Gluten Free Afternoon Tea at The Rubens At The Palace, London

I was recently the lucky recipient of an afternoon tea for two gift experience at the prestigious Ruben’s Hotel in London. Apart from the occasional scone and pot of tea on coastal holidays, I have never had a proper traditional afternoon tea. One of my best friends from ‘back home’ and I have been saying for years that we must treat ourselves to a fancy afternoon tea in London but never got round to organising it. When I was given the Tea for Two experience organised by Experience Days I knew exactly who was coming with me.

The Ruben’s Hotel is situated in Victoria, very close to Buckingham Palace and just across the road from the Royal Mews, so you couldn’t get a more perfect location for an English afternoon tea. I was particularly excited as they said they were able to offer a gluten free menu, which seemed just as delicious as the regular menu, which other places I’ve looked at do not. At the time of booking I informed them I was coeliac and so would need a gluten free menu and was assured this wouldn’t be a problem.

Upon arrival my friend and I were greeted by the concierge, who smartly dressed in a full back suit, opened the door for us and led us to the dining room. From here we were shown to our table by our waitress. The dining room was plush and elegant yet quite understated.  The furniture was dark wood and the fabric in tranquil shades of gold, bronze and brown giving a very relaxed feel to the place. Grand chairs or long comfy benches were set either side of the table which was positioned quite low down, level with your knees rather than waist height. This proved to be a brilliant arrangement as it meant you could still see your dining partner over the top of the tiered afternoon tea stand when it arrived and it made for easy viewing and reaching of the pastries on the top layer of the stand.

The tables were all pre-set with linen napkins, china plates and traditional pink and white floral tea cups with matching sugar bowl and tongs. Settling into our comfy chairs and browsing the tea menu we both felt we were in for a treat. We both chose the Rubens Afternoon Tea which consisted of a selection of finger sandwiches, scones and then a selection of cakes and pastries. I again confirmed my need for gluten free.

We both ordered lavender and blackcurrant tea to drink and when the waitress bought it over she poured it for us, holding our tea cups on a tray and pouring the tea through an ornate tea strainer into our cups in turn. We then both got a full teapot full of tea for us to top up our cups as we wished. The lavender and blackcurrant tea was a fabulous glossy ruby maroon colour and only lightly floral. It made with loose leaf tea and little pips of lavender were poured out and caught by the tea strainer as we topped up our cups. Feeling very elegant we sipped our tea and waited for the food to arrive. We sat talking to each other in whispered voices, feeling almost as though we were in a library amongst the hushed quiet elegance.

After 20 minutes we noticed several other tables being presented with their food and yet we still hadn’t received ours. I assured my friend it was probably my gluten free food that was holding things up and it would arrive soon. After 25 minutes we were getting quite hungry as it was nearly 2:30pm at this point and we had obviously skipped lunch to ensure we were hungry for the tea. After 30 minutes I purposely looked at my watch and glanced at a waitress who was serving another couple hoping to pass on a hint. A few minutes later the concierge appeared and apologized for the delay but explained there had been a problem in the kitchen. I asked if it was because I needed the gluten free menu and he said yes. He offered us both a free glass on Champagne but as neither my friend nor I really drink and we both had empty stomachs we thanked him but declined. He offered us instead a strawberry and basil sorbet which we greatfully accepted.

When he returned with our sorbet it was a lovely looking scoop of a deep red sorbet, flecked with green and sitting in…a wafer biscuit. As he set it own in front of me I looked at it incredulously and said “You’ve just told me the delay is because I need gluten free food and now you’ve given me a wheaty wafer, I can’t eat it” He looked a little flustered, apologized and then said he would bring us our food straight away and dashed off. I rolled my eyes at my friend who was happily demolishing her own sorbet with moans of delight. She proclaimed it the best sorbet she had ever eaten, which it lovely except it only made me hungrier.

