11th issue of Beat the Wheat

t a e h w e h t t a Be

W

BT

Content

Editorial Hello World,

F O R M O R E I N F O A B O U T C Y E V I S I T: W W W. C Y E W E B . E U

2 Editorial 3 CYE News 3 Summercamp Malta 5 German News 5 Faces From Italy 6 Madrid 6 ICDS 7 Baking With Mateo 7 Interview with Mekto Ganic 12 Six in the City 12 Happy Coeliacs 13 Quinoa Muffins

M asthead On the cover: “Gärten der Welt”, Berlin, Photo credit Mirjam Eiswirth Production Coordinator: Mirjam Eiswirth, Emilia Serlachius Designer: Marvin Müller Beat the Wheat published quarterly by the coeliac youth of Europe Check www.cyeweb.eu for updates.

2

This is our 11th issue of Beat the Wheat.

So we missed something of an anniversary next time.

Let’s celebrate the 11 then! We have a lot of articles from all over Europe for you again. See what’s going on in Spain, Italy, Germany or Czech Republic, where to eat in New York, and what the CYE delegates are up to.

Get involved!

Beat the Wheat started three years ago to bring together all kinds of relevant information for young coeliacs all over Europe (and the world) and we are proud that this initiative has grown into a regular publication.

As all editors and authors are volunteers, this is your magazine as much as it is ours. Get in touch if you’d like to get involved.

We’ll keep you posted about developments in glutenfree Europe and are looking forward to your feedback on this edition of Beat the Wheat!

Your editors Mirjam, Marvin and Emilia

The Cookbook, our annual project for 2014/15, is going to be finished and will be online before the conference starts, so keep an eye on our website www.cyeweb.eu.

CYE Summer Camp goes Malta!

The CYE Summer Camp 2015 was held for the first time ever in Malta with the help of the Coeliac Association Malta. Our organisation team was made up of three coeliacs: Martha Carabott, Daniel Grima and James Grima.

Joining us in Malta were 47 participants from 9 different countries: Austria, Greece, Italy, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands. We stayed in a hostel in Marsaxlokk, a tradiAt the conference, the young del- tional fishing village located in the egates from many European coun- south-eastern part of the island. tries will have the chance to meet and network and we will prepare We started our first day welcomthe next annual project together. ing everyone to Malta in MarsaxOf course we will take some time to lokk. We started with an interculdiscover the city and surrounding tural night and had many activities area together. during the week:

Team Building

Popeye Village: Having fun at the village where the 1980 Popeye movie was filmed. Enjoying Anchor Bay, taking part in games such as tug of war, jenga and filming our own Popeye themed movie!

Visit to the Armed Forces of Malta: A surprise wakeup call with two soldiers waking up everyone military style in the early hours of the morning! We had four different challenges to complete at their Barracks.

Abseiling, Stretcher challenge and two other activities, which involved a lot of teamwork and communication.

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT CYE VISIT: WWW:CYEWEB.EU

We just had our preparatory Youth Committee Meeting in Dublin on the first weekend of August. The Annual Conference of the Association of European Coeliac Societies will take place here in the beginning of September.

Summercamp Malta

W

Preparing for the CYE Conference in Dublin

BT

CYE News

Traditional Sport: Regatta. A morning at a traditional regatta club to learn about the traditional sport, competition with rowing machines and rowing a traditional Maltese regatta boat.

At the YC meeting this August, we had the chance to discover a few of the numerous glutenfree restaurants and shops around Dublin and enjoy the lively atmosphere of this international city.

We’ll keep you posted about the conference in the next issue of Beat the Wheat!

Your Youth Committee

3

W

BT

Summercamp Sightseeing Activities

F O R M O R E I N F O A B O U T C Y E V I S I T: W W W. C Y E W E B . E U

Gozo: Day in Gozo to visit the Ta’ Kola Windmill, Ġgantija Temples and the Dwejra Azure Window Valletta: An afternoon in Valletta for a guided tour of Malta’s capital city Comino boat trip: Day in Comino to enjoy the one of a kind Blue Lagoon as well as view of the Maltese islands

German News A lot has happened since the last report from Germany. We had lots of events and started a new project.

If you want further information or have suggestions which might help us, then feel free to contact me via hannah.dressen@dzg-online.de.

