we recently attended the National Celiac Disease Foundation’s Annual Conference and Food Faire in Los Angeles on May 14, 2011. the conference was very well attended with people of all ages. the theme of the conference was to provide participants with a better understanding of celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and the gluten free diet. speakers included Alessio Fasano, M.D., who is the Medical Director of the Center for Celiac Research, Danna Korn, author of Living Gluten-Free for Dummies, and Carol Fenster, Ph.D., author and gluten free cooking expert.
we especially enjoyed the food faire which comprised of over 100 gluten free exhibitors. we spent most our time in the food faire sampling new products, and meeting many of the owners behind these great businesses such as Breads From Anna, Solterra Foods, Venice Bakery and Elizabeth Kaplan of the Pure Pantry. we were also happy to chat with a few other companies we know well like Bard's gluten free beer, Udi’s Gluten Free Foods, Nature’s Path, Kettle Cuisine, Pamela’s and Enjoy Life Foods. we also tried amazing baguette style bread from Schar at their booth, everything was so good!
besides tasting Bards and Green’s gluten free beer, and getting our hands on the coveted Udi’s hot dog buns, we found several other unique and new gluten free products. we hinted at a few of our favorite gluten free finds in our conference giveaway post, but we wanted to write more about why these up and coming products and companies look so good.
this bread and baking mix company was founded in 2004 by Anna Sobaski, who also has celiac disease. Breads From Anna come in a variety of flavors including the Original, Classic Herb Bread, and Black Bean Brownie. all of Breads From Anna are gluten, soy, and rice free. the All Purpose Flour bread mix is also yeast free. the two wonderful women at the booth were so friendly and helpful and genuinely huge fans of Anna's products.
we chatted about how to make the perfect loaf of bread with a Zojirushi bread machine, which they swear by. after devouring handfuls of the Classic Herb Bread samples, they told us that this bread makes a delicious stuffing mix. Anna's website has step-by-step tips for making her bread mixes in the Zojirushi bread machine, and other brands of bread machines. (I think I know what I want for Christmas this year!)
what we also commend Breads From Anna on is that the mixes are high in quality and nutrition. you would never know that Anna's bread is gluten free, it has the right texture, is not dense, and is full of flavour. common ingredients in Anna's breads include chia flour, chickpea flour, bean flours, and sorghum flour to name a few. what is interesting is that none of her breads contain rice flour, this is so liberating don't you think? we are so over rice bread! for a listing on where to find Anna's products click here. it seems there is only one place in Canada selling Breads From Anna products, St Albert Alberta, but there are several online places to buy these products.
we were totally amazed at this company's new gluten free Bake-In-Bag pizzas. not only is the pizza great, but the idea is that you cook the pizza in the biodegradable bag, in any oven, without worrying about cross contamination because it is protected inside the bag! to us this product is ingenious.
the CEO, Elaine Valenza-Opdahl, was at the booth, and it was such a pleasure to talk with her. her booth was buzzing all day long. we love the Solterra philosophy, "Keep it simple, Keep it pure." Solterra offers other amazing gluten free products such as pastas, gnocchi, and baking mixes. there are two pizzas: margherita cheese pizza, and vegan cheese pizza. Solterra is a Colorado-based business, and their products should be available in Canada in a few months. we will keep you posted!
this is a Los Angeles-based business specializing in gluten free pizza crusts and focaccia bread. we were so impressed with the quality and taste of their pizzas that we went back to their booth several times to sample their pizzas. the staff were so friendly and passionate about their great tasting pizza, it made trying their products that much better. they also introduced their new gluten free calzones at the show, which were simply amazing!
Venice Bakery is not a dedicated gluten free business, however their gluten free products have been certified by the Celiac Sprue Association. gluten free products are produced at separate times and on dedicated equipment, and are then tested to be sure they are under 5 ppm. as a precaution, Venice bakery sends their product to Siliker Labs for testing. click here to see a video of the president of the company, Jimmy DeSisto, describe the company's history and what you can do with their gluten free pizza crusts.
we have more to tell you about our fun trip to Los Angeles, and our next post will feature some of the great places to eat out gluten free in L.A. one of them we can't stop thinking about! bye for now, Andrea + Robyn.
celiac disease foundation | breads from anna | venice bakery | solterra foods
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment