Allergy & Free From Show 2014

Those without food allergies may struggle to appreciate the enthusiasm in thise post, but bear with me because for many coeliacs, the Allergy & Free From Show is one of the year's highlights.

Taking place in London's Olympia (also in Liverpool later this year. Check here for more info), this event gathers together the biggest, most exciting, most beloved and newest supplers of gluten free products in the UK. For the lactose intolerant, there are a lot of dairy free suppliers as well. And for those who feel tired and need a sit-down, Sainsbury's was running cookery demonstrations throughout the day (although I'm afraid I didn't rate their cooking at all because they didn't add any seasoning to anything, so everything tasted like nothing. Blech!). 

I could quite easily give you a detailed account of the whole day, from the transport we traveled by (coach) to everything I sampled while walking around. But that would be incredibly dull for you all, so instead, here are my favourite memories of the day:

• That moment, walking in, when we saw just how big the show has become. We last went four years ago (I got ill with the M.E three years ago so this is the first time I've been able to go. Exciting!), and it was half the size it is now! It is HUGE!!!!!!! I mean it; you could fit about a thousand elephants in that hall! So...do we go left? Right? Walk straight through the centre? Ooh, a map! Wait, is that Udi's?!

• Catching up with the guys at B-Free, Georgia's Choice, Perkier, Eskal and Barkat, who I know from our local food fair back in April. They're all absolutely lovely and I always feel like I'm chatting with old friends, which is lovely.

• All the samples!!!! Oh my goodness. I ate breakfast before we left and I had a light dinner when we got home but I didn't need lunch at all because I was SO FULL! Bread at this stall, doughnuts (oh yes!) at another stall, pasta, curry, fajitas, cake, cake and more cake. Then there was coconut water (delicious and refreshing!), soya milks in various flavours...it was a cornucopia of deliciousness.

• Meeting new people. The guys on the London Dessert Collective stall were so sweet and lovely that I could have bought one of everything on the stall, all of which was as impeccably turned out as the stallholders themselves!  They specialise in the 'fancier' puds. Think French patisserie-style products; delicate macarons in myriad flavours, meringue layer cakes in little loaf cases, and beautifully squidgy-looking brownies. I bought a pistachio meringue cake and a salted caramel brownie, which I plan to try later today. But take a look at their stall!!!! 

•  Getting chatted up by a guy on the stall for the International New York Times (by the way, WHY was there a stall for selling subscriptions to the International New York Times at an allergy show?!?). I haven't been ID'd since I was about 20 and having a guy I just refused to buy a subscription from tell me I had a 'gorgeous figure and smile' and that he would 'marry me right now if I didn't have a boyfriend of husband' was pretty nice! I thanked him and assured him that no matter how hard he flirted, I STILL wouldn't be buying the subscription!

•  Having got on the wrong underground train to get to Olympia in the morning, we managed to get the wrong one on the way back too. Not so bad. We switched to get back to Earl's Court at the next stop. With 25minutes to get from Earl's Court to London Victoria Coach Station (gulp!), we wearily traipsed over the bridge, 15 bags in tow, to the right platform and wait for the train. At which point an announcement declared the train we needed was delayed by 15 minutes, and to get there sooner we'd have to go to a different platform. So we had to RUN over the bridge to the platform we'd started on so we would get there in time. We made it back to the coach station with three minutes to spare, all panting for breath and exhausted! It was HILARIOUS!!! 

Dad & Jamie after we FINALLY got on the right underground train to London Victoria

• Getting to meet Isabel and her family from Isabel's - the company that sell an amazing pizza base mix that makes an authentically Italian pizza, dough balls and more. They were all lovely and I was excited to get a hug from Isabel herself. Sadly, I don't have a picture, but you can check out their website here.

Honestly, there's loads more that I could tell you about but I'm waffling now, so I'll end there. All in all it was a fantastic day out and if you have a food allergy (or indeed other allergies, as the show also covers conditions such as hayfever, asthma, migraines, etc), I definitely recommend you pay a visit next year.

Until next time, food fans!