Author: chiara

Pain de Sucre, Paris

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Pain de Sucre (Sugar Bread in English) is one of those pastry shops in Paris that looks like it is made in heaven…each cake, tart, éclair, brioche, ice-cream looks just perfect, the colors and the shapes are a symphony to the eyes. For us gluten-free eaters there is one thing - I say one but I hope there will be more in the future - that is naturally free of gluten and it is so good that is totally worth the trip….Marshmallows! This is a sweet that we don’t have in Italy, I don’t even think we have a word in Italian to translate it… ?!!? So I was much more pleased to discover it for the first time and eat it. In the past when bakers or pastry chefs were left with much egg white, instead of throwing it away, they started making this simple yet delicious sweet. Marshmallows at Pain de Sucre are really sublime! The ones I put on the post cover are with rose-water, the ones below with dark chocolate & coconut + green pistachio…yummy! At Pain …

Magic Pizza in Paris

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One day my friends from Napoli, Valerio and Carmela, told me that even if I live in Paris I can still enjoy the real Neapolitan pizza, well, I said … when do we go ?!? I was so eager to discover the place and totally missing a good gluten-free pizza! (if you have started reading my blog, you “might” have noticed how much I love love love pizza). So yesterday evening I braved the cold weather and headed with Valerio and Carmela to La Famiglia, a pizzeria and restaurant in Paris 1st arrondissement. The master “pizzaiolo” is Gennaro Nasti, he is nice, he is friendly and, oh boy, he is talented ! For Carmela and I who were the gluten-free eaters of the day, he prepared the pizza dough enriched with herbs: fresh basil, parsley and sage. It looks amazing, doesn’t it?!! And the pizza is so good! The one below is with fresh cherry tomatoes called “del Piennolo”, “stracciatella” cheese and arugula. The cherry tomatoes are called “del Piennolo” from the tradition of peasants living close to the Vesuvio volcano …

My Free Kitchen, Paris

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My Free kitchen is a newly opened restaurant, coffee + tea room that serves food that is organic, free of gluten and lactose but not of taste…! Delicious food is always on the menu prepared by Carole that along with her brother Philippe decided to open a spot in Paris where they could delight people with the same food they loved to cook at home and grow up with. My Free Kitchen is a family business and it means business: every day according to the seasons, the menu changes: Carole loves concocting new recipes from gluten-free French quiches, to quinoa salads, from carrot cakes, to blueberry tarts, brownies, apple & cinnamon muffins (like the one I chose for the post cover), crumbles prepared with seasonal fruit, and so much more. At lunch, they serve different formulas you can choose from, here I got one with a very good pumpkin soup with almonds. Followed by a cake made with eggplant, basil and goat cheese, actually the goat cheese is the only exception on the menu regarding lactose: it is …

Meet Mr Mushroom

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Hello, today I found mushrooms at the market and got an idea to marry them with the gluten-free pasta I bought last time at the grocery shop Bien, here in Paris. This Pasta is from the Italian brand PPURA and it is a completely new to me, I have never tasted it before but it looks so good: it is made with corn and eggs. In the region of Piemonte, in the north of Italy, this pasta is called “Tajarin” and it is supposed to be delicious. The eggs inside will marry happily ever after with the mushrooms! Here it goes the recipe for 2: - 200 gr of pasta “Tajarin” (or another gluten-free pasta with eggs) - 500/600gr of mushrooms (depending on the kind of mushrooms you find - here I got organic ones that are called “mushroom of Paris/champignons de Paris” but if you find “porcini” that are even better :)) - 40 gr of grated Parmiggiano Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese (they are both super ok) - a small cup of hot water where you cooked …

That stone that turns

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La Pierre qui tourne, literally the stone that turns, is a newly discovered French brand of delicious organic gluten-free cookies (they have a wide range of cookies with gluten as well). The legends says that in the forest of Compiègne, on the slope of Mount St Mard, close to a giant tree hides a peculiar stone that looks like a frog. At Christmas Eve, at midnight, the stone starts turning by itself… well, enough magic to inspire Benoit and Isabelle, the co-founders of La Pierre qui tourne, to call the brand after it and start baking some of the best gluten-free cookies that I have ever tasted. From rice flour to almonds, from butter to eggs, all the ingredients are natural, certified organic, top quality, selected from the best suppliers and naturally gluten-free (pls just notice that there is no crossed grain logo on the package yet, so if you are really allergic to gluten, do not try them until you see the logo, they tell me they are just waiting to receive it shortly :-)) Here I chose to have the …

