Gluten intolerance and celiac disease get a lot of press, but, what are these maladies and what are their symptoms? Celiac disease (which is also called celiac sprue) and gluten intolerance are not the same. They are successfully treated with the same diet, and both are caused by gluten intake, which can lead to confusion.

With celiac disease, the body is unable to tolerate certain proteins present in wheat, barley and rye and to a much lesser degree in oats. These proteins cause a sufferer’s body to have an autoimmune response, triggering the immune system to attack healthy tissue in the intestines. These reactions cause inflammation and degradation of the villi, which are small projections in the intestines that help absorb nutrition. Often, people suffering from one autoimmune disorder will unfortunately be found to have more than one. As a result prudent doctors will frequently choose to test people having diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia for Celiac, as well. Celiac disease causes the villi to flatten and the body to become challenged to absorb enough nutrition from foods. Symptoms of Celiac include anemia, short stature and lactose intolerance.

By contrast, gluten intolerance symptoms vary quite a lot from individual to individual. There is not an autoimmune response like that which occurs in Celiac. Many doctors, when they fail to find the signs of Celiac disease, tell their patients that nothing is wrong with them. However, often, many people experience gluten intolerance symptoms disappearance once they remove gluten from their diets. The most common symptoms are various intestinal tract discomforts not mentionable here. Other individuals are plagued with headaches, depression, digestive problems or other symptoms. Over 100 different symptoms of gluten intolerance have been documented. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal on gluten intolerance symptoms, as many as 1 in 20 people suffer from some sort of gluten sensitivity symptoms. Researchers say that studies about symptoms of gluten intolerance are currently quite preliminary. Because so few doctors are well-informed about gluten intolerance and symptoms so different, many people go out on their own to find relief.

For those who are sensitive to gluten but do not suffer from Celiac disease, completely removing gluten from the diet can cause symptoms to abate completely. Gluten can be found in a number of unsuspected places such as some types of candy and beer. Careful research and assiduous reading of labels is necessary to ensure that those sensitive do not consume any food products containing gluten. The longer the label and the greater the processing, the greater the risk of some form of gluten or even involuntary gluten contamination.

Happily, GateauOchocolat, flourless chocolate cakes offer a rich and indulgent dessert naturally gluten-free and organic and it contains only 5 ingredients……
They make a perfect gift to delight your chocolate-loving gluten intolerant friends and will impress your favorite foodie.

Thanksgiving is almost here and the holidays just around the corner.
Play it safe, order now. www.flourfreecakes.com

The universal appeal of chocolate has turned what was a luxury into an industrial commodity, as such processors, to gain market share, have applied severe pressure on the growers. This pressure has resulted a heavy environmental and human cost that many people are not aware of.

Originally growing in the shade of tropical forests it now comes from vast cocoa plantations fully exposed to the sun. Cacao grown in these monoculture environments creates problems with pests and disease, and so requires large amounts of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Run-off from these open-fields causes ground water pollution and reduces soil fertility while negatively impacting the workers health.

Often the laborers are young children working in terrible conditions essentially in West Africa where a large part of the world cocoa originates.

It is not surprising that most of the people who harvest the cacao have never tasted the finished product made from the beans they produce. Many who grow and harvest cocoa receive little, if any, wages, and live in substandard conditions. In Ivory Coast, in West Africa, there is a persistent problem with child labor and child slavery. A quick on line search will return ample evidence of the regrettable practices, the following link is an example http://www.laborrights.org/stop-child-labor/cocoa-campaign

However, it does not have to be that way. Like fine wines, premium cocoa beans are the result of terroir (the ambient growing area and conditions) and their qualities are being recognized by gaining “single origin appellation”. In addition some are certified organic and or certified as complying with strict environmental and social guidelines by international certifying agencies such as The rain forest alliance or members of The fair trade federation www.fairtradefederation.org

Single-origin cocoa indicates that the beans originated from a single area whose characteristics impart a specific taste to the chocolate, some complement dairy and are more suited for milk chocolate, others will have a more toasted flavor etc. Chocolatiers mix those chocolates to achieve their own signature items just like a painter use colors or a wine maker blends wines from different parcels.

As I was sourcing ingredients and researching suppliers and the cocoa industry, I knew that to make a good product for the consumers it had to be sustainable for the environment, good and ethical for those who produced it.  If I could preserve those qualities my cakes would be delicious and do justice to all involved.

After many tests I settled on the single origin rainforest alliance certified Rio arriba chocolate from Ecuador.

By helping the Ecuadorian people produce cacao in the rainforest they preserve their, and our, environment, make an honest living at it and provide us with a wonderful product to enjoy and feel good about.

By giving your friends and family a rich flourless and gluten free GateauOchocolat chocolate cake, you are offering them a gift wrapped in an ethical packaging as important its look or taste.

Whether for your next dinner party, a gourmet or gluten sensitive friend, GateauOchocolat will delight those eating it.

Our cakes can be shipped anywhere in the country in two days or less. Treat yourself or a friend today.

I was raised in the fifties between France and Tunisia where my parents had a wheat farm 25 miles west of Tunis. In this bucolic setting I learned that some of the best things in life are simple and pure.

Our bread was baked at the farm in a wood fired oven. The flour, ground by the workers wives, came from the wheat stored in giant concrete bins holding the year’s crop. It was milled with a rudimentary mill, composed of two 10 inch diameter gray grinding stones. The bottom one, fixed, had a vertical metal shaft in the middle. The top one had an oversized center hole to accommodate the shaft and allow the grains to be fed between the grinding stones.

The women in large flowing local dresses and traditional silver jewelry would sit down against a wall, her legs spread open and the mill in between, a bag of wheat within hand’s reach on each side.

With a small wooden handle attached by a string to the top stone the woman would turn vigorously the top stone with one hand while slowly feeding the grain in with the second. A fine flour would flow onto her dress as the stone turned. I vividly recall her smile, a mixture of pride, joy and anticipation of delicious bread, associated with the sweet nutty smell of the freshly ground flour.

The bread was flat, the size of pita but only thicker. Firing the conical oven with lots of kindling it looked like a volcano in eruption. When it was consumed and had reached the proper temperature, she would wet one side of the bread by sprinkling water with her fingers in a quick flip of the wrist and forcefully slap the bread on the vertical inside part of the cone-shaped “taboun” oven where it would stick to the wall. When baked, the bread would fall by itself in the hot ashes at the bottom of the oven and any left over amber would make a little burn mark on the crust adding extra taste.

Knowing how much I loved this bread, our cook’s, wife would often bring me a piece, still warm, which I would dip in olive oil from our orchard. It was a simple delight. To this day I relish its taste and memories.

So what does this have to do with chocolate cake?

The same universal principles apply. Take the finest pure ingredients (organic butter, eggs and sugar along with organic chocolate), use knowledge and skillfully combine them so that each one compliments the other and does not use short cuts or any unpronounceable ingredient.

In the case of the bread this method is perfectly adapted to the geographic location and the available fuel and resources. The method has been refined and tested over the centuries and results in a perfect harmony of taste and texture. GateauOChocolat also aims to be a symphony of pure, simple ingredients and skillful execution.

Try it and please, let us know what you think.