Shortly the waitress appeared bearing two three-tiered cake stands of our food. We had been waiting for 40 minutes by now, so we were delighted to see it. She explained what was on each of the tiers. A base layer of cucumber & cream cheese, smoked salmon and egg & watercress finger sandwiches on gluten free bread for me, crusts off obviously. My friend had the same only on wheat based bread. She had fewer sandwiches than me and was assured a chicken and another ham roll was also due her, which they would bring when they were ready. She cleared the sorbet plates and left.

On the middle layer we both had two warm scones which had been wrapped in a napkin to keep them warm. Two gluten free sultana scones for me and a plain and sultana scone for my friend. This was accompanied by a dish containing two scoops of clotted cream and a dish of strawberry jam to share.

Both our top tiers of assorted mini cakes and pastries looked fantastic. My friend had strawberry cheesecake, lemon and lavender cupcake, honey and walnut financier, rose macaroon and a violet dark chocolate ganache!

I had the rose macaroon, violet ganache, orange & almond cake, strawberry jelly, berry meringue and some slices of mocha syrup cake! Wow! As I had more treats than my friend I gave her my strawberry jelly as she adores strawberries.

We both started to eat and I was impressed with my egg & watercress sandwiches. The bread was soft and light and held together well. We noticed we hadn’t been given any plates, our first ones having been removed with the sorbet plates. I managed to ask our waitress for some who apologised and promptly bought us some replacements. My friend finished her sandwiches and as there was no waitress in sight we decided not to wait for her extra sandwiches and to start on the scones.

It was then I realised that they expected us to share the jam and cream. This was not an issue for the cream as we could both take one of the scoops onto our own plates but the jam was in one single dish. This would be fine if you were both eating normal scones, but as mine were gluten free I didn’t want to risk cross contamination of eating one scone and then having my friend dip her knife back into the dish to eat her second and transfer wheaty crumbs into the jam. Not good planning by the food staff. Thankfully as I’d had a fruit tea I hadn’t used my tea spoon so we used the spoon to drop blobs of jam onto our scones without letting it touch the scone.

I was really impressed with my scones. I’ve had a gluten free scones once before and it was dry, crumbled and was so dense you could have knocked someone out with it. Thankfully not the case here. These were flakey, buttery and studded with juicy sultanas. They were still a little heavy, being more like a cross between a croissant and a pantone, but so soft, moist and buttery they were delicious! The clotted cream was incredibly smooth and creamy and the jam nicely fruited. So good.

We both then turned out attention to the pastries. My orange and almond cake was fantastic. Really moist and soft with a delicious fresh orange flavour and nice damp texture from the almonds. I was impressed.

The dinky rose macaroon was packed full of floral rose flavour and nicely chewy in the centre. Again, the best macaroon I’ve tasted, although I wasn’t so sure about the thick white chocolate flower on top which seemed a bit clunky after the delicate mini macaroon.

My meringue nest was ok. I’m not really a meringue fan, but I found the meringue to be completely crisp and very sweet. It almost tasted shop bought, but the fresh berries, cream and fruit coulis hiding in the base were good.

The slices of mocha cake were also delicious. They had a sticky moist syrupy top layer, soaked into a strongly flavoured chocolate coffee cake. Look how fudgy and yummy it looks.

I’d given the strawberry jelly to my friend who is a strawberry fanatic and had saved the violet ganache for last. This proved to be a good idea as it was rich, not too sweet with a sophisticated delicate violet flavour. This gave a nice contrast to the other sweet treats I’d enjoyed. The texture of the ganche was amazing. There was no hard chocolate shell, it was just pure truffly ganache. Smooth, creamy and so perfectly soft it started to melt the minute you took a bite. The violet flavour is not one I’ve had often but it was so delicate that it worked brilliantly with the chocolate.

We both had a fabulous time and it felt such a treat to sit in beautiful surroundings enjoy tea and cake, but overall a mixed experience. Definitely mostly good and I would certainly recommend it and go back myself, but there were a few things I felt they could certainly improve on. However, I suspect most of these are because I needed gluten free food, which although doesn’t excuse things, does mean most people shouldn’t have a problem.

Areas that let it down

• Took 40 minutes for our food to arrive when we had pre-booked
• The complimentary sorbet by way of apology arrived on a wheat wafer despite having moments before talked about my needing gluten free food – more staff training/awareness
• My friends extra ham and chicken sandwiches never arrived
• We had to ask for serving plates
• Having a single dish of cream and jam to share is not a good idea if one of the guests is coeliac due to cross contamination – more training/awareness
• Lack of waitress around, no one checked it we were ok until right near the end when we decided not to ask about the missing sandwiches as my friend was full.

Things that would make me go back

• All staff were very polite and courteous
• The surroundings were elegant and very comfortable
• We felt like we were getting a treat and that we were sophisticated ladies enjoying our afternoon tea
• The china and traditional elegance
• The choice and quality of the gluten free food
• The food overall was of a very high standard and consisted of some different innovative cakes and pastries, not just your bog standard menu.
• Those gluten free scones!

Life, Lunch & Friends

Sorry for the long absence. The week before last I was unwell and not up to eating anything, let alone cooking. I then made one of those big life changing decisions, and foolishly made the wrong one, and went off down the wrong track. It’s been a very stressful and emotional week trying to set it right again and I dearly hope things are now back on the right path. To be honest I’d love to scrap the last few days from existence, but I have learnt things too, such as don’t make important when you have been ill and are not thinking straight!

In order to offer some support and take my mind of things one of my best friends from ‘back home’ came to Sheffield to visit me over the weekend. I haven’t seen her since Christmas, so it was lovely to see her again and do normal things like go out to lunch and catch up on her news.

As Saturday seemed to be one of the hottest days in Sheffield, we didn’t want anything too heavy or more importantly cooked for lunch and so instead decided to visit Fusion Organic Café which is located down a side street (Arundel Street) near Sheffield Hallam Uni.

This is a great little café where they make all their own salads, quiches and soups fresh on site daily. The menu is always changing to accommodate what’s in season or what they fancy making – my kind of place. We each opted for the salad bowl which was a choice of 3 of their 5 salads of the day. I went for a bigger portion of just 2 salads, the chickpea and cabbage salad which was in a light dressing and then also the smoked paprika quinoa salad which had a delicious smoky heat to it.

My friend chose the Moroccan cous cous salad, the quinoa salad and a broccoli noodle salad. We both agreed everything was delicious and very generous portions considering we got all that for £3.80 each! I’d defiantly recommend it. They always have a range of gluten free or vegan options too. It’s a little hidden, but well worth the hunt out. (They are now open Saturdays too)

As the day was so swelteringly hot we decided to cool down with a pot of frozen yoghurt from a shop on Pinstone Street called Flurt. They had a choice of 3 flavours on the day, natural, chocolate or raspberry. We both went for raspberry. Our medium tubs were £2.80 and each topping was 30p extra. They had lots of toppings to choose from but couldn’t guarantee any of them were gluten free as they were all kept in the same unit, so I had mine plain while my friend chose white chocolate and strawberries for hers.

I was slightly disappointed at the lack of flavour options, as their website lists many more. Still the raspberry flavour was very fruity and refreshing, although I found it a little icier than previous frozen yogurts I’ve tasted. I also thought they were a bit stingy with the portion size considering my pot cost £2.80 and actually turned out to be swirled around the edge of the pot and the middle was hollow. We’d wandered off into the city before I discovered this but it left me feeling a bit cheated. It was very refreshing but I’m not sure I’d buy one again. Still, I may just have been unlucky.

It was a lovely way to spend a sunny day, especially when I had the company of one of my best friends. Long may the sunny weather continue!

Devnaa Indian Sweets Tiffin Box: A Review

Now, this may look like a fancy box of chocolates – but don’t be fooled. These are not just your ordinary box of truffles and caramels, oh no. These are so much more indulgent and exciting than that!

