I have recently been diagnosed with coeliac disease.  This feels like both an ironic twist of fate and a blessing in disguise.  I am a baker, or I will be for another month, one who has spent the last four years complaining and bitching about those “ridiculous” customers who insisted on having gluten-free cakes; I have never really believed in wheat allergies and consigned everyone who insisted that they had one (typically the very thin, rich, American mother of three hideously spoilt children) to the dustbin of life.  But over time my hatred has eased and I now have a few recipes for gluten-free cakes that have become favourites; these are cakes that stand on their own as cakes, they do not mimic other cakes, and could not be replicated using wheat flour.  They are, I believe, perfect examples of gluten-free cooking.

I see this blog as the first step towards turning this diagnosis into a career: I have not enjoyed baking for some time and I would much rather be a writer.  Being a coeliac means that I have a brand new thing to talk about: I am learning every day how this disease will impact my life, so I will have problems which I would like to share.  But I am also a cook, a trained chef and professional baker which gives me a leg up: most people in this country don’t cook from scratch every day.  I do.  And so I have a lot of recipe ideas, quick recipes too, that I’d like to share.  I hate the idea of having, as I call it, “replica food”.  I don’t want imitation shortbread or wheat-free pastry or bread that looks like a sponge.  I want food that tastes amazing and is healthy and also happens to be gluten-free.  It can’t be that hard…