World Coeliac Day

Other Activities

We had a small tour of the President’s Palace, San Anton Palace, and a wonderful opportunity to meet with Her Excellency the President of Malta, Marie Louise Coliero Preca. We also organised a beach party, a boat party as part of our boat trip to Comino, and a glow in the dark party.

As many of you probably know, May 16 was world coeliac awareness day. The German coeliac association planned and organized a huge event in Leipzig.

The day started with a march through the city to raise awareness for coeliac disease.

This Summer Camp has been an incredible experience for us as the organisers of the event. Seeing all the participants having a great time and constantly thanking us kept us going until the last minute. We would like to thank everyone who helped us and all the participants without which this event would not have been a successful one. Finally, this whole experience has given us even more enthusiasm to help coeliacs in Malta and in Europe.

The CYE Summer Camp Malta team, Grazzi ħafna!

4

The main event was on a big square where the visitors had the chance to try many different glutenfree products and buy them at a reduced price. Other booths presented information concerning the work of the coeliac association.

We, the German youth board, had our own booth. A lot of people came to ask us about our projects, the younger kids played with our wheel of Fortune and we held a special event: The kids had to find all members of the youth board and collect stamps from them to participate in a big lottery. In the university nearby, the visitors could listen to presentations.

BT

Oktoberfest

We are Alessia and Luca, the new Italian delegates in the CYE. I (Alessia) am a a 27-year-old Ph.D. student in Business Administration and Management. I am from Ravenna and I am currently going back and forth between Italy and Britain.

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT CYE VISIT: WWW:CYEWEB.EU

At the end of September, the Oktoberfest starts again in Munich. A regional coeliac group organizes a glutenfree Oktoberfest every second year. It takes place on September 19th. Accompanied by typical music everyone can enjoy typical food provided by the event host and also try samples from different producers. The event starts with the first drawing of beer and the shout o’zapft ist. The official end is in the afternoon, so that you can also visit the regular Oktoberfest in Munich afterwards.

I (Luca) am a 20-year-old Bachelor student in Ancient History, Archaeology and Classical Philology. I am from Trento, but I am studying at the Elections The German youth board is elected at the general University of Innsbruck, in Austria. We have met once meeting every three years. Our working period reach- so far and we keep in touch on Skype, with phone calls es its end. Elections are coming up this year on No- and e-mails. vember 7th in Frankfurt. We’ll keep you posted about First meeting in Genoa our new Youth board.

We got to know each other in Genoa in June, where we had the chance to exchange our ideas.

It’s summer time!

This summer, kids in Germany can participate in the Genoa is also home to the head office of the Italian dance and theater camp or the summer camp. There Coeliac Society (Associazione Italiana Celiachia, AIC). are no camps in your country? Try to organize one! It’s We took part in an engaging meeting with the socialways a very important experience for coeliac kids ety’s executives and we really had the feeling of being to meet other kids their age. Get in touch if you want involved in their efforts. We had the pleasure of having dinner with some delegates of the coeliac societies of to exchange ideas and experiences.

Croatia, Cyprus and Russia.

Zottel

The next issue of our German youth magazine has CYE activities in Italy just been sent out to the association’s members. The We are new in the CYE group, but already have a project to present. We would like to work with internationarticles are all about traveling around the world. al organizations of student exchanges in order to ease travelling for young coeliacs. Until now, we have coorZOELI Last but not least we are establishing a new project dinated the Italian translation of the last CYE Bulletin that we call ZOELI – local youth groups in cities all as our first activity. over Germany. The first groups have been initiated. Before being Italian delegates we worked within our We’re advertising the project in Germany and getting local coeliac societies, in Emilia Romagna and Trentino. it off the ground. Get in touch if you’d like to be involved!

Greetings from Germany, Hannah Dreßen

W

Faces From Italy

Being coeliac is not a disadvantage

We were both diagnosed when we were very young, but we have always had a positive experience with co-

5

W F O R M O R E I N F O A B O U T C Y E V I S I T: W W W. C Y E W E B . E U

BT

ICDS eliac disease. We never had to give up on holidays with our friends or travelling abroad!

We believe that coeliac awareness is improving both in Italy and in Europe. Now, both in our homeland and in the countries we live in you can find gluten free products in supermarkets, airports, canteens and cafés.

every country has different rules and standards, but we would like to work and support AOECS initiatives in this direction.