Devnaa is a relatively new company who make gourmet boxes of sweet Indian treats, specially developed to represent the infamous tiffin boxes of India, used to transport food. They also make Indian inspired bars and drinking chocolates too. The box itself looks very artisan, but lift the lid, peel back the paper and the most intricate box of beautifully decorate chocolates are revealed. However, these are not actually ‘chocolates’ as we known them, but a range of specially designed and delicately spiced classic Indian sweets, which have been enrobed in chocolate and beautifully decorated.

Bite into one of these and you won’t find ganche or salted caramel, instead your get to experience a pistachio barfi delicately flavoured with cardamom and rosewater and encased in dark chocolate and finished with chopped pistachios. Or, how about a coconut barfi enrobed in milk chocolate or one of the other fabulous combinations including vanilla, saffron, orange, strawberry and chai!

I’m not much of a chocolate lover – shocking I know. On the odd occasion I have been given a box I usually eat one or two and then put them in a cupboard and forget about them. Not so with these divine creations. I was so excited when I opened the box that I ate two just after breakfast. I just couldn’t resist trying them immediately.

My first choice was Cinnamon Chai. A signature chai blend of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and close infused barfi which is enrobed in milk chocolate. Wow, it was divine. You could taste all the spices, the cardamom in particular, but nothing too strongly overpowered anything else. The spices were delicate and fragrant and worked so well with the coating of smooth milk chocolate. The barfi itself had a creamy, yet slightly crumbly texture and wasn’t overly sweet, which let the spices really shine through.

I couldn’t resist trying another one and selected the Velvety Vanilla. A Madagascan vanilla barfi with hints of saffron and cardamom, covered in white chocolate. This was fabulous too. Again I loved the cardamom flavour and how you could see speckles of it throughout the barfi. The saffron flavour was subtle but still noticeable and also gave a light golden hue to the barfi. So good, I sat there in my PJ’s grinning over my box of Indian treats.

All the barfi sweets were amazing and I’d much, much, much sooner be presented with a beautiful box of these than a box of regular chocolates (even the expensive ones). I adored their soft melt-in-the-mouth texture, how the spices were delicate and yet still shone through, how the centres were made from delicious barfi rather than chocolate or truffle based and the presentation is stunning. Plus, this particular box (Signature Indian Sweets Collection) is entirely gluten free! (although some of their other Inidan Sweet boxes do contain gluten so ask before buying).

So friends and family take note, next time its my birthday, Christmas or you are just feeling generous…keep your chocolates and jewelry, I’ll have a box of these please! I might even let you try one too.

My First Dosa at East & West Restaurant, Sheffield and a visit to Castleton

My parents came up to visit me over the bank holiday weekend for a belated birthday celebration. We spent the morning wandering round Sheffield city centre before going for lunch at East & West restaurant, followed by a walk in Castleton, afternoon tea and then back to mine for dinner. The sun was shining, the food delicious and the company couldn’t have been better. All in all a fabulous day.

East & West is a South Indian restaurant on Abbeydale road that apparently has been running for 5 years, but it has only just registered on my radar. They are famous for their dosa, which are huge, paper thin crispy pancakes made from rice and urid (lentil) flour. I have been watching Paul Hollywood’s Bread programme on tv and he did an episode on breads from different cultures, one of which was Indian dosa. I had never heard or seen a dosa before but the uniqueness of them and the fact they are naturally gluten free made me instantly long to try one for myself. I did a little googleling and discovered East & West restaurant that specialised in them. Until recently, they were in fact the only restaurant in Sheffield to offer dosa. Upon discovering this I immediately suggested to my parents we go there for lunch when they came to visit. Thankfully they too had been watching the bread programme and so were more than happy to accompany me.

The restaurant itself is tiny, with only 4 tables inside but we managed to get a table when we visited at lunch time. It’s quite a simple set up, but the aromas of food wafting out the kitchen were mouthwatering and it was clear everything was made fresh. The menu is made up of a few choices, with a variety of fillings or flavour varieties for each dish. It all seemed very authentic and included many dishes I have never even heard of before. However, we were on a dosa mission and all decided to order dosa.

