when laden with too many impulse purchases. However I do intend to go back to review the bulk options, and particularly their prices – since I am not willing to pay west London prices when I live south east!

So, I am happy in the knowledge that I have found some places to stock up, however if you know of a well kept whole foods secret, I would love to hear about them and check them out!

Good gluten free muesli?

My unofficial mother in law is very up on allergies, intolerances and unusual diets as most family members have some restriction. So whenever I visit, I am usually welcomed by a new gluten-free food to try. To be honest, personally I don’t often bother seeking new GF foods out as they are rather expensive and so often disappointing.

This weekend with the family in Norwich, I was presented in with gluten-free muesli from Heron Foods, based in Ireland. Looking at the ingredients it was organic - always a bonus - mostly nuts and seeds, bulked out with brown rice flakes, which I had never tried. So gave it a go, and it was actually quite tasty, admittedly, after adding dried prunes and chopped brazil nuts. Customising muesli to my taste and for interest is something I have always done and stops me getting bored with breakfast.



So I can happily confirm this muesli to be free from the usual sawdust texture, it had plump juicy raisins and didn’t soak up the milk the moment it splashed the rice flakes, and will be a weclome addition to my growing repetoire of gluten free breakfasts. Try adding your own favourite ingredients to make it more interesting and varied. Next time I may tried chopped dried banana, or pine nuts, or even some pecans and a dribble of maple syrup for something indulgent.