Summer Land Camels – A Nutritionist’s Introduction and Experience to this Fabulous Dairy Alternative
By guest blogger, Carissa Anne.
Food for me has always been more than fuel for our bodies. Food is an experience to be savoured and enjoyed with family and friends. I am passionate about sourcing amazing ingredients and putting them together into delicious, wholesome recipes that not only taste good, but are also visually appealing (sometimes my eyes are bigger than my belly – I must admit!), and nutritious too.
As a nutritionist, I work with people with varying degrees of food intolerances, so finding new ingredients and adapting recipes to suit is something I do regularly and I love the challenge. The biggest reward for me is when clients tell me they can continue to enjoy food to the fullest, regardless of their intolerance.
Food can be exciting and suitable to your needs
Being mindful of restrictions is my job, so I am constantly looking at mainstream recipes and putting a nutritionist twist on them to adapt them, so that they retain their nutritional value and of course, flavour! Eating bland food is never necessary, regardless of the intolerance/restriction a person may have, and this is what we at the JCN Clinic are passionate about. Food can still be exciting, flavoursome and healthy as well as suitable to you and your needs. You just need to get a little creative sometimes. This is why camel milk is now a pantry staple of mine and a lot of my clients too!
Years ago when I first heard of Camel milk, I would never have thought that this would become ‘a thing’. When I first saw it for sale in a local health food store I actually couldn’t believe it, it was $35 for 1 litre (Not from Summer Land Camels) and I was gobsmacked. I remember thinking to myself … ‘How on earth do you even milk a camel?’ I have to admit I knew absolutely nothing about the amazing health properties it possesses and at the time thought let’s see how long this new health craze lasts.
Turns out I was wrong – it stood the test of time and stayed a thing. Quite a thing actually – the nutritional and immunological benefits are quite astounding.
Most of my clients don’t tolerate dairy
Fast forward 5 or 6 years later after my first camel milk sightings and I’m sitting at Wild Canary Bistro at a producer’s luncheon. A solo ticket I bought on a whim because I really wanted to get amongst it and have a taste of the Scenic Rim food scene. By this stage of the (my) game I’m a completely qualified and accredited nutritionist who specialises in gastro intestinal disorders and the multifaceted systemic health conditions that stem from a really unhappy gut.
Most of my clients don’t tolerate dairy, whether it be the protein in it (casein) or the sugar in it (lactose) so across the board it’s pretty much not on the cards for most of my clients.
So back to the producer’s luncheon. I was lucky enough to be seated at a table with a bunch of amazing folk and a few of them happened to be producers themselves- Camel Milk Dairy Producers to be exact. I was pretty fascinated by what these guys had to say. We chatted about the agricultural logistics of farming camels and also the amazing research that was getting pumped into understanding and exploring the potential health promoting benefits that this stuff could actually offer. That was a really exciting conversation. I’m a science nerd through and through and I need to know that it can ‘walk the walk’… do camels walk ? or is it more of a waddle ? …. Anyway, digressing. So that was all well and good, but did all of this translate into taste?
If it didn’t, you’ve lost me and you’ve lost my clients.
Thankfully it did. Like it really did. So much so, that I’d rate the taste of Camel Milk products over any dairy alternative that I’ve ever tasted. Since then I’ve introduced it to many of my clients and we have a winner.
I’ve been asked to share one of my recipes and I’m pretty sure that ya’ll are pretty well versed in how to use milk and feta cheese … but the Fromage Blanc is what I‘ve been crushing over! I’ve been using it as an alternative to cream cheese and if I was more of a sweet tooth I’m sure there would be some fantastic dessert ideas with this product – however I’m a savoury girl so here is one of my latest recipes:
Savoury Turmeric Pancake w/ Fromage Blanc and Roasted Veggies
Enjoy x
About Carissa Anne.
Nutritionist {BHSc} – The JCN Clinic
Carissa is an accredited and practicing nutritionist at the JCN Clinic in Brisbane. The JCN Clinic is renowned for their focus on Digestive and Hormonal Health and an individualised, balanced approach to eating and nutrition. Carissa is available for Nutritional Consultations in person or via Skype or phone. To find out more contact the Clinic via email reception@jessicacox.com.au or you book online here.