Thank you, my deer, Paris

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Thank you, my deer is a cosy, warm coffee bar and restaurant in Paris 11th arrondissement that serves exclusively gluten-free food. It is that kind of place in the neighborhood where you get to know the people that work there, you feel less as a customer and more as a friend who drops by time to time to spend a nice moment together. That’s what it is to me. Jana and Sona, who created Thank you, my deer, has welcomed me in since the first time I went there and every time I am back it is nice to catch up. Now I have one more reason to go and it is called Valerio, the cook from Naples - my hometown - that joined the team one year ago. Besides being skillful when he prepares food that is good for you, he is nice, friendly and funny. The geometrical wall of the “Deer” that I like so much is designed by Juraj Straka, known for the amazing prints he creates for the fashion world. Last time I was there it was …

Speedy Tomato

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Hello there, today it’s Saturday and there is sun in Paris, that is a blessing despite the freezing temperature outside. I had a friend for lunch and really little time to cook: as an Italian, I follow most of time the Mediterranean diet that means pasta is always on the menu and it’s a true life saver ;) This time I choose spaghetti from the Italian brand Garofalo: it is a trusted brand and its gluten-free line - launched one year ago - is really good, I do recommend it if you find it in stores. So here we go with this recipe that takes 15′ up to 20′ to be ready, I called it “Mrs Tomato meets Mr Tuna”… to me the colors brings some of the summer mood back into the dish… The recipe for 2 people calls for: - 200 gr of gluten-free spaghetti - 250 of cherry tomatoes (today I found them in red, yellow and black dresses…) - 120 gr of tuna fish (canned or in glass jar) - one …

Eric Kayser, Paris

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Eric Kayser is an institution in Paris: he is one of the most skillful artisan baker who has developed during the years, top quality bread using and mastering liquid leaven, technical innovations, new recipes and a constant search for the best ingredients. When I lived in Paris for the first time, in 2004, when I got off work and out of the metro Odéon I used to walk to his shop in rue de l’Ancienne Comédie and would buy the baguette tradition or the baguette with raisins, my favorite actually. When I came back to Paris for the second time, in 2012, I knew I had celiac disease and thought I would never step into one of his shops ever. Well, never say never…! One year ago Kayser answered the raising demand of French people for gluten-free bread and started to make his own :-). And even though it is not baguette, now you can enjoy the “Gonesse” bread with rice flour, the “Mendiant” with rice flour, buckwheat and dried fruit, the buckwheat bread that I just bought as …

Loving artichokes

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I love artichokes, they are so good, full of antioxidant (one of the highest reported for vegetables), vitamins and studies have shown that artichokes aid digestion, and liver function. So for this recipe I bought the violet ones, a variety cultivated in Sardinia, they are so tasty and incredibly tender despite the thorns, so please be careful when you clean them, I would say, manage them with care…for the sake of your hands. But believe me, they are completely worth taking the risk ;) I decided to marry them with gluten-free pasta and I chose Felicia Bio, an Italian organic brand that I love and especially for this recipe, I took Felicia bio “tortiglioni” with four cereals (rice, corn, buckwheat and quinoa),they are very good, and can stay “al dente” that is a true pleasure for an Italian like myself. So here it is the recipe for 1 but you can easily double or triple the quantity if you have guests, pasta recipes are easy to adjust and if you have any doubt, pls don’t hesitate to ask me. - 2 Violet artichokes from Sardinia - …

Detoxifing flour

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Hello there, Good news! A recent Italian study brings new, refreshing hope to improve the life of us all, celiac people, and also of those beloved I-choose-gluten-free eaters. A group of researchers from the Institute of Food Science of the National Research Council in Avellino has developed an innovative scientific method that allows to “detoxify” wheat flour, hiding gluten to the body and by doing that, avoiding the inflammatory reaction. And all without altering the organoleptic properties of the flour…I say….U-A-O…! Senior researcher Mauro Rossi explains: “The innovative strategy developed by the National Research Council consists of an enzyme treatment performed on wheat flour as well as durum wheat flour that is able to mask the toxic sequences of gluten.” “With this treatment, Mr Rossi continues, gluten is no longer recognized by lymphoid cells responsible for the inflammation. This means that from an organoleptic point of view, this new flour will have no substantial differences with the most common types available on the market today.” New results are expected in summer and researchers hope to start making this flour available …