By Leigh O’Connor.
Melanie Persson was the first gluten-free contestant on Australia’s MasterChef when she competed for the coveted title in 2022.
Known as ‘The Very Hungry Coeliac’, Melanie was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2016 and has since written a best-selling cookbook and built a strong, engaged community on social media, where she shares recipes and demonstrates her cooking skills.
‘Gluten-Free Feasts’ is a celebratory cookbook full of ingenious recipes for shared experiences, family meals, tea parties and cosy take-out nights. So often, gluten-free cookbooks focus on the basics with simple recipes for those starting out on their dietary journey.
This cookbook is the next step – the dishes are fun, flavourful and festive for everyone to share. There’s dim sum, croissants, chow mein and beer-battered fish, all dishes that are usually off-limits to coeliacs.
"This book is about the broader social aspects of being gluten-free,” Melanie explains. "It is about incorporating delicious gluten-free food into your life through family gatherings and events with friends.
"These are aspects of living with coeliac disease or gluten intolerance that can be so hard to navigate.”
The dishes in ‘Gluten-Free Feasts’ were partly inspired by feedback from Melanie’s community – she asked them what they missed from their pre-coeliac life and has written the recipes to satisfy those cravings.
Building on the success of her first book, this new edition establishes Melanie as a leading voice in the gluten-free food space.
We have three recipes for you to recreate at home:
These are Melanie’s take on classic pork and chive dumplings. They’re meaty, aromatic and completely delicious. Taking the time to hand-mince pork belly for this filling is a slightly more laborious task than using pre-prepared minced pork, but pork belly has a higher fat ratio than most minced pork available in the supermarket, which ensures these dumplings are juicy and flavourful!
Making this beef and black bean stir-fry will likely necessitate a trip to an Asian grocer to track down the fermented black beans, also known as salted black beans or douchi. These are black beans that have been fermented in salt and they’re a delicious, umami-packed addition to many Chinese dishes.
Don’t worry if you can’t find the beans, because even without them, this is a delicious stir-fry in its own right. Simply follow the recipe, leaving out the beans but using the rice wine as listed and then season with salt to taste before serving.
"I love this pudding because it perfectly combines two of my all-time favourite sweet treats – carrot cake and sticky date or sticky toffee pudding. It was actually initially inspired by a traditional North Indian dessert called halwa, which is made by cooking grated carrots in milk with sugar and some mild spices to form a pudding, which is then served with toasted nuts. All three desserts are delicious, so I think it goes without saying that this recipe follows suit!”