While we waited for the food we were served our drinks. My father and I had mango lassi, while my mother chose mango juice. The lassi was delicious. Very thick and creamy from the yoghurt and nicely sweet without being sickly. The mango flavour was good too.

When our dosa’s arrived we were all very excited and impressed at the sheer size of them. They were longer than the trays they were served on! Dosa are cooked on a large flat griddle until crisp, when they are rolled around the filling of your choice and served with a selection of chutneys. I chose Masala Dosa, stuffed with a potato and onion curry mixture, while my parents both went for a Chicken Dosa, chicken and potato curry.

They filling is only in the very centre of the dosa, to ensure the rest of it remains crisp. You eat the dosa by breaking off pieces from an end, scooping up some of the filling and then dipping it into one of three chutneys – two were spicy and the third was like a cottage cheese. I love eating food with my fingers in this rustic fashion, and it made the process of eating really fun and interactive. The filling was only lightly spiced but two of three chutneys had quite a powerful kick that really pepped the dish up. Different flavours and levels of spice with each bite depending on the chutney chosen. It was delicious and surprisingly filling.

I found the dosa themselves quite salty, but the saltiness was calmed down when eaten with the filling and spiced chutneys. I loved how thin and crisp they were. The mango lassi was also great at calming the mouth and preventing anything from getting too hot. It was such a unique dish to me that I could quite happily go back every day for a week to eat another one. It was a very simple yet delicious lunch.

After lunch we drove to Castleton and had a quick wander round the village before trekking up to the ruins of Peveril Castle at the top of Peak Cavern (also affectionately known as The Devil’s Arse!) There is good parking at or nearby the visitors centre.

There are a couple of routes you can go to get up there, but we decided to climb up Cave Dale, which is a meandering rocky trail up an old river way, through the hills. The beginning was quite steep and rocky in parts, but the scenery was stunning. From the top it leveled out and we were treated to a spectacular view over Castleton. We then clambered back down a very steep grassy hill (the hardest part) and back round into Castleton for afternoon tea.

It was a lovely way to celebrate my belated birthday and it was so lovely to spend some time with my family again. The day was perfect, it almost felt like a little holiday and I didn’t want it to end.

Burger & Shake Night at Homemade Sheffield

Homemade is a café/deli in the Nether Edge area of Sheffield. They mainly open 10am - 3pm Tuesday – Saturdays, but about once or twice a month they hold special themed food nights. Recently there has been a Friday Bistro night and a Saturday tapas Sharing Plates night.

The week before my birthday I was browsing the interest in search of somewhere to go with A to celebrate my birthday. I was delighted to discover that on Wednesday 24^th April, my actually birthday, Homemade was holding a Burger & Shake night. Now you may think that a burger – meaty in a bun – wheaty, is not the best idea for a vegetarian coeliac, but that is until I tell you that they offer 3 handmade meaty burgers - all gluten free and 5 handmade veggie burgers, of which 4 are vegan and 2 are gluten free. Yippee!

Having a burger and shake is not something I have done since having to eat gluten free, over 2 ½ years now. The fun element, American slant and the fact it was a special event evening really appealed to me as a place to go for my birthday meal. That little bit different to the usual Italian or Indian food I often eat out. My boyfriend A loves burgers so I knew he would be more than happy with my choice.

 

Upon arrival we were seated at our reserved table and I was impressed that water was immediately brought to the table along with the menus. A ordered a strawberry milkshake while I chose a smoothie from their specials board of raspberry and blackberry. The drinks were obviously made fresh on site as A’s milkshake had little bits of strawberry floating in it and my smoothie was wonderfully thick and smooth.

 

My choice of two burgers was:

The Hot Chick - chickpeas, cumin, carrots, paprika, garam masala and fresh coriander. Served with sour cream.

Billie The Kid - mint, feta, oregano, red onions, chilli, chickpeas and garlic, topped with griddled halloumi or beetroot.

It was a tough decision but in the end I chose the Billie The Kid with beetroot, as I liked the idea of the mint, feta and chilli in the burger. A went for The Uncle Sam, a beef burger with coriander and spices topped with onion and tomato. We had a choice of homemade baked potato wedges or house made coleslaw and salad. We both went for wedges.

While we waited for the food I was enthralled by the wall we were sat next to. It was covered with pages from an old copy of woman’s weekly, or housewife magazine (I can’t remember which) and was full of top tips and recipes for the woman of the home. Things like sensational salads, how to cater for a dinner dance and adverts for Bovril. The front cover page said it was priced at 14½. I was really amused by the poem advert for cheese triangles, which it described as crustless cheese!

 

Our burgers arrived, with mine accompanied by a gluten free bun, which I was pleased about. The taste was lovely, quite subtle on the chili, but I loved the chunks of feta which had become all soft and melty. The texture was more like a potato cake than a dry mealy bean burger, which made a lovely change. I really enjoyed the baked potato wedges which were served skin on. The chef even came to our table to assure me she made all the food and it was gluten free.

 

I was delighted to be told that they had a gluten free dessert. And not your usual boring crème brulee or bought in chocolate brownie either. Instead I was offered a slice of house-made apricot and coconut tart. This sounded too good to pass up and I was presented with a simple enormous slice. It had a base of apricot halves with a desiccated coconut frangipane style top served in a gluten free pasty base. The filling was a little fragile and crumbly, but this is expected in gluten free baking, but it was deliciously flavoured and moist, that I happily devoured every crumb. It was the best gluten free dessert I’ve ever had out. I told the chef this at the end of the night as I think it’s important to encourage people to continue to care about and provide tasty gluten free food.

 

It was a lovely way to celebrate my birthday and we left full and happy. It was our first visit to Homemade, but I have no doubt we’ll be back!

Note: For their special food nights it is important to book a table.

They also only accept cash or cheques for payment.

Burger & Shake nights are currently every Wednesday, but for a limited time only.

Nutribox & A Special Offer

Being coeliac can mean that finding healthy yet tasty snacks can be a bit of a challenge. If I’m out and about or off site for a work meeting then it can be tricky to find anything, let along tasty and exciting things to eat while everyone else pops in to a shop for a choc bar or passes round a plate of custard creams.

There are a few companies around now that offer to post you little boxes of snacks for you to have on hand. These are a great idea, but sadly are often not guaranteed gluten free or don’t have a great variety of suitable gluten free snacks, meaning and you end up with the same variation on peanuts and raisins week and week (I’m talking from past experience here)

Enter Nutribox! This is a Sheffield based company that source snacks from gluten free suppliers, all within the UK, that they then put together into a selection box and post out to delighted gluten free munchers. I must admit I didn’t know much about them until they got in contact and offered me one of their boxes to review. All the products they provide are gluten free – naturally gluten free – meaning they don’t try and supply gluten free alternatives to e.g. muffins, but rather provide healthy, naturally gluten free foods perfect for snacking on – fruit crisps, nuts bars etc.

 

They offer two sizes of box, mini Nutribox – 8-10 products per box or Nutribox – 18-20 products per box. Both of which can be delivered anywhere in the UK on a monthly basis. The boxes are designed to fit through the letter box, so you won’t have to keep traipsing off to the post office to collect your box of goodies. The range of things on offer and the companies they sources the snacks from differs from month to month, so each box is an exciting surprise as to what you will receive.

On receiving my box I eagerly opened it to find a selection of exciting treats inside, including:

3 raw fruit/choc/nut bars.

Bounce – Cashew & Pecan Vitality Life – A mix of nuts, GF oats, seeds and fruit juices

Braw – Apple & Pear fruit bar – dried apple, pear, dates, almonds and flax

Energy Bomb – Raw Coco Crisp – A high fibre, fruit, nut and cocoa bar

3 little packets of dried fruit and nut mixes by a company called The Ludlow Nut Company.

