Gluten-free cake

I was strolling around the supermarket near work (Sedmoy kontinent at Paveletskaya) when I stumbled upon a Swedish gluten-free Daim's cake in the frozen section!

Not only is it gluten-free but it's made with Almond and Daim's, two of my favourite flavours!

Since I'm spending (western) Christmas here with my sister, I'm definitely buying it for desert!

I was also told on expat.ru that Starbucks make gluten-free cakes now. Unfortunately, they seem pretty neglectful on the issue of cross-contamination...

Have you had any pleasant gluten-free surprises in Moscow?

Tell us in the comments, it'll help everyone!

Buckwheat pancakes

Last week, I talked about the Russians' love for buckwheat and briefly mentioned buckwheat crepes. Well, last night, I finally had a chance to make them!

I found buckwheat flour in the massive Perekrestok (previously Karusel) in Metropolis (metro Voykovskaya); it's called мука гарнец греченая (myka garnyets grechenaya). I also used a bit of my own gluten-free flour but that is optional. I used this recipe:

200g buckwheat flour

1 egg (+1 egg white if you want the crepe to stay together)

25cl milk

50cl water

a touch of salt

Put the flour in a bowl and slowly add water while whisking, then add the milk, egg and salt and mix until smooth. The dough has to be very liquid, add water if necessary. Leave to rest for at least an hour.

Put a flat pan over medium-high heat and wait for the pan to be really hot (this is really important!). Grease the whole pan with a little bit of oil (I recommend using a brush or kitchen paper), then pour enough dough to cover the whole surface; tilt and rotate it to create a nice think disk. Wait approximately 1-2 minutes

(depending on the thickness of the pancake), carefully lift the crepe with a spatula (or by shaking the pan horizontally) and flip it. At this stage, you can add the filling or just wait a minute and set aside.

I recommend greasing the pan every two crepes for best results.

I made three types of fillings last night:

-The first one was with goat's cheese, rocket salad and walnuts.

-The second was with chicken and the Russian local substitute for ketchup (which I find actually better than actual ketchup),

- and the third was a sweet one with butter, sugar and lemon juice

It's a really easy recipe for a delicious meal, and you can make fillings with pretty much anything you like!

Borsch

So this is a bit far from the gluten subject but I thought it would be a good thing to show food ideas that don't necessarily involve wheat substitutes.

Borsch (or borscht, bortsch, borstch, borsh, and borshch according to Wikipedia, you can basically write it any way you want so long as the sh and r sounds are still there) is a very popular beetroot-based soup in Russia and Eastern Europe. Its main advantages are that it includes potatoes (for the carbs) and no wheat flour is added.

It is a great winter dish and, when you make it, you usually have enough soup for at least 5 dinners!

I made some last night and it tasted delicious. The Russians usually add smetana (a type of sour cream) on top when serving it for extra self-indulgence!

The traditional version uses beef meat and the process becomes very lengthy, so for this version I used my mother's technique (put it all in one pot and cook it) and I did not put meat in.

Here are the ingredients:

8 cups beef broth

1 large onion, peeled, quartered

3 large beets, peeled, chopped

2 carrots, peeled, chopped

2 large russet potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 cups thinly sliced cabbage

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 cup sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Chopped fresh dill

Bay leaves

Coriander

The traditional version uses beef meat and the process becomes very long, so my version used my mother's technique (put it all in one pot and cook it) and I did not put meat in. I cooked it all for about an hour. The herbs are optional but when it comes to my tastes, the more herbs, the better!

The more elaborate version with beef meat is also worth a try!

Gluten-free shops in Moscow

The best way to get our beloved gluten-free substitutes is to bring them from abroad or have relatives and friends bring them when they come visit us. That's definitely the cheapest way. But for those who don't have the chance to do that, Moscow happens to have (at least) two shops dedicated to gluten-free products and they have more than enough variety on their shelves.

I went to one of them yesterday and really felt I was in gluten-free paradise! They have all the brands you can find in Western Europe (mainly German and Italian brands) and actually much more than I'd seen in the typical organic/gluten-free shops in Paris or London. I even found gnocchi, which I haven't eaten since I became intolerant! 

I expected the prices to be exorbitant and they turned out to be quite alright! Obviously, they are more expensive than in Europe, but it really is not too bad (considering we've all had to get used to paying more for our pack of pasta). Moreover, they often have generous discounts (актции/aktsii) on a series of products.