If you are planning to visit Expo in Milan (open till the 31st October 2015), please have a look at the Italian Coeliac Society website and apps, to find out where to sleep and eat gluten free. You can find information about venues in Italy and at Expo in the society’s Our gluten-free vision We dream of being able to travel website and in the new free app through our countries with high “MyGlutenFreeExpo”. safety and quality standards. It We hope to see you in Milan! would be nice to create one European list of gluten-free restau- Alessia Patuelli, Luca Pocher rants. It won’t be easy, because

Madrid

Members of FACE Joven have created the youth group “Madrid sin Gluten”.

FACE Joven is the coeliac youth society of Spain. The board of the new group is dedicated to improving the quality of life of coeliacs and sharing reliable information.

All local coeliac associations in Spain are connected through FACE, the federation of coeliac association in Spain. “Madrid sin Gluten” is a voluntary non-profit organisation. We just set up camp in an office in the shopping centre Getafe 3. We would like to thank Fernando Bravo, manager of the mall, and the company

6

Mercasa for their support. In February the office was inaugurated in the presence of FACE representatives and our supporters – thank you to everyone!

Check out their website online and see you soon in Madrid: www.madridsingluten.org Maika Jímenez Blanco

Starting 21 June, Prague was hosting a great 4-day-long event called International Coeliac Disease Symposium or shortly ICDS. The big star among many interesting speakers was a well-known American Professor - Allesio Fasano, who contributed to the programme with two big topics. First he talked about the influence of gluten on the human brain and then about novel ways of treatment.

The Patient’s Forum took place on Monday 22 June. It offered various presentations on celiac disease and gluten-free diet. Compared to the Scientific and Clinical Forum it did not require such expertise and deep knowledge from the rows of participants but still provided them with much information and numerous updates in the field.

Just to give you some examples of the variety of discussed topics, I can mention a presentation on coeliac disease in Asia, another on muscosal healing or skin manifestation of celiac disease - hint - there is more than just dermatitis herpetiformis. One of the hot research topics is non-coeliac gluten sensitivity.

ICDS 2015 brought a great opportunity to see many respected experts on coeliac disease at one place.

Moreover, you could enjoy gluten-free beer from a smaller Czech brewery. The whole event was very well organized and the atmosphere was very pleasant and relaxed.

Tereza Laskova

BT

W

Baking With Mateo Mateo Sierra, runner-up of TV show Master Chef 2, offered a baking workshop in Madrid for the Spanish Coeliac Day 2015. He taught us several recipes for making delicious glutenfree bread.

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT CYE VISIT: WWW:CYEWEB.EU

The workshop took place in the shopping centre where “Madrid sin Gluten” just set up their office.

Gerblé supported us with glutenfree products for all participants. After an intensive workshop, we celebrated and enjoyed ourselves in the restaurant “Amesapuesta” in the shopping centre.

Maika Jímenez Blanco

Interview with Mekto Ganic Mekto Ganic, Sweden's own Jamie Oliver

creating recipes, writing inspirational texts and helpWhen Mekto's son Edwin got diagnosed with celiac ing create gluten-free concepts has become somedisease, the whole family had to change their eating thing Mekto puts more and more time in. habits drastically. Now, Mekto works towards providI'm very structured, too much really. I put things on ing naturally gluten-free food in schools. my "to do- list" and I follow it point by point. If I had I am passionate about making a difference in the not worked that way, I would never have had enough school, says Mekto. She has been called Sweden's an- time. swer to Jamie Oliver; and given the passion that she expresses when talking about food in schools, it is not Mekto used all her spare time to develop gluten-free recipes and to give lectures about celiac disease. She hard to understand. wants to do all she can to raise awareness about celiac Mekto Ganic is a hardworking Swedish girl with a lot disease. It all began when her son Edvin, only three to do. She writes cake books, bread books and cook- years old at the time, got diagnosed with celiac disbooks, gives lectures on celiac disease, and makes glu- ease, a diagnosis that would change much for the famten free, flour-free and mostly vegan recipes for cafes. ily Ganic. Especially as Mekto soon discovered that she In addition to that, she works in a library. However, was gluten sensitive, too.

Short facts about Mekto

Name: Mekto Ganic.

(10) and Albin (9) vin Ed ns so o tw e th d an d an sb Hu : Family Lives: Linnéstaden in Gothenburg. at a secondary r to na di or Co ge pa b we d an n ria Occupation: Libra , cookbook author, delor se un co n tio tri nu er, lop ve de e cip school, re her third recipe book. signer and stylist. Currently writing

I was a real 7-Eleven mom; went and bought croissant and latte for breakfast with Edvin in the stroller. I liked to cook but was not as healthy and engaged in what I ate. This, I had to change.

