Phew! What a busy weekend that was for us here in Melbourne. I had a jam packed Saturday so I finished my weekend up by spending Sunday at the Gluten Free Expo and Conference at the Melbourne Convention Center.
I got my free ticket with my Coeliac Society membership a few months back and my friend Kristy who is an event co-ordinator and volunteer provided us with two more tickets for Brody (My partner) and Matt (My highschool best friend who has featured in a few posts) so that I could drag them along to help me carry everything I intended on purchasing and of course help themselves to some delicious free samples.
We arrived prepared, with my newly purchase wheely trolley, some ice packs, my over the shoulder messenger bag and most importantly full wallets. Thanks to my research I knew what brands were going to be there and made the executive decision to only buy products that were hard for me to get or were new range, unless of course there was an incredible special on them.
If you have never been to a gluten free expo I highly recommend going. The atmosphere is incredibly welcoming and friendly with hundreds of people who at least have some knowledge about what it is like to have Coeliac Disease or NCGI.
It is unbelievably freeing to be able to walk around and grab toothpicks and small cups with all sorts of goodies on the ends of and inside them without having to ask what is in them or, is this gluten free?
We spend a majority of our time asking these questions when wanting to try new products and for me every time I go to an event or store that is gluten free only I almost cry with joy. It is indescribable feeling.
Together, well more so me leading the other two, we zigged and zagged and weaved through people and made our way around the convention area snagging up various free goodies. A tone point I’m pretty sure I had four or five samples in my hand and I was going back and forth between them all.
My favourite sample was the Diego’s Authentic foods burrito with hot sauce. In fact I even had two. After watching the gentleman at the stall demonstrate the tortillas ability to not crack or tear by scrunching it up into a ball and rolling it around in his palms, I was sold and had to buy some. Any of my Instagram followers will know that I have been endeavoring to find a tortilla that wouldn’t split when I rolled it up for work lunch.
But before all that, I already knew what my first stop would be; the stall was situated right up the front near the doors and I don’t want to ruin the surprise but I had to go there to pick up a key ingredient in my attempt at making a gluten free version of one of my favourite treats. The stall was Bob’s Red Mill where the man himself was giving our free autographed copies of his book; ‘People before Profit’. The tale of how he created such a thriving and successful company.
Some of the other samples I tried included but were not limited to; cakes and breads, mini cup cakes and cookies. An Ayam curry sample, macadmia milk shots, muesli and cereal samples from both Freedom and Orgran, Amy’s Kitchen bean burrito (another highly recommended try), Genius Crumpets, loads of corn chips and many more cake slices.
As we wandered from stall to stall, I briefly discussed my addiction to the Mamee Rice Chips while unsurprisingly devouring their samples.
Around 12pm we found ourselves a seat at the in house Kiosk at the back of the hall, I tucked into a Grilled Chicken Burger with Bacon and Lemon Aioli ($11.50). The chicken
burger was a little low on chicken, the bun itself extended a good centimeter all the way around the edges of the chicken breast. The bun was decent in taste and quality but nothing to rave about. The Aioli was delicious although I’m not sure where the lemon played into it (perhaps a last minute
change of plans) The chicken was moist but there was a mound of lettuce left in the bottom of my takeaway container because there was just so much, the tomato was juicy but there wasn’t enough of it. The chicken itself wasn’t seasoned greatly but over all the burger was decent.
Brody helped himself to a Victorian Wagyu Burger with cheese and red eye 
sauce (Also $11.50). The patty was thick and meaty, just the way he likes it. Although he too found that his burger
was under seasoned. He did mention that he enjoyed the bun and sauce which is good news because he usually doesn’t like gluten free bread of any kind. He said if only the patty was seasoned more with a bit of punch he’s have enjoyed it immensely.
Matt went with a beef pie ($6.00) and chips($5.00); the pie had a tough top crust but thankfully wasn’t as tough on the sides. The filling was meaty and hearty, not what I expected as most pies i’ve had are a bit heavier on a thin gravy. In saying that though the filling was delicious. The chips were chips, nothing much to say there.
After lunch, we tried frozen Mango from Zingo Mangos, which we then proceeded to track in a little fruit store up our way. We also paid a visit to Pana Chocolate and grabbed a handful of delicious chocolate pieces. We had a laugh with the Freedom Foods team. I spaced out and forgot to drop in and say hi to the guys at the Foddies stall representing their new Albert Park restaurant. Sorry guys!
I met up quickly with Cara from Australian Gluten Free Life, after a chat she gave me a show bag with an early October box and some goodies. We spoke with the lovely people from Byron Bay Muesli and they somehow got us addicted to one of their mixes, which we even bought a bag of. Neither Brody nor I grew up on muesli.
The beautiful colours from the Macaron De Paris stall did their job and pulled me in, with large display cabinets filled with amazing colours and shifting dust powdered over the top. I couldn’t walk past it without buying some. There were sadly no samples to try but we did plenty of buying.
I was a little disappointed by the fact that the Tenth Dot Brands didn’t have any Wellabys products which as you’d know from my top 5 snacks are my favourites. Although there were plenty of the Cook Simple range, however I had stocked up at the NQR sale and didn’t need any although I can say they are delicious!
After our feet couldn’t drag our bodies around anymore, our trolley was filled and despite wanting to try every other sample, I got to the point where I couldn’t do it anymore so we headed home. Our wallets were lighter but we had a lot to show for it.
When I got home I checked out some of the social media coverage only to find out that despite walking in and out of every aisle we managed to miss the gluten free spring rolls at the simply wize stand and the Dim Sims, but I will track them down. Let me know if you grabbed any and what they tasted like!
I had an amazing time this year. We met and talked with some amazing people. I can’t wait to do it all over again in another year. Where there will be even more amazing products for us to taste, buy, discuss and share.
If you did see me and we did get a chance to speak or get a photo together please let me know! Thank you to the Coeliac Society of Victoria and Tasmania for putting together another amazing expo and conference.
If you attended let me know what you enjoyed most, what were your favourite samples did you end up leaving with as much stuff as me? During the week I’ll put up a gluten free expo haul and review of some of the products we purchased as well as where you can get them and their RRP.
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Until Next Time, remember to enjoy your life. It is possible.
Ashlee; The Aussie Coeliac.
