Book Review - Cooking Gluten Wheat and Dairy Free by Michelle Berriedale-Johnson

Cooking Gluten, Wheat and Dairy Free, by Michelle Berriedale-Johnson
200 recipes for coeliacs, wheat, dairy and lactose intolerants

ISBN 978-1-906502-92-8 paperback, stg£14.99

For anyone suffering from allergies or intolerances to dairy, wheat and gluten, the main problem is that they are the most commonly used ingredients in food manufacture, so most ready-made foods contain at least one of these products.

This means you will have to cook for yourself – and you could not ask for a better, or more experienced guide than Michelle Berriedale-Johnson.

A well known expert on food allergies and intolerances, Michelle became interested in special diets over 20 years ago when her son was diagnosed as being dairy intolerant. She set up a food company, Berrydales, specialising in additive free, dairy free, gluten free and egg free foods and started a quarterly magazine, The Inside Story (later renamed Foods Matter), about dietary problems, which has now become an online magazine and portal www.foodsmatter.com.

This book explains what the forbidden ingredients are, where they are likely to turn up and what alternatives to use – all vital information, if you are to successfully follow a dairy, gluten and wheat free diet.

Michelle gives 200 wide-ranging recipes for soups, starters, light lunches, egg dishes, pasta and pizzas, fish, meat, poultry and game, salads, vegetables and vegetarian dishes, desserts, breads, biscuits and cakes - all of which are milk, cream, butter, cheese, yogurt, wheat, gluten and lactose free. While not fully illustrated, the book has a sprinkling of photographs and is clearly laid out and well produced.

Michelle is also the author of a best-selling book on a related subject, The Everyday Wheat- Free and Gluten-Free Cookbook, published by Grub Street.


RECIPE: FRESH SALMON AND SPINACH PASTA

A lovely light summer dish - very quick to make. If you cannot get gluten and wheat-free tagliatelle, you could use Japanese soba (buckwheat) noodles, which are also delicious. Alternatively, use a gluten and wheat-free spaghetti. Serves 6

Click for recipe