Thin crust please.

Pizza is something special.  It’s bready, cheesy, tomoatoey, comfort foody…it’s basically all good.  Pizza is something I thought I would have to miss out on, but I was wrong.  Although I have not found great gf pizza in Montreal, I have been fortunate to find some fabulous ‘away from home’ pizza!

Hears a taste of Toronto:
Big Momma’s Boy – CLOSED
I’m sorry I didn’t write about this place sooner; it’s closed now and has been replaced by a restaurant that I have not tried, but the reviews aren’t good.  Big Momma’s offered a great, home-cooked menu with a gf option on everything but the spring rolls, this menu also included pizza.  I had to go to Big Momma’s three times before I got to try the pizza because of its popularity!  You might be wondering why I am writing about a restaurant you’ll  never be able to try (sorry), but it is important because their pizza taught me that thin crust is the key to a delicious gluten free crust.

Bar Mercurio.
The pizza here is delicious, although I’m still not sure I like the gf addendum on the menu explaining the food will take 20 minutes longer than the other menu items.  I would prefer the wait staff mention that the pizza may take a little longer, it feels a little more personal and less like an inconvenience.
The toppings are definitely the highlight of Mercurio pizza accented with a light, crispy crust.

Hears a taste of Boston:

Stone Hearth Pizza Co.
My sister-in-law and her ‘about to be hubby’ took Andrew and I here for the first and second time.  The pizza is amazing and the atmosphere is perfect for family time.  They offer a variety of toppings and can make any of their pizza’s gf; there are several pizzas that are designated strictly gf, but you can also have them make the other pies with toppings that are used on all the pizzas.  It’s a little risky, but I took it, and I was peachy.  When the kitchen is so aware, I trust that they take care as best they can.

Website:
click me!

Hears a taste of Munich:
Nero.

This pizza was delicious and I got lucky.  There is a warning on the menu that says the gluten free pizza’s are cooked in the same oven as the regular pizza and they may not be suitable for celiacs.  That’s a big risk for contamination, but I’ve been tired of being gluten intolerant.  I joke about Andrew and I’s allergies all the time; it is funny that a celiac and nut allergy found each other, but what’s not funny is being so complicated to pick food for!  At home, it’s easy, we can cook safely, we can pick restaurants we know will be careful, but what do you do when you travel?  I took a chance and I was fine. (phew)

My friend Franzie found this place on someone else’s blog (I forgot to ask which one, I think it was in German) and we happened to be there on 7 Euro pizza night!  (plus 2 extra Euros for gf)  The pizza’s are offered in one size, and they look big, but with the delicate, thin cut toppings, crunchy crust, and fabulous company, we were all able to finish our delicious pizza pies.

Website:
click me! (auf Deutsch)

Diavola

Hopefully all this far away pizza will finally inspire me to put together my own thin crust, gf pizza!  Buon appetito!

Joghurt

Yoghurt is a funny thing.  I never thought I would be so picky, but Europe has changed me.  I still remember the first time I tried a little glass cup of plain yoghurt with sugar on top in France; that little crunch from the sugar granules mixed with the creamy, slightly bitter taste of the yoghurt has stayed with me.  The dairy products are sweeter here, I’m sure of it.  Proof: At home, I usually put syrup in my coffee, but here I’ve been drinking Milchkaffee with one sugar!  (Anyone who knows me can attest to my sweet tooth, one sugar is nothing.)  The milk here is good, but the yoghurt is sooo delicious, I want to eat it all day, I want to talk about it all the time, hence the post.  I might even consider myself to be a yoghurt snob.  You would understand this if you were here in Germany with me.

Andrew walked off the plane and I handed him a cherry Mövenpick Finejoghurt.  I had, of course, already eaten my mango & vanilla yoghurt on the U-Bahn.  I’m pretty sure we had a yoghurt a day while he was here and when Andrew left, I packed 2 yoghurts in my bag and we made our way back to the Flughafen.  In my opinion, this is the only way to arrive and depart Germany!  I felt that I was acting as an ambassador to European dairy and it was my duty to make Andrew appreciate it as much as I do.

At home I would have to say I am very yoghurt naughty.  I love Liberté‘s  Méditerrannée Yoghurts, full fat of course (10%).  Ever since I became a yoghurt snob, the gelatin and aspartame in non-fat and low-fat yoghurt don’t quite sit right with my sensitive belly. 😉  I crave my wild blackberry Liberté yoghurt and I dream about the pineapple flavour and coconut too!  On a hot summer evening, there is nothing better and more refreshing than lemon yoghurt with berries.  This company gives European Yoghurt a run for it’s money, I’ve even seen it sold in the UK.  Thank goodness Liberté has created a 7% milk fat version of their delicious yoghurt! (3% less fat, that will help right?)

I understand that a lot of celiacs also have a lactose intolerance, but I am very happy to say my problem with dairy disappeared when I cut gluten out of my diet.  I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t eat cheese and put milk in my morning tea.  My last trip to the grocery store, I found myself counting backwards from when I leave to make sure I had one yoghurt for each day left in Munich.  I do know my love for fatty yoghurt has become a problem, but I also think this might be a problem I can live with.