No Choc Fruit & Nut – Almonds, hazelnuts, sultanas & raisins

Tropical Mix – Banana chips, almonds & coconut

Hot Cross Bun – Cranberries, hazelnuts and sultanas

There were also two small raw chocolate bars. Raw chocolate is something I’ve heard a lot about but never tasted it in bar form before, so I was excited about this.

Ombar – Dark 72% Bio Live Chocolate – Raw, organic, vegan chocolate bar enriched with bio ‘good’ bacteria

Ombar – Cranberry & Mandarin Chocolate – Raw, organic, vegan chocolate bar infused with cranberries and mandarin

A finally an interesting packet of 2 disc shaped raw superfood ‘cookies’

Energise – Raw Fruit ‘Cookies’ – A mix of sprouted almonds, coconut, hemp, flax, agave syrup, cocoa nibs, goji berries, maca and vanilla.

How delicious and exciting do they all sound! I'd normally be thrilled to find even one of these on offer in a shop, so to be presented with a whole box full of new and interesting snacks made me ridiculously happy. I wanted to save some of the treats to take with me to the office or when I’m out and about, but I couldn’t resist trying three of them at home for review purposes.

Energise – Raw Fruit ‘Cookies’

Being raw there is nothing baked about these ‘cookies’ They are simply a mix of delicious, nutritious ingredients squished together to resemble a cookie. There are two raw cookies per 50g pack.

They felt a little soft and ever so slightly sticky to the touch, almost like a flapjack. They smelt strongly of coconut and when bitten into they had a nice chew and slightly sweet flavour. The flavour and texture of the coconut comes through on chewing along with a slight sweetness from the agave and then tartness from the goji berries. The texture was similar to other dried fruit and nut bars I’ve tried, very nice and very moorish. I could quite happily munch on these any time. All very nutritious natural ingredients, so far better than a muffin or chocolate bar.

Energy Bomb – Raw Coco Crisp

On removing the wrapper, this bar felt very dry, dense and firm. There was no softness or give it the texture. It had a strong cocoa aroma, quite bitter and not very sweet. On biting into it, it had a coarse, slightly crumbly feeling in the mouth. It wasn’t unpleasant but I wouldn’t hurry to have another one. It would certainly fill you up and provide you with a long supply of energy, probably ideal if out on a hike. I felt it would be more something I would eat for its benefits, rather than because I enjoyed it. It was perfectly pleasant, but not treat-worthy enough to make me crave another one. I found it too chalky and bitter, and this is coming from a girl who likes to eat 90% dark chocolate.

Ombar – Raw Dark 72% Bio Live Chocolate

The idea behind raw chocolate is that it has not been heat treated so all the powerful enzymes and antioxidant are still at their peak. It’s also had live bio cultures added to it to aid digestion – the same thing they do with some probiotic yoghurt drinks. So health benefits aside, how did it taste?

The aroma is what struck me first on unwrapping the bar. A deep, rich and intensely dark chocolate aroma wafted up to greet me. The bar had been divided into segments which broke apart with a very pleasing and loud, clear ‘snap’ the mark of a good chocolate. No dull thunk of poor chocolate here! On eating, the bar dissolved and broke apart in a very nice yet slightly unexpected way. I was expecting something very solid, but it had a very light texture, almost that of a very superior Aero. Light, but also intensely rich and cocoa flavoured. Even after only one piece I found the chocolate flavour lingered for several minutes. A delicious bar and one I would happily eat again. I was pleased to see that it had been lightly sweetened with coconut sugar, so a very natural and healthy bar all round.

I was really impressed with the quality and variety of the treats I received. I love that everything Nutribox send out is always gluten free, how they support local UK food producers and provide such a variety and exciting assortment of snacks and treats, rather than just putting together a few peanuts and raisins. Each snack is the perfect size to pop in your bag, meaning you never have to miss out on the afternoon munchies again. The snacks are unusual, tasty, nutritious and many of them are not readily available in local shops, meaning you get to sample some really innovative and artisan products. Much better than a plate of custard creams!

