Gluten-free bakeries (continued)
Brecka says her challenge was to prepare gluten-free foods that would “rival” their conventional counterparts and make sure her kids never would have to “go without.”
But finding such foods can be difficult. So she started baking goods for her family and thought there would be a wider clientele for them.
For a decade she operated a business out of her house. Now, she says, there’s enough demand for a stand-alone store.
Gluten is a protein contained in wheat, barley and rye flour.
While a good number of her customers are people with dietary concerns Brecka is generating traffic from people who simply want an alternative diet.
She says many people “are looking for something that’s going to make them feel better.”
Digestive problems aren’t necessarily related to gluten but it’s a “good place to start” because the food is less taxing on the body, she says.
Shuvonne Varga, owner of No More Belly Aching, personally suffers from gluten and dairy allergies.
Her bakery prepares foods without gluten and dairy products, and caters not just to people with allergies but those in the autistic and ADHD populations.
In preparing foods Varga substitutes water or even orange juice for milk. “I work the recipe until I get the results I want.”
Both bakeries offer a surprisingly wide variety of baked goods, from breads and rolls to cookies, cakes, tortes and pies. Varga says her goal is to make products with essentially no difference in taste than ordinary food.
“I don’t put out a product unless people can’t really taste the difference.”
But, she admits, breads can be a little tricky because “you’re not going to get a bread that’s undistinguishable.” She wants to achieve a “soft flexible sandwich bread with good nutrition.”
Varga is hunting around for local retailers who would carry her products. Lakeside Bakery Deli Cafe in Leamington already does.
Brecka has no immediate plans to retail beyond her store. But she does make pizza crusts for Antonino’s and Johnny Piez pizzerias. WindsorOntarioNews.com
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