I recently posted about a gluten free event at St Maurice Bakery in Plympton, Plymouth. I’ve been meaning to do a follow up post for some time, but that’s been some what delayed by a trip to London for the Allergy and Free From Show and another to the North East to visit family and to take in a Bon Jovi concert. Since getting back to Plymouth I’ve been busy catching up on admin for the Coeliac UK Plymouth group, but have found time to enjoy some fabulous gluten free lunches at Le Bistrot Pierre and Bistro One.
As for the event on the 1st June it was a great success. I was manning an information stand with my Coeliac UK Plymouth Group hat on, and also giving out some Gluten Free by the Sea business cards to spread the word. The event was really busy and I had a great time meeting and talking to Gluten Free by the Sea readers and members of the Plymouth Group, as well as other people looking for information. I was also close enough to watch Lai-Yin Wong Brooks gluten free Chinses cooking demo which was very popular, and of course snag some delicious tasters!
I did abandon my post on a couple of occasions to take a look around the bakery and try some of the tasters that they had on offer. The sausage roll and quiche samples they had out were both really tasty. I particularly enjoyed the quiche and the quality of the sausage in the sausage rolls. There were fresh gluten free items available to buy including steak pasties, sausage rolls and quiche. Frozen items available included New York cheesecake, chocolate cake, carrot cake, lemon and almond polenta cake, pasties, quiche and egg and bacon pie.
It was great to see such a prominent gluten free menu available in the shop, and the words gluten free very showing clearly in the shop window. I took the chance to have a chat with Samantha and Roy Evans who run the bakery, and have a look behind the scenes. There was a separate area and oven where the gluten free items are produced, and the gluten free items are cooked on separate days to the regular items to avoid contamination. They are taking this further and are currently fitting out a new room which will be used solely for GF baking, and are also undergoing product testing so the items can be officially certified gluten free.
I asked Roy what inspired them to start baking gluten free products and discovered it was a request from a gluten free friend. At the time they were running a shop called Hooe Pasties in Stoke, and the envious friend challenged Roy to come up with a pasty he could safely eat. The guys took up the challenge and everything has gone on from there. Roy and Sam have clearly developed a passion for their gluten free products which is great to see. They are keen to develop new products and are investigating fresh bread and I told Roy I’d love to see a GF doughnut!
The event was held on a beautiful sunny day and for the first time as a coeliac I had the chance to buy a warm pasty to go with it. I’ve found GF pasties, but gluten free ones are usually only available frozen. To sit outside the bakery in the sun with a fresh warm pasty was a bit special. The pasty itself was full of great quality steak and was really well seasoned, just how I like it. I also bought some lemon polenta cake, New York Cheesecake and an egg and bacon pie to take away with me. These were all really nice, and I particularly enjoyed the really moist polenta cake.
The bakery have fresh baked gluten free goods available on the first Saturday of every month, with frozen products available until the next gluten free bake day. July 6th will be the next day when fresh baked goods are available. You can contact the bakery on 01752 952079 or 07891 855950 if you have any queries or would would like to order anything. I can recommend a visit to check them out.
You can now find St Maurice Bakery on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StMauriceBakery
Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea
Gluten Free By The Sea 
Brilliant! Thanks Kevin
do you sell bread
best pasties ever