Diet is a four letter word, and it is often accompanied by a five letter word: gloom. This is a book to dispel any such ideas of despondency. It is about celebration. There is no reason why people with food intolerance should not enjoy their meals as much as anyone else, provided they follow the advice of people like Antoinette Savill.

She, and I, and, it is estimated, about sixty percent of the world’s population, suffer from sensitivity to certain items in their diet. So this book should have a wide appeal to anyone who wants to have a social occasion with a meal that does not leave them, or their guests, feeling ill afterwards.

By careful manipulation, it is always possible to avoid one’s worst food antagonists. However, Antoinette Savill makes it a pleasure. Jack Sprat and his wife would both be able to come to her parties – and to yours, if you read this book and act upon it. I recommend you to have it in your kitchen, and you will be ready to receive them.

Charles Jessell

Chairman of Governors, 1997–8

The Institute for Optimum Nutrition

Introduction

For many years, people have known that stress, pollution and junk food take their toll on our systems. The result of this onslaught is that more and more people are being diagnosed as suffering from food intolerances or dietary problems, and are being advised to follow bland, unappetizing diets. Having experienced the misery of such advice and the monotony and frustration of a restrictive diet, I decided to develop these recipes to prove that it is possible to eat exciting food and stay healthy.

The purpose of this cookbook is to allow those with food intolerances to entertain family and friends on all occasions and throughout the various celebrations of the year, giving everyone such delicious food that none will even realize that the ingredients are slightly different. The idea then is to make entertaining, be it a children’s tea party or a simple picnic in the garden, a relaxing, fun and sociable few hours for everyone – including the cook!

My passion for food comes, essentially, from the intoxicating Mediterranean flavours: ripe and heady smells of fresh herbs, fruit and vegetables that are piled up on market stalls and wicker baskets, displayed casually but always looking glorious and in harmony with their surroundings. Not for me the regimented piles of perfect supermarket fruit and vegetables that all too often have no perceptible aroma but only a flaccid dullness evocative of nothing except the mysteries of science. This cosmopolitan collection of recipes, although at heart European, also has a sprinkling of oriental and Asian influences, whose intriguing ingredients are now available all over the world.

Food intolerance is, by its nature, a complex subject and no two people experience exactly the same intolerance. While nearly all the recipes in this book are dairy or wheat free and so helpful to IBS and ME/chronic fatigue sufferers as well as others, there are plenty of gluten-free recipes for coeliacs. Please remember that other ingredients included in the recipe may not be suitable for individual intolerance. If you are new to this challenging game of food avoidance, the table on page 266 will reassure you. It is important, however, that you do not try to diagnose or treat yourself: if you are having problems with foods or liquids do seek the advice and help of a good nutritionist, doctor or homeopathic practitioner. This book will help you to avoid certain foods while still letting you enjoy food, but will not cure your intolerance.

Many of the recipes in this book were once ‘conventional’ ones that that were totally hostile to my dietary needs. Having decided that I enjoyed them too much to give them up, I set about replacing the conventional ingredients with appropriate substitutes – for instance, sunflower and soya products replaced dairy, while corn and rice products replaced starch and cereals. Now, having familiarized myself with the fundamental problems associated with juggling ingredients, I can safely and quickly prepare menus to suit even the most restrictive of diets. This process of substituting ingredients is not only of benefit to those with food intolerances: medical opinion is now that we all eat far too much wheat and dairy products, so these recipes will be a healthy change for everyone.

A lot of problems, I feel, come from the artificial colourings, additives, preservatives, pesticides and chemicals that are mixed with or coated onto many of today’s foods. These problems can, of course, be overcome by buying organic food and washing thoroughly or peeling off all the vegetable and fruit skins. Another problem stems from chlorine in tap water. Even people who do not suffer from the most common food sensitivities may react to this, so I recommend that you use filtered or boiled water for cooking and drinking.

The nutritional value of our foods is very important, especially if you are on any restricted diet. Using this book, you will be able to construct well-balanced menus with plenty of starch, which provides sugar and fibre, to fill you up and make you feel contented. The decrease in consumption of fats will help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight, but I do advise using unsaturated fats that are unhydrogenated as this helps considerably in reducing cholesterol and heart disease. Remember it’s not the bread that is fattening, but what you spread on it.

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Gluten, Wheat and Dairy Free Cookbook: Over 200 allergy-free recipes, from the ‘Sensitive Gourmet’

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The GLUTEN, WHEAT & DAIRY FREE Cookbook

Contents

Foreword

Introduction