Monday, April 4, 2011

Gluten free is Bulls**t!?

Every now and then I'm encouraged by the availability of gluten-free foods out there, both in the frozen foods section and in restaurants. The restaurant we went to yesterday ("Ciao!") had a sticker on the front door for glutenfreerestaurants.org. I thought "how cool! we're making progress! Maybe I'll be able to order something other than salad when I go out to eat.

But this article in the Daily Post proves we still have a lo-o-o-o-ng way to go.
 http://tinyurl.com/65xbdaf

"Gluten free is bull----!!" Damian Cordone, of Piscataway, N.J., mouthed off in a March 10 Facebook photo wall post. "Flour and bread have been a staple of life for thousands, THOUSANDS of years. People who claim to be gluten intolerant don't realize that its all in their disturbed little heads."
Cordone added that he lies to diners who make the dietary request.

... And then he proceeds to serve them *high-gluten* pasta.

Who's really got the disturbed little head here?
I don't know where this hostility is coming from, so I'm just going to assume it's ignorance.

Would he take someone allergic to bees and shove them into a beehive?

Probably not, because the other problem with creating understanding for gluten intolerance is that the reaction to gluten is not going to happen right there at the table, like an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts (or bees).

Unfortunately there are some people who are going gluten-free thinking just to lose weight, and that -ahem- tips the scales of opinion against those of us who need to be gluten-free for more serious health problems.

Being gluten-free is not convenient. I do understand it's something of a fad at present, but for many of us, it's not a fad, it's a requirement.

Here is a webpage where you can find gluten-free friendly restaurants.
http://www.allergyeats.com/

All the same, I would just avoid ordering pasta when eating out. And I wouldn't eat anything cooked by chef Damian Cordone, because that man has issues. If he's that angry about gluten-free requests, imagine if you sent the food back because it's undercooked. He'd probably throw it on the floor and spike your sauce with Ajax. He needs a) anger management b) a different line of work c) both d) to develop gluten intolerance himself so he can finally "get it."

Carla Ulbrich, The Singing Patient,
is the author of "How Can You *Not* Laugh at a Time Like This?"
Get Carla's Book at Amazon.com
www.thesingingpatient.com