Check out the amazing range of gluten-free products they have on their website!

The shop I went to is in Dinamo, 10-15 minutes away from the station by foot. I have not yet been to the second one but I will pay them a visit sometime this week. It is near the metro station Marksistkaya and is about 10 min from the station.
Find them on google maps.

Another website sells gluten-free products if you don't like what Dietica offers, it's called Diet-Shop

Here, I hope this helps some of you as I found this discovery to be a very pleasant surprise!

Ciao!

Kasha

When I decided to start this blog, one of my first ideas was to write an article about kasha. This dish is a Russians' favourite and it is made of a wonderful grain: buckwheat, or греча (grecha) in Russian.

Unlike what its name might suggest, buckwheat has nothing to do with wheat and, most importantly, it does NOT contain gluten!

Dry buckwheat can be found in most supermarkets in the starchy food compartment and is really easy to cook.

Traditionally, it comes in the form of small crushed grains that you boil the same way you would boil rice until tender. The Russians then eat it as it is or sometimes add a bit of meat stock. I personally find this way of cooking to be a touch plain and I like to spice it up with other ingredients.

The version I prepared last night turned out quite well and included mushrooms, onions and eggs. This version is rather simple and is called kasha kupecheskaya.

I added a bit of sour cream to keep it from being too dry.

What I really want to try (maybe next time) is cooking it with chicken, cream and mushrooms! (And a bit of melted cheese for the French side...)

Another use you can make of it is by making buckwheat pancakes with the grain's flour, as we do in France, and more specifically in Brittany. The buckwheat gives the pancakes a really nice original flavour which goes well with savoury ingredients.

Here you can find the buckwheat pancake recipe and lots of filling ideas!

My favourite type of filling will always be the "complète" with cheese, ham, mushrooms and an egg on top!

Buckwheat flour can be found in big supermarkets such as Ashan or Karusel, my favourite one.

If you have any ideas of recipes with buckwheat, you are welcome to post them in the comments!

Communicating in Russia

Here are ways of letting people know what your condition is. Those sentences were written with the help of my Russian teacher* so I'm pretty certain they're right:


I have an allergy/intolerance to gluten, I cannot eat wheat/wheat flour
У меня аллергия на клейковину, мне нельзя есть пшеницу/ пшеничную муку.
U menya allergia na kleykavinu, mne nelzya yest pshenitsu/ pshenichnuyu muku.


There's gluten in wheat, rye and barley.
Клейковина в пшенице, ячмене и ржи.
Kleykavina v pshenitse, yachmenye i rzhi.


I cannot eat anything that has been cooked in the same fryer as wheat-based items.
Мне нельзя есть то, что было приготовлено в той же посуде, в которой были приготовлены блюда с пшеницей.
Mne nelzya yest to shto bila prigatovlena v toy zhe pacude v katoray billi prigatovleni blyuda s pshenistey.


I cannot eat anything that's been breaded.
Я не могу есть ничего, что было в панировке.
YA ne magu yest' nichevo, shto bila v panirovke


If you are too lazy to learn these sentences or just don't want to, you could also print out these gluten-free restaurant cards and show them to the waiter/cook/host:

http://glutenfreepassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Russian-Chef-Translation-Cards-for-Gluten-Free-Dining.pdf

*She's a really good teacher and I would recommend her to anyone who needs private Russian lessons.
Her name is Alya and her phone number is +7 (926) 586-23-18

Introduction

Hi everyone!

So because I'm spending 6 months in Moscow and I've found that there is very little information about being gluten intolerant or celiac here (along with almost no specifically gluten-free products), I've decided to share my experience in the hope that it'll help others.

If you have tips or want to share something you've discovered about living gluten-free in Moscow, do share it! The aim of this blog is to provide mutual support for everyone in the same case as me.

A little bit about me:

My name is Astrid, I'm 21 years old, French and I'm on a 6 month internship in Moscow. I might be cheating a bit because my intolerance isn't like the typical celiac one and I can tolerate small amounts of wheat.
Also, my boyfriend lives in London and everytime we see each other he brings me gluten-free pasta... I know, I'm cheating...

But I still hope this will help some of you!

Love.

Astrid