The first Coeliac Awareness Week gets underway today. The campaign kicks off a two year Is it coeliac disease? campaign.
In Glasgow, Gamba seafood restaurant has long been recognised for its approach to providing gluten-free choices on its menu.
For the third year in a row, the West George Street restaurant has been awarded a three star sustainability rating by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) with particular acknowledgement for their ‘free from gluten, dairy and lactose’ options.
Rise in gluten-free dining
The SRA Sustainability Rating system recognises restaurants throughout the UK as One, Two or Three star sustainability champions depending on how they rate against a wide range of criteria covering fourteen areas of sustainability.
Gamba introduced full dietary sensitivity menus over two years ago and has since seen a huge rise in gluten-free (GF) dining with their customers.
To cope with the food sensitivity demand they have now introduced new symbols on their menus to recognise GF dishes and host weekly menu training with staff on how they can adapt menu dishes to accommodate all diners at Gamba.
Speaking about the SRA sustainability award and the decision to make GF choices more accessible, Gamba chef patron Derek Marshall said:
‘In recognition of the UK’s first Coeliac Awareness Week, we just wanted to highlight what we’ve been doing to inspire other restaurants and chefs to make gluten-free options more accessible across Glasgow.
‘The new campaign by Coeliac UK is raising awareness of the most common symptoms of the disease and also encouraging supermarkets to have a gluten-free guarantee for shoppers, and as restaurateurs we should do what we can to improve the accessibility of dietary options in our venues.’
Tamari not soy
Speaking about creating dishes that are gluten-free, Marshall continues;
‘Everybody can create gluten-free dishes by substituting some food elements. Seafood is a great staple in any diet as it’s full of omega 3 fatty acids and naturally gluten-free, so eating more of it has great health benefits. A great cooking tip is to use tamari instead of soy sauce in your dishes, and to try and cook your own sauces from scratch in the kitchen.’
Popular choices on the menu at Gamba include the gluten free sashimi of yellowfin tuna with wasabi and monkfish and scallops with tamari. For dessert one of the most popular gluten-free dishes is the poached figs with passionfruit sorbet and honeycomb.