The Allergy and Free From Show London!

To top off what has been a brilliant week, whilst still in London I headed across to the Allergy and Free From show being held at Kensington Olympia. I guess I'm relatively new, in a manner of speaking, to the world of coeliac and being gluten free. So this was the very first dedicated 'free from' event that I'd ever attended, and as a result of which I wasn't sure what to expect.

Initially I was bowled over by the sheer size of the event and volume of 'free from' food distributors. Whilst I would say the majority of stands were gluten-free, there were also dairy-free, refined sugar-free, meat-free/ vegan/ vegetarian stands too. 

All of the big gluten-free brand names that I've gotten to know, and become tastily aquatinted with were there. From the sponsors Schär, to Warburtons, Dove Farm, Genius, Nakd, Tesco and Asda Free From departments to name but a few! So without a plan, my mum and set off exploring the exhibits, gathering gluten-free goodies as we went. Soon reaching the Doves Farm demonstration area,. Sitting down to enjoy the current demo on creating a gluten free pastry apple tart, I spotted a familiar face setting up her own kitchen. Instantly I recognised Juanita Hennessy, a Master Chef semi- finalist from the recent series featuring the UK's best amateur chefs. 

After enjoying a brilliant demo from Juanita on making 'Not so Eton mess', I had the opportunity to ask her some questions, which I'll be featuring in my next blog. But after the demo we carried on exploring the stands, and I soon became in awe of the sheer choice and variation of gluten-free produce available. I can't put into words how emancipating it was, to be able to be at a food event and not to have to keep asking about a food's gluten-free credentials. Which made me feel like I was now part of a community of fellow people with coeliac, which was wonderful.