2 Things Every New Zealand Chef Needs to Know About Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free
Working as a chef in New Zealand, you're likely to have a lot of guests who are careful about their food choices, and dairy-free and gluten-free are two terms you need to know before serving them. Let's take a look at what the heck dairy-free and gluten-free are.
New Zealanders are careful with their food choices
Asians like us have relatively fewer food allergies than Westerners. I don't have any food allergies, although there are some things I can't eat because of my preferences. I think most Koreans are like me.
But here in New Zealand, we have a huge variety of allergies and intolerances, and it's very common for people to come into a restaurant and tell the staff about their allergies or intolerances and ask for menu recommendations and substitutions.
Lately, we've been seeing more and more requests for health reasons, even if they aren't necessarily the above. Dairy-free and gluten-free is one such request.
1) Dairy Free
When you see the word free in the term dairy-free gluten-free, it's probably a good idea to take it to mean free from there. We're talking about a dairy-free (dairy-free) diet.
What are dairy products?
Dairy products generally refer to products made from milk. Some of the most recognizable dairy products include
To give you some real-world examples, restaurants use Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top of salads when making Caesar salad dressing, and butter to toast thin slices of bread.
Because we use dairy, we have to be upfront with people who request dairy-free, which often means using different options or substitutions.
Since many guests choose to stay away from Dairy Free for sensitivities or health reasons rather than allergies, having this knowledge allows you to react quickly on the fly.
These days, you may find yourself using a lot of pre-made sauces and dressings rather than making your own, in which case it's always a good idea to check the ingredients on the label.
It's important to note that mayonnaise and aioli, which are often thought of as dairy by their appearance, are not typically dairy products. Of course, different restaurants may have different recipes for making them, so it's important to keep this in mind.
2) Gluten Free
Gluten is a naturally occurring protein substance found in grains like wheat and barley. When you knead bread, you'll notice that it stretches elastically, and that's because of gluten.
Gluten-free is the term used to request foods that are free of this protein.
You can generally think of gluten as being in any product that is made with flour. For example, we use wheat flour to make bread, and bread is a classic example of a gluten product. But let's take a look at some of the different types of products that contain gluten.
We are a rice-based family. Of course, we also eat bread, but it's still our staple food. From a Western perspective, living gluten-free means not eating any of the above, which I've never done, but I imagine it's pretty easy.
I don't think I'd give up if someone told me to stop eating only ramen noodles, I'd be pretty much stuck with a veggie, veggie, protein diet.
3) Dairy Free Gluten Free Alternatives to Use When You Want Them
If you look closely at menus at restaurants abroad, you'll often see the terms DF and GF on the menu, which, if you're a keen observer, stand for Dairy Free and Gluten Free.
There are so many people like this that we even put a menu for them to choose from.
[Dare-free, a material that can be considered a substitute].
Ingredients derived from plant sources are generally okay. An alternative is to use milk in a way that doesn't come from animals like cows and goats.
The idea is to use these ingredients to create similar textures and flavors to create dairy-free food.
[gluten-free, substitute ingredients].
The key is to choose ingredients that are gluten-free. The grains below are gluten-free and can be used as good gluten-free options. The individual ingredients below are gluten-free, but still require extra care when cooking to avoid mixing with other ingredients.
Finalize
People in the West, and not just in New Zealand, tend to be more cautious about their food choices than people in Korea or Asian countries. They've lived their whole lives with food allergies, intolerances, etc. in mind, and they seem to intuitively know that if they're not careful, something bad will happen.
This makes menu selection relatively time-consuming, even when viewing the menu. In Western menu style, the name of the food and the ingredients are almost all labeled. I think it takes a long time to select a menu because of the work of checking all these things.
Working as a chef in New Zealand requires me to be aware of food allergies, intolerances and sensitivities that may affect different people. Today, we're going to take a look at one of them, Dairy Free Gluten Free.
I hope this helps if you're working abroad or looking for a dairy-free gluten-free option for health reasons. If you're looking for a Queenstown, New Zealand Chef Job Interview and Hourly RatesIf you are curious about this, please refer to my original post.
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