Chef Robert Landolphi has written the Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook. Photo by Peter Morenus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nCeliac disease, a disorder that begins in the small intestine, is triggered by gluten, the main protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Gluten is found in breads, cereals, and pastas. Processed foods, coatings, soups and sauces and dressings may contain hidden sources of gluten.<\/p>\n
The disease causes an immune response in the cells lining the small intestine, preventing absorption of nutrients. It leads to varied physical symptoms.<\/p>\n
Landolphi says his gluten-free journey began when his wife became ill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 1996 my wife started to develop a variety of symptoms: rashes, tingling in her fingers and toes, and hair loss,\u201d he says. Eventually her reproductive system shut down.<\/p>\n
Even after many visits to specialists and myriad tests, doctors still couldn\u2019t pinpoint what was wrong. They had no idea her symptoms were food related.<\/p>\n
Four years after her symptoms began, a relative sent her an article that discussed an under-diagnosed disease \u2013 celiac.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife thought she\u2019d try a gluten-free diet to see if anything changed,\u201d says Landolphi. It did. Her symptoms disappeared. A test confirmed her celiac disease.<\/p>\n
Armed with his love of cooking, a culinary arts degree from Johnson and Wales University, \u201cand a desire to keep my wife healthy,\u201d he says, he started experimenting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried various combinations of flours, such as sorghum, tapioca, corn, and rice flours, and other gluten-free ingredients and developed a smorgasbord of dishes that my wife could eat,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Landolphi started to give cooking demonstrations for support groups, friends, and stores such as Wild Oats and Whole Foods.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people started to taste the dishes, they wanted to know if I had a cookbook,\u201d he says. \u201cI decided to put my recipes into a book to help my wife, and to help all the other people who have to eat gluten free. I couldn\u2019t see them going through life having to give up so many food items.\u201d<\/p>\n
Landolphi\u2019s Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook<\/em> has recipes for crab cakes, macaroni and cheese, his grandmother\u2019s Italian meatballs, and beer battered onion rings (made with gluten-free beer). There\u2019s even a recipe for country style chicken pot pie with a cream cheese crust.<\/p>\nThen there are more exotic dishes, like toasted coconut shrimp with peach marmalade dipping sauce.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the ingredients needed are easy to find,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted to make people\u2019s lives easier and more enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The book also includes information on gluten-free flours and starches, nut meals and seeds, cooking techniques, and a chef\u2019s perspective on eating out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been a remarkable increase over the past five years in the number of people diagnosed with celiac disease,\u201d says Landolphi, noting that many restaurants offer gluten-free menus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recommend calling the restaurant beforehand, if you can,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you just show up, talk to a manager. The manager will check the ingredients and talk to the chef. They want you to have a good experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Landolphi says that new students who are gluten intolerant should contact dining services either the semester or summer before arrival, or, if already on campus, as soon as possible after a diagnosis is made.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll meet with parents and the student, a registered dietitian, and a dining hall chef who can answer questions about the gluten-free menu on campus,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Dining Services \u2013 which already offers gluten free bagels, breads, and muffins \u2013 is beefing up its options: Next semester, gluten-free entrees for breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be offered in every dining hall on campus, and Union Street Market.<\/p>\n
Related story:<\/h4>\n
Gluten-Free Program Selected as Model<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘You don’t have to give up the foods you love,’ says UConn chef to those with celiac disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[59],"class_list":["post-25245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 04:41:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25245"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36326,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25245\/revisions\/36326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25245"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=25245"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=25245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Chef](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Gluten_Free_Cookbook_lg.jpg\" "\\"Chef")
<\/a>