Sophia Lindop launches her brand-new, gluten-free cookbook called At My Wheat’s End on Friday, 2 July 2021 and I cannot be more excited! She enjoys exactly the same things than I: Good, wholesome food, wine and company. And now, she also seems to understand my need for eating gluten-free!

I’ve been trying to eat gluten-free for the last couple of years – often falling back into the old habit of a rusk in the morning and a pancake at the local farmer’s market, only to realise why I started eating gluten-free in the first place. Sophia Lindop’s latest cookbook, At My Wheat’s End, is filled with gluten-free recipes for you to try out at home. It also comes with the most beautiful photography – it’s a cookbook that truly makes me want to do a happy dance. Think Beetroot Roulade with Horseradish and Orange Zest, Chocolate, Fig and Almond Cake, Spicy Apple Cake, Luxury Homemade Granola and more.

Sophia Lindop is from a small town called Douglas, in the Northern Cape. Her father was from Lebanese descent and her mother was Afrikaans and from Cape Town. Her upbringing included a lot of Lebanese influences and had a huge role to play when it comes to her interest in cooking. The most prominent influences came from her Lebanese grandmother, her Afrikaans ‘ouma’ and her mother. Today, Sophia cooks with her mother’s intuition, her Afrikaans grandmother’s passion for the earth and her Lebanese grandmother’s fondness of Lebanon.

MAKE YOUR OWN CARB-CLEVER PIZZA

Sophia says she developed an intolerance for gluten a few years ago and that the mere thought of no bread at the table felt like a death sentence to her Lebanese heart. She says she tried gluten-free bread and gluten-free pasta, but never really took to either. “Something happens to one psychologically when told you can’t have something,” she writes in the introduction of her new cookbook and she says that even though she wasn’t really a sweet tooth, she found herself craving pastries and other bakes.

When it comes to gluten intolerance and the reasons why we can consume bread in Europe and not be affected, Sophia and I have the exact same theory. “My only explanation is that, as the years progressed and as South Africa buckled under the demand of higher-yielding crops – as had been the case in countries such as the USA – genetically modified grains stepped to the fore. This is where I believe the problem lies, but heck, I’m no scientist.” Well, neither am I, but I think she sums up my thoughts about the matter perfectly.

At My Wheat’s End by Sophia Lindop is being launched on Friday, 2 July 2021 at 10AM and all newsletter subscribers get a 15% discount, so go and subscribe here now. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook to stay posted.

P.S. Sophia Lindop also does food tours to Lebanon, which is a must for your post-COVID bucket list. Read more about it here.

XOXOXO