rm ([personal profile] rm) wrote2009-04-02 07:46 pm

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I don't bitch about my food choices with celiac disease that much, because living in New York and making decent money, I've got it pretty good. There are lots of things it's hard to have spontaneously -- everything, it seems, requires a special trip, but mostly, it is there to be had.

Of course, this isn't always true. I will never be able to eat Darrell Lea coconut ice shipped in from Australia again. Same goes for Anzac biscutts and any number of weird Italian specialties I grew up with. But I manage pizza and pasta and find approximations of most things I've loved.

Two of the particular indignities of celiac disease have been the lack of black & white cookies and the lack of "wedding cake."

To clarify "wedding cake" is to me, those garish, striped cakes with the layers separated by raspberry or apricot jam and then the whole thing wrapped in chocolate. My parents used to buy them at the Italian bakery when I was little. It was, they said, what the inside of their wedding cake looked like.

Well, today, I found "wedding cakes" and black& white cookies in a D'Agastino on the UWS. Gluten -free and kosher for passover. I know the odds are high that they are seasonal, that I won't managed to find them again next year, and at $10 a box, they aren't cheap. But right now, I am so pleased.

Gluten -free and kosher for passover.

[identity profile] stardragonca.livejournal.com 2009-04-02 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Dude. Civilisation. Seriously.
This means we're winning.
evil_plotbunny: (tea)

[personal profile] evil_plotbunny 2009-04-03 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
The wedding cake type cookies (which I grew up calling rainbow cookies) are mostly marzipan, so you might be able to find a gluten free version somewhere (or a recipe, but I suspect from the recipes I've seen that they're tricky to make).

[identity profile] baxaphobia.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
Yay for yummy treats! Enjoy!

[identity profile] stardragonca.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
I assumed that a black and white cookie was a generic Oreo type cookie. Would that be correct?

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
No. It's a new york thing. Circular cookie, iced on top. half lemon, half chocolate.
Edited 2009-04-03 00:15 (UTC)

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[personal profile] herself_nyc 2009-04-03 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
Sounds wonderful! Enjoy them.
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[identity profile] brewsternorth.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
Woo, lucky you!

(Was this the D'Ago's at 110th/Broadway by any chance? I know someone else who might appreciate the odd gluten-free sweetie.)

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
Yes! It's a display right when you walk in. It's all kosher for passover gluten-free stuff. I've had the chocolate chip cookies last year and they were bad but these were great.

[identity profile] sparta5.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:33 am (UTC)(link)
Wow! What a find! :-)

I haven't had Black and White Cookies in like...20 years. I wonder if I would love them now as much as I did then.

[identity profile] ebonypearl.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:35 am (UTC)(link)
Go you!

There are a number of writers who attend a local con with celiac's, so I always make sure there are plenty of gluten-free foods in the Green Room just in case they haven't time to find anywhere to eat. I hate to see a starving writer...

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
Green room is so hard! Because it's really the only time I'm around that much food temptation. Really obvious stuff I never risk, because I would get so sick. ut thinkgs like certain dips for the beggies, I know I'm probably going to get a little sick off of, but can probably manage. That's the hard stuff to resist. One thing I love about cons though is no one thinks you are weird when you have to read the label.

[identity profile] fangirlsays.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
Congratulations on your finds! We're gluten-free and dairy-free, so I understand how awesome it is to find something you thought you'd never be able to have again.

BTW, what are black & white cookies? It's making me think of Oreos, but that's probably not it since a GF version has been available for awhile.

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
It's a regiounal New York thing that clearly hasn't spread as far as I thought. They're a soft cake-like cookie that's iced on one side -- half with chocolate and half with something somewhere between vanilla and lemon.

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[identity profile] frodo-esque.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
What a find. =) Congrats! Does it taste like the real thing?

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 12:48 am (UTC)(link)
The wedding cakes are dead on. The black and white cookie is slightly off, but good, and off in a different direction than the other gf version I'm aware of. And this one's texture is closer. So I'm pretty pleased.

[identity profile] otherdeb.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
Have you ever eaten at Risotteria? They do wonderful gluten-free stuff, and I often take folks with that restriction there.

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
Yes yes yes! We go there all the time. I'd eat there even if it wasn't gluten-free, which is a nice feeling. I've also gottne them to fix a panini for me they don't have on the menu but I used to eat in Australia all the time, so they make me very, very happy. Especially once they added Sicilian pizza.

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[identity profile] nex0s.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
OH!

Congratulations!!! Black & Whites are my favorites too, and I would be bereft without them.

I totally identify with you on the missing stuff thing. Nomato sauce has saved my nightshade-intolerant guts, lemme tell you. It's a godsend.

Enjoy your delicious cakes and cookies :D

N.

[identity profile] hakeber.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
I am dead jealous. Those sound very good.
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[identity profile] marita-c.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
Mmmm... yummy... (*drooling over things I'm not supposed to eat in a low-carb diet*)

Do you bake? I've been making these sort of cakes for Passover dinner for years and can give you a recipe (they're made with potato starch).

Then again, preparation, work, messy kitchen. Is it worth it?

[identity profile] graene.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
I bake and have gluten-intolerant guests on a semi-regular basis. And I'm far enough south for the mess to be worth it. Please?

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[identity profile] nisaa.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
OMG!!
I will send [livejournal.com profile] stevefava on a mission to get me some if he goes to NY at the end of the month!!

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
The brand is Shabtai and they are also dairy, soy and caesin free.

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[identity profile] thatwordgrrl.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
Oi!

My hairdresser is, as she puts it, "Celiac by genetics and vegetarian by choice."

Thanksgiving is just no fun for her, poor thing...

[identity profile] ladyofthelog.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
I had a gluten-free, vegetarian-except-for turkey Thanksgiving at my house this year (with a bunch of delicious sides). It can be done! (This fed two vegetarians, one person with a gluten allergy, one person with celiac, and two people with no dietary restrictions.)

[identity profile] darthhellokitty.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
I bought some Corn Chex yesterday, and the box said "Now Gluten Free!" Whether that means they changed them, or they always were, I don't know, but I thought of you.

[identity profile] stardragonca.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
It probably means they checked their mill and factory for contamination issues, and are now willing to put their reputation behind it.

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[identity profile] crewgrrl.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
This is a great time of year for celiacs. So many people don't use matzah meal or cake meal (matzah meal ground up very fine) that there needs to be a substantial amount of potato starch/almond paste based alternatives.

Try Schick's bakery if you can find their stuff - it freezes really well. My personal favorite are their bonbons, which consist of small almond cookies with a dollop of chocolate cream, all covered in chocolate.

The likelihood is that you actually will find them again next year, just look in any Passover section. NYC is good to Jews that way.

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, my mother will make a potato sponge cake for my father's birthday (ah, timing!)

[identity profile] anathemadevice.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
Risotteria's Black & Whites are pretty good.

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
They are decent, but I find they fall apart too easily.

[identity profile] shipchan.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
You found what? :0

[identity profile] bodlon.livejournal.com 2009-04-03 11:59 am (UTC)(link)
This is brilliantly made of win. Edible surprises FTW.

[identity profile] abnormal-apathy.livejournal.com 2009-04-05 12:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I've never heard them called "wedding cake"...they've always been "rainbow" or "7-layer" cookies.