Loretta Fanella: my celiac son

We meet Loretta Fanella in Milan, we’re lucky: the consultancy projects and the pastry-making courses in which she’s been at work for years are increasing. Today she’s once again also signing the dessert list of a restaurant, Borgo San Jacopo inside hotel Lungarno, owned by Ferragamo in Florence. Most of all, the pastry-chef had a child, a little over three years ago. This is her main task. Giulio is a beautiful child who turned 3 last November 12th. He has celiac disease. For us this makes a good reason to explore, with his mother, a world that seems to interest only those who are directly affected.

When did you discover your son was intolerant to gluten?
Only 6 months ago. As a baby, he never gave any sign of excessive sufferance, if not that he would poo extremely frequently. His abdomen was always a little more bloated than average but our paediatrician kept on reassuring us: 'It’s normal, a baby moves little and thus tends to accumulate air in the intestine'. This is why I waited for him to walk.

What happened then?
He started to walk at one, precisely. His abdomen, however, remained bloated. I remember the time when, after he had just eaten some bread, the buttons on his shirt unbuttoned themselves. During the night, he would often cry. So, despite the constant reassurance from our doctor, we decided to take the test: it was best to exclude a hypothesis than to keep this doubt. We took a simple blood test and Giulio’s transglutaminase values were indeed sky-high. We repeated the exam right away, in the Santa Chiara clinic in Pisa, and the results were confirmed. They gave us a certificate in which there was written, “Gluten free diet for life”. At that moment, it was a trauma.

How did you react?
At first, my partner and I were lost, we were taken aback. We were shocked by listening and reading about the clinical records of an illness which, in the most serious forms, can be dangerous, degenerative. And by seeing how many children in hospitals were suffering from this. In Giulio’s class, at kindergarten, there are 3 celiac children out of 30, a very high percentage. However, you soon understand that, if you are careful, it is hardly a tragedy. You get into the frame of mind by which you just need to find new automatisms, you need to change habits.

In which way did your habits change?
It was radical. Every product we buy, no exception, we always read the list of ingredients. This is due to the fact gluten is not just in pasta or bread but can be hidden in unimaginable products: cured meat, fruit juice, sweets, medicines… It is often used as a thickener or preservative. The attention required, therefore, is total: if, for example, in an artisanal ice cream shop they tell you that the strawberry or lemon sorbets are gluten free, you cannot always trust them, because the ice cream producer might have had some crumbles of ice cream wafer fall into the sorbet bowls, without noticing... Gluten can also be transmitted by contamination in food in which it is not present in the beginning.

How do you organise yourself at home?
I have lots of tricks: I keep everything separate, in different pantries. Our cutlery and pots are on one side, his are on the other. I try not to make flour fly when I slice the bread, I always clean everything well. I slice the bread on metal because it doesn’t absorb as much as wood does. And of course I never feed him with the same fork I use.

How did Giulio react to some of these sudden denials?
I was very scared about this, but he reacted well. As all children, during the first months he would go crazy for bread. Now he has understood that it harms him and he doesn’t even get close to it. It is important to point out one thing: at home, the rest of the family should not give up on eating food that contains gluten. It would be easier, of course, but doctors explain that it is essential for a child to understand right away, by comparison, what he can and what he cannot eat. I was a little afraid of this but he reacted very well. Today he neither asks for bread nor milk.

Is eating out all together a problem?
No, it’s not, because there’s a strong increase in gluten free restaurants. In Livorno, where we live, there are two, and the food is good too. One of these, Bistrot Manalù, gives a nice message too. They say ‘here there’s pasta for everyone’, and not ‘here there’s also gluten free pasta’. It’s a nice message because it doesn’t ghettoise anyone.

Are normal restaurants sensitive to this subject?
Sometimes they are, sometimes they are not. I happened to dine in important restaurants too. Waiters would reassure us about some kind of pasta but then Giulio would suffer the following day. You need to have separate kitchens, as in the case of the most advanced kindergartens. I don’t trust those who say they make gluten free pizza: you cannot bake it in the same oven you use for the one with gluten. I’d rather buy it cold and heat it up at home.

Are there common places regarding celiac disease?
Indeed. For instance, I can’t stand those restaurateurs who say: ‘Today celiac disease is in fashion: everyone’s a celiac’. Oh, give me a break! Then there are those who reassure you: “Today you’re a celiac but in a few years’ time you will no longer be one”. If you are, you are forever. It’s not like your body will suddenly be able to assimilate gluten someday. Current experiments are still very far away from reaching their goal.

What about the offer in the supermarkets?
It is increasingly richer but very expensive. A few years ago you could only buy food with a terrible taste from the chemist. Today, almost in every cafe, you can find a good gluten free biscuit for breakfast. In supermarkets there are more and more products. The problem is the prices are crazy: there’s a duopoly that in fact doesn’t favour competitive prices.

Does the Government help you?
The Region gives us monthly lunch vouchers. The amount varies depending on the gender and the age of the child. Giulio, who is feeling great now, at three receives a monthly bonus of 90 euros, 60 euros until he was 2. Still, they finish quickly, if you think that half a kilo of gluten free pasta is 9 euros. I bought a gluten free pandoro yesterday: 120 grams, 7.50 euros. I didn’t dare opening it, I’m keeping it for Christmas. I cannot understand why they don’t lower the prices and remove the lunch vouchers. Besides, it’s a remarkable expense that affects all taxpayers. I guess the interests at play are too high.

How did your way of conceiving your job as a pastry-maker change?
It is different, of course, because I’m more sensitive to this subject. If I think about it, however, I’ve always made many gluten free cakes: one of my most famous desserts, “Primavera”, has not trace of it. I’ve used chestnut flour for the past 4 years. Custard, some biscuits and sponge cakes are rather easy to make. It’s more of an issue with leavened products because gluten is also a leavening agent. Still pastry making, not making use of durum wheat, is already very rich in products and possibilities: rice, corn, almond, coconut, chickpea, chestnut, bean flour... Studying their use is very stimulating. It’s a world of potentially endless possibilities.