There’s a vegan coming to your festive feast. Or a coeliac. Or maybe you’re the one with a special diet. Only a few years ago, that might have meant feeling left out and lonely - “sitting in the corner like you are on the naughty chair”, as gluten-free baking guru Rowie Dillon puts it, remembering what things used to be like.
The holidays are a time for sharing and caring, so it’s important to make sure that everyone feels remembered at the dinner table – including those with dietary requirements. The good news is, these days you can serve food that everyone will love.
Rising awareness of food intolerances in the community has led to a whole raft of new products, cookbooks and recipes designed for special diets –, , and , and more.
Never skip on desserts again with this
Italian meringue is lightly toasted to resemble bark on our Yule log. Source: Alan Benson
One of the pioneers of gluten-free cooking, Rowie Dillon says that it has been always important for her that her food would be inclusive – and appeal to those with or without allergies. She says it’s not about just producing food that is gluten-free, it’s about creating delicious food that just happens to be suitable for those with gluten allergies.
Dillon vividly recalls a family Christmas many years ago that led to the development of one of her first signature cakes. “You know how each year at the family Christmas you have to bring something, so I was asked to bring the pud,” she says. “I created what is now known as Rowie’s rich orange and almond cake. I boiled my own oranges and let them soak in their own orange oil for a while and then made the cake and took it along.
Dillon’s most recent book, (New Holland, $35), features recipes that are gluten-free and often dairy-free – and totally delicious.
Dillon says that those with food intolerances and dietary preferences can sometimes be made to feel like they are “sitting in the corner like you are on the naughty chair” having a meal that’s totally different to everybody else.
Dillon points out that for those with food intolerances, it’s often the smallest thing, such as stuffing, that causes problems. Her latest book features a rolled pork belly with the “most awesome stuffing” of cherries and quinoa (get the recipe ).
Rowie Dillon: everyone should feel included. Source: New Holland Publishing
“Cherries are such a Christmas-y thing and I have used this stuffing in chicken and turkey and at festive occasions and very special dinners,” she says. “That stuffing is absolutely stunning and you don’t have to use breadcrumbs.”
SBS's host and cookbook author is coeliac and says that catering for her dietary needs has become so much easier in the past 10 years or so as awareness has grown.
Pork belly stuffed with cherries and quinoa Source: New Holland Publishers
“If you go to the supermarket now they've got a whole side dedicated to gluten-free products. Ten years ago there was nothing,” she says.
Tzouganatos, who has just released (Melbourne Books, $39.95), full of gluten-free baking recipes, agrees that you shouldn’t need to compromise on taste, just because you are a coeliac.
Tzouganatos has Greek heritage so she has even managed to adapt some traditional family recipes, such as spanakopita, for coeliacs.
Helen Tzougantos wants everyone to be able to enjoy festive baking Source: Helen Tzougantos
“The filling is my mum's recipe, and then I put my gluten-free twist on it, with my own puff pastry recipe,” she says. “It's really light and flaky and beautiful. So I use my mum's filling, and I just replaced the pastry with mine.”
Her spectacular (and suitably festive) also feature a gluten-free shortcrust pastry.
And if you are catering for vegan or vegetarians?
Honey balsamic glazed beetroot tarts Source: Helen Tzouganatos
Vegan chef Alejandro Cancino says he is on a mission to prove that vegan food doesn’t mean compromise. His Brisbane restaurant, , has won three hats in the Good Food Guide and offers a vegan degustation as well as a regular degustation.
Born in Argentina, Cancino worked in top restaurants in Spain, the UK and Tokyo before coming to Australia six years ago. He only became a vegan after living in Australia.
He says that he is a strong believer that vegan food can be of the highest quality and won’t be out of place in a top-end restaurant such as Urbane.
For his own Christmas dinner, Cancino likes to limit it to a selection of smaller dishes, “a bit of everything”, he says. Because he’s Brisbane-based and it is always very warm in December, he says he keeps hot dishes to a minimum on the day.
“I will have two hot foods and have lots of salads and something like potatoes, but it has to be light and fresh,” he says.
This suits a multitude of special diets
Source: Murdoch Books / Alan Benson
Indeed, vegan food tends to be lighter and fresher, he says, which works well over the holiday period. It’s the same in the restaurant when clients have allergies or intolerances. He points out that when food is vegan it naturally follows that it works with any dietary requirements, such as being dairy-free.
“The menu is almost gluten-free too, so we don’t struggle with special requests,” he says.
His great go-to vegan recipe for a special occasion? “I would probably cook beans and marinate them with a herb salad and a few roasted vegetables: pumpkin, sweet potatoes,” he says.
“It has to be more than salad. You don’t get full with just salad. Beans are an excellent source of protein. If you have chickpeas or beans you will get full.”
Cooking for everyone
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