Acclaimed Chefs Teach the Art of Gluten-Free Baking and Cooking at The First Annual Gluten-Free Culinary Summit

Attracting over 115 attendees from 16 states, The First Annual Gluten-Free Culinary Summit, held August 26 - 28, 2006 in Copper Mountain, Colorado, featured a full menu of gluten-free focused seminars, cooking & baking demonstrations, samplings, special events and interactive panel discussions conducted by a powerhouse cast of chefs and industry experts.

Denver, CO (PRWEB) September 9, 2006 -- Imagine a culinary feast without an ounce of wheat. That was the educational and tasting focus at The First Annual Gluten-Free Culinary Summit, held August 26 -28, 2006 at Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado. With more individuals discovering and adopting a gluten-free lifestyle, the interest in learning how to bake and cook without gluten continues to increase exponentially. To meet this demand, The Gluten-Free Culinary Summit is the first event of its kind to provide a serious forum for those interested in learning the art of gluten-free baking and cooking from a powerhouse cast of acclaimed chefs, chef-instructors and industry experts.

Attracting more than 115 attendees from 16 states, the weekend symposium featured a full menu of gluten-free focused seminars, cooking & baking demonstrations, and interactive panel discussions conducted by a powerhouse cast of culinary talent. Marc David, nationally acclaimed visionary nutritionist and author of The Slow Down Diet was the event’s emcee, providing intriguing perspectives on the gluten-free diet and food movement throughout the conference.

In his Gluten-Free Bread Baking Basics and Strategies class, Richard Coppedge (CMB), of The Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park) showed the audience how to easily make a Gluten-Free Challah using only a whisk and a stainless steel bowl. For A Pie to Remember, Renee Zonka, CEC, RD of The Illinois Institute of Art/Chicago demonstrated her rendition of a gluten-free flaky pie crust, used biscotti crumbs in a blueberry crumb pie and highlighted pinto bean and navy bean flours in a tortilla-style cracker as a surprise addition to the class. In Dressing It Up, award-winning vegetarian chef Ron Pickarski, CEC of Eco-Cuisine, Inc. of Boulder demonstrated the art of a gluten-free white rice flour roux and the Mother Sauce variations (Veloute, Espagnole, and Béchamel). During Who’s Coming to Dinner, Lee Tobin of Whole Foods Market demonstrated the art of risotto; in Let’s Go Italian, Monica Poole of Deby’s Gluten-Free of Denver presented gluten-free pizza crust and focaccia; and in Let’s Do Lunch, Jessica Hale and Yvonne Gifford of Glutenfreeda.com, Inc. highlighted quick and easy gluten-free lunches featuring a wild rice salad.

Unique gluten-free whole grains were also incorporated into the classes. Chef-instructor Eric Stein of Johnson & Wales University (Denver) used Amaranth in his spa-cuisine recipe, Amaranth Pilaf, and award-winning cookbook author Lorna Sass used whole-grain Quinoa, Teff and Amaranth in her demonstrations focusing on the essentials of cooking gluten-free grains. She demonstrated her quinoa salad with three flavor stamps, amaranth polenta with wild mushrooms and teff porridge recipes to be published in her forthcoming cookbook Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way.

To kick-off the event, Karen Falbo, CN of Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers (Lakewood, CO) and Renee Zonka, CEC, RD (Chicago, IL) presented an introduction to the gluten-free diet with perspectives on the gluten-free food movement with a nutritious culinary outlook and to preface the culinary classes, Program Director for Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods Lori Sobelson conducted an introductory class with Chef Eric Stein focusing on the wide repertoire of gluten-free ingredients. Summit attendees were able to look at, touch and smell nearly 40 individual gluten-free grains, flours, starches and baking aids in a hands-on showcase, providing a serious culinary primer to the world of gluten-free gastronomy.

Attendees savored their way through the event, sampling all of the recipes demonstrated on stage by the chefs. And the special event dinner with Marc David & Chefs featured recipes by some of the chef presenters including an amaranth, quinoa and corn chowder by Lorna Sass, roasted vegetable risotto by Lee Tobin of Whole Foods Market, gluten-free piccata and mushroom sauces by Ron Pickarski, and a blueberry crumb pie by Renee Zonka.

Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods was the event’s primary sponsor and provided a full array of gluten-free artisanal ingredients that were used in the chef demonstrations and recipe samples ranging from white rice flour, tapioca starch, and soy flour to sorghum flour, potato starch, amaranth grain, quinoa grain, teff grain, xanthan gum, and guar gum.

Dates, location and presenting chefs and experts for The Second Annual Gluten-Free Culinary Summit will be announced later this year. For more information about The First Annual Gluten-Free Culinary Summit and future GF Summits, please call Suzanne Bowland at 303-368-9990 or visit http://www.theglutenfreelifestyle.com.

The First Annual Gluten-Free Culinary Summit’s sponsors included Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods (Primary), Heartland’s Finest, Amazing Grains/Montina™, Keen Ingredients, Inc., Mariposa Baking, LLC., USA Rice Federation, Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers, Standard Restaurant Supply, Deby’s Gluten-Free, Inc., Tinkyada® Pasta Joy™, Boulder Sausage, Applegate Farms, Chebe Bread Products, Annie’s Naturals, Eldorado Natural Spring Water, and the Whole Grains Council.

MEDIA CONTACT

Suzanne Bowland, The Gluten-Free Culinary Summit

303-368-9990

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