 The Sugahfix forums have been buzzing lately with talk of food fads - the foods we just can't or won't eat and the ones we love but that don't love us. It doesn't matter what your reason is - intolerance, allergy, moral or ethical concerns or plain and simply fussy eating - it makes no difference, Belfast just doesn't seem up to the task of meeting our foodie needs. Especially when it comes to sweet treats.
When I first went dairy-free I mourned the loss of ice-cream for a good year or so before I went to New York and discovered Rice Dream rice ice cream at the fabulous Whole Foods Market (locations across the city, and the USA). Not only do they make tubs of the stuff in numerous flavours, they produce treats such as chocolate-covered ice-cream cookie 'pies' and choc ice bars. Whole Foods also stocks Good Karma's organic rice-based ice cream, Organic Rice Divine. It's pure, yummy, creamy heaven for non-dairy eaters.
Because I'm also soya-free, soya ice cream, from the likes of Tofutti and Swedish Glace, isn't an option for me.
Most of the soybean crop in the US - 80-90 per cent - is grown from Monsanto's genetically modified seeds (Monsanta, according to author Steve Ettlinger in his book 'Twinkie, Deconstructed', controls most of the soybean seeds in the world).
Soya can also contain, it is alleged, toxins and plant oestrogens powerful enough to disrupt women's menstrual cycles. It's heavily processed and cheap to produce so it's found in a lot (some say up to 60 per cent) of processed food, from breakfast cereals to desserts, chocolate and soup and is in a lot of processed veggie food too. It's highly processed and can appear on food labels as soya flour, soy protein isolate or as the emulsifier, soy lecithin. The UK Food Standards Agency now defines soya as a common allergen too.
Some experts argue that it can help prevent breast cancer in women, while some say it can promote it! It's up to the individual whether or not they want to include soya in their diet, but personally, because of all the arguments against it, I avoid it.
Eatwell , on Belfast's Lisburn Road, sells a good substitute in the form of B'Nice rice cream (if you know of any other stockists, email me at
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). The strawberry and vanilla flavours are free from dairy, soya, gluten, eggs and nuts and contain no genetically-modified ingredients, hydrogenated oils, herbicides, artificial colours or cholesterol (the chocolate flavour contains a tiny amount of soya lecithin, so isn't totally soya free).
But by far and away the tastiest, most indulgent, non-dairy, non-soya ice cream I've ever come across has to be Booja Booja Stuff In A Tub (I get mine from Eatwell, but I've also found it in the health food shop on Church Road, in Holywood).
Do yourself a favour and try it. I've done taste tests with my dairy-eating friends and they agree that, at the very least, it's more than a match for the creamiest, milkiest, luxury dairy ice cream brands. At best, it beats them hands-down.
It's pricey, at around £5 a tub, but it's soooo worth it. Booja Booja is well known for its to-die-for chocs, which are non-GMO, organic, dairy, wheat and gluten free, and suitable for vegetarians and vegans (though most of their chocs and truffles feature soya lecithin).
The totally sumptuous ice cream is even more pure. It contains just four ingredients - water, agave (a diabetic-friendly natural sweetener made from the agave cactus plant), cashew nuts and a flavouring - whether that's pure vanilla oil, cocoa, coconut, ginger or maple pecan (the five flavours are Keep Smiling Vanilla M'Gorilla, Hunky Punky Chocolate, Coconut Hullabaloo, Feisty Winjin Ginger and Pompompous Maple Pecan - see, they've got a sense of humour too)
Last year it won an award for Best New Organic Food Product, and it's easy to see why. It's completely natural, unlike a lot of over-processed dairy and soya ice-creams, so it comes without refined sugars, emulsifiers or stabilisers.
Don't be put off by the idea of the cashew nuts, which are found in lots of 'raw food' dishes, and can be made into cream, ice cream, cheese and spreads. The ice creams don't actually taste of nuts.
Still not convinced? Stuff In A Tub is also gluten and cholesterol free, and has a low GI rating.
And the firm is so dedicated to supporting independent retailers that they won't sell their products in supermarkets - which may make it more awkward to buy sometimes, but it forces you to make the most of your local health food stores and keep the alternative-food trade alive and kicking.
Enjoy!
Andrea xx
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