In the Spotlight: The Guilt-Free Gourmet

By Chris Mann

Irish-born chef and London-based author Jordan Bourke joins with his nutritionist sister, Jessica, to serve up tempting cuisine free of dairy, wheat, sugar—and guilt.

Chef Jordan Bourke’s latest project is definitely a family affair, thanks to input from his sister. “Jessica is a (Dublinbased) nutritional therapist and is always getting asked by patients for recipes that don’t include certain ingredients—most often alternatives for processed cane sugar, wheat, or dairy,” says Bourke, an award-winning food writer who has made a name for himself in the UK for his scrumptiousbut-healthy cuisine. “As a chef I was aware that a lot of ‘free from’ recipes out there were in some way lacking, so it seemed like the perfect solution—to come together with our respective experience and create a cookbook of delicious recipes that make use of alternative ingredients.”

The result, The Guilt-Free Gourmet: Indulgent Recipes Without Wheat, Dairy or Cane Sugar, offers delectable dishes that ditch these three waistlineexpanding and, for many, allergy-inducing ingredients in favor of healthier swaps (think spelt and wheat-free flours, coconut palm sugar and agave, and rice, nut, and soy milks). “We’ve always said to our clients and readers that food, no matter what’s in it, should never be about guilt. But at the same time, so many of them were coming to us feeling guilty about what they were eating, hence the name of the book,” Bourke adds. “When we offered recipes with alternatives to the ingredients they had difficulty with, it gave them a new lease on life in the kitchen, with lots of new and exciting ideas for them to cook with.”