7

W

BT F O R M O R E I N F O A B O U T C Y E V I S I T: W W W. C Y E W E B . E U

dyes, preservatives and additives from Albin's diet. Therefore, they only ate locally produced and clean food, which was not so difficult there. The milk they drank came fresh from the cows on the meadows, they ate meat from the farmer's farm and fish caught in the lake near where they lived.

Photographer: Thomas HjertĂŠn

Shortly after Edvin's diagnosis, Mektos youngest son Albin was diagnosed with multiple food allergies.

After a flu he suddenly became allergic to everything. He could, for example, not eat the gluten-free flour mixes which Mekto used to bake for Edvin. The doctor said Albin had to cure his gut.

Mekto decided to go to Montenegro, where her parents originally come from. She rented a house in the mountains, where they spent the summer. She wanted to see what happened if she removed the

8

I would take on gluten-free baking when Edwin received his diagnosis. I bought all kinds of flours that were high in fibers, minerals and vitamins. Then I learned through trial and error.

Since Mekto is a librarian, she has a penchant for books and the written word. She learned as much as she could about the glutenfree diet.

She quickly became aware that glutenfree flour mixes was not something she wanted to use. Today her recipes are not only glutenfree, but they can all be milk free and vegan as well.

During the six weeks in Montenegro, Albin's intestines healed completely. It may take up to a year in ordinary cases.

But apparently, the healthy diet of well and locally produced food had made the Looking at the glutenfree flour mixwhole change for him. es, the majority only contain starch, additives and sugar to bring up the When they returned home to flavor and airiness. Nothing that is Sweden, Albin was introduced good for the body. Taste it when it to food allergens one at a time. comes out of the oven it is delicious, half an hour later it's hard.

His allergies disappeared with the new diet, but I still wanted Mekto believes that knowledge of to continue with it because Al- celiac disease is far too small today, bin felt so good during the summer. and is trying to do what she can to As long as he ate the pure food, he raise awareness. felt fine, but the school meals made him sick again.

Mekto removed the flour-mixes and began experimenting with naturally gluten-free ingredients.

She had always been interested in baking, but now that there was a clear purpose, it was even more fun.

It was obvious to me that

BT

W working to bring in more wholesome, organic food in all schools.

I'm very interested in school food issues, that is where I put a lot of focus. Those who have celiac disease do get their glutenfree products, but they are not good enough. I try to get them to bake naturally glutenfree on home economics. So far it has worked because I have sponsored schools with glutenfree products and also received help from big companies. In the beginning you have to offer and then get back. But I got an email from a school before Christmas, that this time I do not need to arrange glutenfree gingerbread, for they had arranged it to the whole class. It shows that it is possible to change the way people think.

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT CYE VISIT: WWW:CYEWEB.EU

When I am out and lecturing I notice that there are many who do not understand the extent of coeliac disease.

They do not know what happens if someone with coeliac disease ingests gluten. The intestinal mucous membrane can be damaged, and it may take up to a year before it heals. And in the meantime, Photographer: Kalle Sanner the body does not take up all the nutrients that you need. Much of what you eat goes straight through the body, and then you cannot concentrate as well and the children do not grow. In the end much carelessness can lead to other autoimmune diseases.

At Edvin's school a lot has happened. The kitchen has stopped using plain breadcrumbs and wheat flour.

Lack of interest due to ignorance, thinking not so far.

It's not okay to invite all the children to eat oat balls and buy a foam rocket (Swedish sweet) for those who do not tolerate them, because it is not the same. I do not seek that all children should eat the same thing, but everyone should have the right to choose the same thing. The children who have celiac disease did not choose to be sick; it is a chronic disease and should be treated accordingly.

During the eight years that have passed since Mekto began to explore the glutenfree diet, a lot has happened. The supply of glutenfree products have become enormously larger, and many have begun to eliminate or cut down on their gluten intake.

Mektos commitment extends beyond ensuring that Mekto Ganic her own children eat well and healthy. She is also

9

W F O R M O R E I N F O A B O U T C Y E V I S I T: W W W. C Y E W E B . E U

BT

Six in the City It is true what they say, that New York is a city of dreams. Especially for a coeliac. Here are my six top tips in the City.

