Need help frm Coeliacs please

Found a nice blog on Fooderati Arabia called Gluten Free UAE, the lady who writes it is on Twitter too, she looks as if she'll happily answer any questions you have.

As someone mentioned - the Schar prodcuts at carrefour (MOE) are the best tasting and most convenient GF products. (but not cheap!) They are in the health food aisle. C4 is really good about carrying all different types of cookies and pastas (including lasagna noddles which are really quite good) but are more hit or miss for the "savory" type snacking items like crackers and breadsticks. They also carry a cereal that my husband likes quite a bit. I think the bread at the organic cafe is awful - it could be used as a weapon it's so heavy! If you're up for it - just make your own from a mix - it's not hard - just add a few things and bake - Spinney's is carrying Mrs. crimble's - it's in the baking secion, but it calls for yeast, make sure to buy a packet b/c it's not included in the box. I also think the Mrs. Crimble's muffin mix is really good - just add in some fresh blueberries (again, super easy) If he drinks alcohol - you can get cider instead of beer. Good luck!

there are a few gluten free stalls at ripe's food & craft market at dubai garden centre on saturdays. 9.30 - 13.00pm. sweet connection in particular has a stall every week. amazing breads, cakes and bakes and areej is the ONLY totally gluten-free kitchen in the whole of dubai.

most of the 4 and 5 star hotel restaurants will be able to cater to you. Just call in advance, many will even bake gluten free bread, but like I said, call in advance. The gluten free uae page on facebook has TONS of recommendations on their wall also as this is a question that comes up often. For cereal, you can go to almost any supermarket, the only ones that don't really have any are Hyper Panda and Co Op. Spinneys and Carrefour and Lulus all have a good selection. Tip, look at the organic ones, they are usually the ones that are gluten free. Normal cornflakes usually are not ok as they have malt flavouring which has gluten, 'whole earth organic cornflakes' are good, gluten free and not hugely expensive, available in most supermarkets. Get him his own butter (as I assume you are not all going gluten free for his stay) and some gluten free sandwich stuff, philadelphia cheese is gluten free. Kallo rice cakes are gluten free and are also available in most supermarkets. Oscar Mayer hams in spinneys are also Gluten free. Many deli counter ones are not, and even if they are they will usually get contaminated from the slicer. If you make your own hummus be careful to not buy a tahini thats been bleached as its usually done with flour, someone told me the ones from Egypt are usually ok, but I have nothing to back up this info. Get a cheap chopping board that he can use for his stuff and make any salads etc on that. Im sure he would appreciate if you cleared a counter in the kitchen and made it gluten free for his stay. If you do any 'real' baking while hes around, be aware gluten dust can stay in the air for 10 hours or so, so remove his foods if you do this. The Dr Schar pastas are by far the best, they are expensive though, we get ours from carrefour or the gluten free supermarket. Organic foods and cafe bake gluten free bread on a tuesday but you could easily buy some mixes and make your own, just get a new tin to use as it should not have had gluten in it before. Organics also do 20% off on ALL food the third saturday of every month, so a good time to stock up on crackers, cereal, etc, but you can easily buy everything you need without going there too, it just takes some searching :) Get him to write you a list of snack foods and breakfast foods he likes eating and start from that. I could go on for days, but my head hurts so let me know if you need anything else :)

Thanks, Molly. Just what I need, some specific places like that. Could You buy fresh bread at the organic cafe? She stayed at the qamardeen so didn't need to buy bread but i'm pretty sure she said you could. She was really impressed with the selection anyway & she's very very fussy :) If you do go to Esca then call before you go & tell them your coming. Chef will make sure he has everything in for you.

My mother in law has just visited and she is Coeliac. She found the Organic Food Cafe to have great products but even better was Esca cafe in the Qamardeen Hotel. The chef is fantastic there and gave her a huge choice of food she could have. They also have lovely gluten free bread. We did the friday brunch there and it was great for her. The chef basically kept cooking food fresh just for her. She loved it! (they are in the entertainer too) We then took them for dinner at Ruth Chris where they have a seperate gluten free menu. This made MIL feel so much better as she hates the fuss of having to ask.

Hi Cherry--do you like to bake? I have a biscuit recipe that is delicious! I made it on on a whim when I had random ingredients lying around and it's a house favorite now. It is gluten free, 100% Ooh me please- I'd love it! :) Oh, just saw this! I posted it in the recipes section :)

Yes, I do bake, as long as it keeps for a few days, cause once they get here we'll be on the tourist trail. Would love your recipe please.Email is peterbenn58 at hotmail.com. When you get a moment. Sent :) you can remove email if you want

The gluten free supermarket is an online store where all the prodcuts are gluten free. They deliver all over the UAE. Also check out the "gluten free UAE" facebook page and ask for suggestions on eating out - there are a few restaurants that have a gluten free menu - but most places you'll need to call them in advance and speak to the chef. <em>edited by terrible_twos on 10/02/2012</em>

Hi Cherry--do you like to bake? I have a biscuit recipe that is delicious! I made it on on a whim when I had random ingredients lying around and it's a house favorite now. It is gluten free, 100% Ooh me please- I'd love it! :)

Have an adult visitor arriving soon who is coeliac. I have no idea where to go for breakfast cereal and bread mostly, biscuits too. Do I need the organic cafe or do c4 and spinneys stock gluten free products. He is coming from Australia so price-wise is it cheaper to bring some food with him or is there a good range here with comparable prices to Oz? Secondly, can you recommend any restaurants or hotels who offer gluten free meals as standard and understand this condition? Obviously he can live on salads etc but would like to take my mum to an afternoon tea so it would be good to know he could maybe order a gluten free item to have with his coffee and not just watch us eat all the goodies. Any advice/help gratefully received. Hi Cherry--do you like to bake? I have a biscuit recipe that is delicious! I made it on on a whim when I had random ingredients lying around and it's a house favorite now. It is gluten free, 100%

Watch out for gluten-free bread at the Lime Tree. I've had it on several occasions - sometimes it's ok and sometimes it's def not gluten-free.

Just saw this on the FB page... http://www.glutenfree-supermarket.ae/

C4 in mirdif have a gluten free section, uptoen mirdif spinneys has a really good one too. c4 carries maple corn flakes that are gluten free, but they are usually in the ordinary cereal section. glutenfreesupermarket.ae delivers all sorts of products to your door, within 2 days. Azure in the marina marriot has a gluten free menu. Carluccios (dubai mall, mirdif cc and marina mall I think) have a GF menu. PF changs at moe has a good reputation though had a bad time at the mirdif one. The lime tree cafe does gluten free, nut free and dairy free. The fairmont hotels offer gluten free options if you call ahead. And Ikea sell excellent gluten free cheesecake and other cakes :)

Have an adult visitor arriving soon who is coeliac. I have no idea where to go for breakfast cereal and bread mostly, biscuits too. Do I need the organic cafe or do c4 and spinneys stock gluten free products. He is coming from Australia so price-wise is it cheaper to bring some food with him or is there a good range here with comparable prices to Oz? Secondly, can you recommend any restaurants or hotels who offer gluten free meals as standard and understand this condition? Obviously he can live on salads etc but would like to take my mum to an afternoon tea so it would be good to know he could maybe order a gluten free item to have with his coffee and not just watch us eat all the goodies. Any advice/help gratefully received. You need purple...she's a resident coeliac expert. I'll let her know about this thread. https://www.facebook.com/glutenfree.uae <em>edited by Green-ish on 10/02/2012</em>