Food
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Product review: Maggie recipe bases
Before you declare I have sold my soul to Big Food, let me throw in a disclaimer: I have received multiple free samples of these recipe bases in a couple of events and I’m an advocate of making good use of free food. Not all Maggie’s recipe bases are gluten free, but of course I tried the ones that are. All of them make 4 servings and need a few basic ingredients added in. Once again, gluten free does not automatically makes a food product healthy. Some of the bases have ingredients I normally avoid such as “vegetable fat (vegetable fat, rosemary extract, sunflower lecithin)”, “flavours” and sugar. All of…
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Gluten Free Expo 2017
Last weekend I attended the Gluten Free Expo 2017, organised by Coeliac Australia. It was my first time there, and I found it really valuable to get to know which brands I can use and recommend to my clients who have CD or an intolerance to gluten. Talks and demos There were two stages were the event sponsors (Coles and others) ran cooking demos and talks for the audience. Bread It was really good to find out that gluten free bread is getting better and better. There are a few brands out there that are producing non-cakey, non-crumpety bread that are worth checking out: Schär with really good European-style breads,…
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Gluten Free Expo 2018
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Recipe: Pisco sour
This year I decided to put the last bottle of pisco I had in my cupboard to good use and made a round of pisco sour to celebrate with friends. Generally speaking, there are three types of pisco: quebranta (the least aromatic), mosto verde or Italia (the most aromatic) and acholado (a mix of both). Quebranta and acholado are the better ones for making cocktails. I used the classic ratio of 3:1:1:1 (pisco to egg white, syrup and lime juice), although some prefer a 4:1:1:1 ratio. I made a test run with water and stevia instead of syrup and found it less sweet and quite enjoyable. If you make your…
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Recipe: Lupin a la peruana (Peruvian-style lupin)
I get sudden cravings for Peruvian food once in a while. One day I was fixated on pepián, a corn purée spiced with our traditional aderezo of onion, garlic and chilli. Then I remembered I had a bag of lupin flakes in my cupboard and decided to use it as the main ingredient, partially because sweet corn is very different from Peruvian white corn. I used a ají amarillo paste that I found at Fiji Market. It’s got preservatives, so it’s not as good (health- or taste-wise) as fresh or as the paste I’m used to, but it’s better than nothing. If you can’t find ají amarillo paste you can…
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Product review: Lupin Flakes
Lupin is a legume with an impressive nutritional profile (40% protein, 37% fibre, 4% effective carbs). It got in my radar last year when I was doing placement at the RPA Allergy Clinic, as it is often recommended for people with gluten allergy/intolerance. Then I forgot about lupin until the 2017 DAA Conference, where The Lupin Co was an exhibitor. They make lupin flakes using a proprietary process that reduces the phytate content of the legume while maintaining its nutritional value. Lupin flakes can be conveniently used as a substitute for cous cous, rolled oats, breadcrumbs, etc. They can also be used to bump up the protein and fibre content…
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Recipe: Locro (Peruvian pumpkin stew)
I’m sure there are a million locro recipes out there because it’s fair to say this is an everyday staple in almost every Peruvian household. The way I make it is not the way my mum makes it, nor the way my aunties make it, nor the way my mother-in-law makes it. This is one of the few dishes Alvaro insists on keeping meat-free, with a fried egg (or three) on top. Works for me.
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Naturally Good Expo
Last weekend I attended the Naturally Good Expo, a trade-only event for businesses interested in natural food, therapies and goods. I, of course, attended as a private practice dietitian to 1) know what are the market trends that my clients might be exposed to and 2) try products that I can recommend to my clients and/or use myself. I tried a multitude of Bounce®-type energy balls, raw/protein bars, alkaline water, turmeric products, chocolate bars, plant-based protein powders and greens powders. To be honest, I think those product categories are reaching saturation point and it’s hard to differentiate between brands. The most interesting products I personally came across were: Goat milk…
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Recipe: Chapana (Peruvian cassava dessert)
This is not a super well-know Peruvian dessert but is as authentic as it can get. In fact, apparently it’s been around for way longer than the popular desserts that appeared when we were a Spanish colony. I’m usually biased toward chocolate when it comes to sweets, but this is an exception. I think this is in part because there are childhood memories attached to chapana. I recently learned this is one of my father-in-law’s favourite desserts, too. I guess we have more in common that what I thought 🙂 Chapana is made with grated yuca (cassava), chancaca (basically cane sugar that has been boiled and solidified in a block)…
