My name is Gill Webb. You may have seen me at Farmers Markets in and around Chichester some two years ago, tempting you to try my 'French Apple Tarts' (hence the name 'Tartemaison').
I have been cooking for over 30 years. It started when my husband and I opened L’Escargot Restaurant in Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire (home of Nelson’s flagship “Victory”), This was quite a different kind of eatery, serving a French provincial 8 course meal, with choices, for a set price. This took the whole evening with everyone arriving at 7.30pm for 8 o'clock, when the eating extraveganza began, with the waitresses in their long black dresses and white frilly aprons taking a sample of each dish around the restaurant for each course, for the customers to make their choices. This was very successful and was shortly followed by ‘Le Petite’, a more casual fast food restaurant close by.
After 12 years, we moved to France where we bought a grand Chateau and ran a Chambre d’Hotes for 14 years. It was here that I honed my catering skills and learned to appreciate the wonderful flavours of locally produced food from all the superb markets.
When I returned to England, I ran 'The Flying Club Restaurant' at the motor racing circuit on Lord March's estate at Goodwood, near Chichester in West Sussex. Goodwood is, of course, famous not only its airfield but also for its horse racing and car racing circuits, so I was quite busy!
After three years, I decided to make and sell French Apple Tarts at the Farmers Markets which have been gaining in popularity with the demand for fresh, locally grown produce. So became a regular at Farmers Markets in Chichester, Midhurst and Petworth.
It was through the Markets that I realised there was a need for gluten free food. I used to offer a taster of my French Apple Tarts and was surprised at how many people declined because they could not eat wheat.
As the pastry was made using half buckwheat flour and half plain flour (so it was already half wheat and gluten free), I felt it couldn’t be too difficult for me to make it completely 'wheat and gluten free' - so I did, by changing the plain flour for gluten free flour.
This worked very well but unfortunately, although most of my customers at the Farmers Market 'knew someone who was gluten intolerant' and promised to tell them, it wasn't enough to sustain the stall.
Around this time, I was moving house from Chichester to Portchester (not far from Portsmouth) and decided to have the garage along side my house converted into a certified totally gluten free kitchen as part of the renovations.
So I decided to stop doing the Farmers Markets in order to concentrate on developing my gluten free range. I have really enjoyed experimenting and the pastry is now even better than ever – rich, crispy and utterly delicious, and additive-free. Even those who aren’t coeliacs love it!
At the moment, just my delicious 'Caramel Tarts', 'Caramelised Red Onion Tarts', and 'Empty Horses' are available via the internet but I’ve got lots more in the pipeline, so watch this space.
And I’d love to hear what you think, so do drop me a line to tell me what you think of these gluten free products.