Special Offer

Nutribox have been generous enough to offer the first 10 Apple & Spice readers an amazing 50% off their first box! Simply put the following code (APPLE&SPICE50) – without the brackets – into the discount code box on the Join page.

Offer applies to the first 10 customers only, and must have a UK delivery address. So you better be quick!

Heinz Gluten Free Pasta & Pasta Sauces – A Hit & Miss Review

I’m always on the lookout for new gluten free foods, so when Heinz got in contact to say they were about to launch a range of certified gluten free pasta and would I like a sample, I was more than happy to accept.

The new pastas are (to my knowledge) Heinz’s first contributions to the gluten free market, by which I mean specially designed gluten free products rather than their ketchup which is naturally gluten free. They have produced a range of 3 pasta varieties and 3 tomato based pasta sauces. The pastas include penne, spaghetti and macaroni and are apparently made in Italy. I received the macaroni pasta which I was delighted about. I love macaroni and until now there has not been a gluten free equivalent available in the supermarkets.

The 3 pasta sauces come in individual little tetra pack cartons, which I thought was a great idea. They are sturdy enough to take on holiday or carry around with you without being heavy or at risk of shattering like glass would be. The 3 flavours are Tomato Frito, Tomato & Oregano and Tomato & Basil and are produced in Spain to an “authentic recipe.” In my sample box I got the oregano and basil varieties.

The first thing that struck me about the pasta was its use of an unusual ingredient. Along with potato and cornflour it also contained lupin flour. I have heard of lupin, but never seen or eaten it in a product before and was curious to see what it tasted like. Apparently the pastas have been “crafted to ensure ultimate taste and a perfect bite.”

I know from experience that gluten free pasta tends to go from firm to soft and mushy very quickly. I tasted a piece of pasta after only 6 of the 8-9 minutes specified cooking time and found it already very soft, so removed it from the heat immediately. If I had left it cooking for the required time I am fairly sure it would have disintegrated. Given their “perfect bite” statement and the fact it’s been produced in Italy where they are known for their love of al-dente pasta, this surprised me.

I decided to taste some of the pasta plain, to see what the flavour was like. I’m afraid I wasn’t overly impressed. It tasted a little bitter and almost musty, which I can only attribute to the lupin flour. Not a good start. I decided not to judge too harshly at first as not many people would eat completely plain pasta and so I heated up the tomato & oregano pasta sauce and stirred it through.

The sauce smelt lovely and very fresh. I was impressed at its ingredient list too which was simple and free from any strange preservatives. It was perhaps a little smoother than I would normally choose as I like a chunkier tomato sauce, but no different to most shop bought tomato pasta sauces.

Eating both the sauce and pasta together helped mask the strange flavour from the lupin flour, but I did find the pasta sauce itself to be quite sweet. Although, there was no denying its strong tomato and oregano flavour. The herb flavour really shone through and tasted lovely and fresh. However, I’m still not entirely sure I liked the pasta, as the slightly strange flavour still lingered in the background.

I didn’t use the whole pack of my sauce when I made my pasta and used the rest of as the tomato base for a homemade pizza, which worked really well. Later on I tried the tomato and basil sauce and was again impressed with its fresh flavours.

I would certainly recommend and buy the pasta sauces again and at only £0.89 each they are very affordable. The pasta I’m afraid to say probably won’t be making another appearance in my shopping basket. This is a shame as I would have loved to have an easier source of macaroni pasta, rather than having to buy it online as I do now. At £1.80 for a 500g bag it’s also very competitively priced for a gluten free product. For me though, the lupin flour (I assume it’s this as there was nothing else unusual in the ingredient list) just didn’t work for me. Who knows, some people may love it, and maybe covered in a thick cheesy sauce you wouldn’t detect the bitter musty note, or maybe I just got a dud batch, but I’m afraid it wasn’t for me. The pasta sauces get a definite thumbs up though.

Note: This review is purely my own perspective of the product and has not been influenced by anyone else. I received no payment for this review, excluding the free samples mentioned above.