3. Smorgasburg

A wonderful outdoors food market in Brooklyn. In the multiple fastfood stands and trucks you can find anything from fresh glutenfree pecan pies to Vietnamese spring rolls. The 1. Risotteria This pizzeria is heaven for a coeli- market is hosted every Sunday in ac. Their whole menu is gluten free Brooklyn Bridge Park - Pier 5. Don’t (non-celiacs have to specifically ask miss it! - www.smorgasburg.com for gluten containing options), offering thick- and thin crusted pizza, 4. One Lucky Duck focaccio, risotto and delicious des- One of the popular health trends in serts. - www.risotteria.com New York is raw food. Grain free and vegan ingredients (mostly based on fruit, greens and nuts) carefully 2. The Juice Press If you are interested in Raw food, prepared to wholesome and deliThe Juice Press, with locations all cious dishes and deserts, without over town, is also well worth a visit. exceeding 42 degrees Celsius. One Try their raw key lime pie, a heavy Lucky Duck offers a large variety yet wonderfully fresh pie (which of raw products, such as biscuits, I just happened to eat for break- salads and juices. - www.oneluckyfast, lunch and dinner two days in a duck.com row…). - www.juicepress.com

Happy Coeliacs

Five years ago our little son was diagnosed with coeliac disease. It was such a relief to know what was making him sick, but we soon discovered that eating out had just gotten really difficult. So we decided to open our own glutenfree patisserie in May 2013.

desserts and cake. Now we are able to make glutenfree products that are at least as good as their wheatbased counterparts. We make sure that all our ingredients are of high quality and definitely glutenfree and teach all our employees about the diet. This allows us to help out newly diagnosed coeliacs.

Apart from the cakes we also offer Traditional Czech sweets We worked on developing gluten- glutenfree flour mixes so that coelifree versions of traditional czech acs can bake at home.

12

5. Whole Foods Market

I basically have no words to describe these stores, or the feelings I feel when I enter one. Instead, I will list some of the gluten free products that you can find in one of these large, mostly organic supermarkets: cookie dough ice-cream (!), fresh and ready-to-eat cookie dough (!), granola (!), bagels, pretzels, and much more. - www.wholefoodsmarket.com

6. Friedman’s lunch

This place offers everything from breakfast to lunch. Visit for a weekend brunch and enjoy pancakes or delicious toasts. - www.friedmansrestaurant.com Emilia Serlachius

Provide options for everyone

As a lot of coeliacs have additional dietary requirements, we are very flexible and can adapt our recipes accordingly to provide something for everyone.

The greatest reward for our work is seeing the eyes of a coeliac child (or adult) light up when they come to our patisserie and see all the glutenfree delicacies they can eat.

Lucie and David Kazda

BT

3 servings or 6 large muffins

Filling

1/4 cup chopped onion 1 tablespoon olive oil 3/4 cup cooked white quinoa 1/2 cup sliced black olives 1 cup chopped, fresh spinach 3/4 cup coconut cream 5 eggs 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/4 cup coarsly grated parmesan, or Garlic Dip (see below)

For Serving

12 sliced cherry tomatoes 1 bunch of chopped, fresh scallion 125g mozzarella ripped or sliced in pieces (or 1/2 cup chopped cashews for a milk free alternative) 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons olive oil a pinch of herb salt

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Mix quinoa flour, baking powder, herb salt, chili spice, paprika powder and black pepper.

Fry the onion in olive oil until it is soft but not brown.

Mix quinoa, onion, olives and spinach in a bowl and divide into muffin molds. Beat the coconut cream, eggs and olive oil. Combine flour mixture and coconut cream without forming lumps. Divide batter into the molds. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for about 20 minutes in the lower furnace. They taste best after 20 minutes of rest. Mix all the ingredients for a tomato and mozzarella salad in a bowl and serve with the muffins!

Garlic Dip

4 cups natural cashew nuts 2 cloves garlic grated zest and juice of 1 lemon a pinch of herb salt Soak the cashew nuts overnight. Rinse off the soaking water. Combine everything until creamy. Carefully add a bit of cold pressed olive oil if you think that the cream becomes too firm. Can be stored about 1 week in refrigerator.

13

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT CYE VISIT: WWW:CYEWEB.EU

½ cup quinoa flour (55 g) 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon herb salt 1 teaspoon chili seasoning 1 teaspoon strong paprika a pinch of coarsely ground black pepper

W

Quinoa Muffins