OT: Chelsea Clinton: Let them eat gluten-free cake

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http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38474741/ns/today-foodwine/

Chelsea

Clinton: Let them eat gluten-free cake

Could vegan, gluten-free choices

on her wedding menu have a trickle-down effect?

by Lynn Bruno

TODAYshow.com

contributor

Tongues are wagging — with some salivating and others

going “yuck” — over news reports that Chelsea Clinton’s super-secret

upstate New York wedding to Marc Mezvinsky this Saturday will feature a

vegan menu and a gluten-free cake. The couple will throw at least one

bone to meat eaters, though, by serving up some organic grass-fed beef.

While all-alternative banquet menus are still relatively rare —

caterers say they account for just a small sliver of the pie, or cake,

as it were — such requests are on the rise, a trend that is likely to

continue in the wake of the former first daughter’s wedding.

“This will empower people to make these requests,” says Grace

Clerihew, a principal at Table Tales, a New York City catering firm.

“Prior to this, they might have thought it was not mainstream enough to

even talk about, but now that they see it being done by such a public

persona it becomes acceptable.”

Chelsea likely chose her menu based on both personal preferences and

health needs — she is said to have been vegan since her teen years and

to have a gluten allergy — but her wedding menu should have a

trickle-down effect nonetheless, says Clerihew.

It’s already become standard practice for most caterers and

restaurants to offer vegetarian options. Clerihew predicts this event

will inspire them to explore vegan and gluten-free options “in a more

inspired way.”

What vegan, gluten-free involves

At hundreds of dollars a head, Chelsea’s menu had better be inspired.

But even more common folk can expect to pay a premium for such

specialty menus, which until now have largely been the province of

higher-end caterers in more food-conscious markets.

Vegan dishes and a gluten-free cake reportedly

will be on the menu at Chelsea Clinton's wedding reception on Saturday.

Vegan and gluten-free options can be one and the same, but not

necessarily so. Vegan dishes are not simply vegetarian dishes; instead,

they do not contain any ingredients derived from animals, including

butter, cheese, milk and other dairy products.

Gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oat products, can

trigger allergic reactions in people who suffer from Celiac disease and

gluten intolerance. So gluten-free foods are devoid of wheat, rye,

barley or oat gluten.

The double-whammy of vegan and gluten-free restrictions can

certainly make planning a menu — and crafting a cake — a challenge, but

chefs and caterers in the know say it can be done successfully and can

be well worth the effort. In fact, they say mainstream eaters may be

surprised to discover that vegan and gluten-free food can be delicious.

“We’ve gotten very savvy about creating wonderful things with

alternative ingredients,” says a LeDuc, owner of a LeDuc Fine

Catering, an event firm in San Francisco. “It’s not just pasta or

a big pile of veggies anymore.”