Allie’s GF Goodies Homemade Free Goodness Are Now OU Kosher
IN THEIR WORDS
Allie’s GF Goodies Homemade Gluten Free Goodness® Are Now OU Kosher
By Elizabeth Luckman
If something needs to be done correctly and with passion, ask a Jewish mother to do something for her child. When Allison Luckman was 47 years old, after years of ulcerative colitis and more than 14 surgeries, her 19-year-old daughter, who also had ulcerative colitis, was diagnosed as gluten intolerant. She complained to her mother, Allie, that she did not like the available gluten free food the way it was, and implored her mother to try to make it taste better. Allison always had to be creative in the kitchen due to her own dietary restrictions, and she had become increasingly more so when her son (now almost 19), was allergic to eggs as a toddler.
Determined, as always, to satisfy all food requests, Allison set out figure a way to “make it taste wonderful.” Building a food establishment on Long Island, NY has been, in Allie’s words, “more difficult than brain surgery.” Her philosophy has always been that a “treat” should taste like a “treat.” Therefore, she intentionally does not use any bean or legume flours. Nor does she use any nut flours, including coconut flour, as Allie’s GF Goodies is a ‘Dedicated Nut Free” and “Tree Nut Free” company.
When building her brand new state-of-the art facility on Long Island, Allie realized that being certified kosher would both increase her marketability and assure customers from all over the New York Tri-State area that there was indeed a product geared towards them. Nowhere else is there a kosher-certified gluten free, dedicated nut free, peanut free bakery. Allie has found the process of working with the Orthodox Union to be a very pleasant experience.
“From the moment I first spoke with Rabbi Daniel Nosenchuk, I sensed an immediate source of support,” she says. “He seemed genuinely interested in not just my project, which is unique in and of itself, but also of the process that brought me to this industry. Though others have alerted me to the difficult process kosher certification can be, I feel gratified at how the OU process has developed. I feel that Rabbi Nosenchuk and the OU staff genuinely want me to succeed.”
Allie intentionally does not use soy flour because aside from being a legume, soy is often viewed as an allergy sensitive and estrogen boosting protein that is dangerous for the legions of breast cancer survivors. None of these restrictions, however, have prevented Allie’s GF Goodies Homemade Gluten Free Goodness® from making wishes come true. Both in her retail shop and her wholesale line as well, Allie’s GF Goodies Homemade Gluten Free Goodness® treats have been causing smiles up and down the east coast, in and out of sleep away and day camp settings, and have made their way from the tip of Montauk on the extreme east end of Long Island to Los Angeles. Allie has made herself into a bit of a Pied Piper, having a social media relationship with several of her younger clients, allowing them to text and Instagram their own personal requests.
Allie’s has quite a fan base with every one having their favorites. There are her Short and Sweets with their melt in your mouth buttery taste; her butterscotch-infused Blondies; her Challah; Vegan Oatie Bars; and of course her signature item, the one that started the whole operation, Allie’s Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake Brownies. Almost everything made by Allie and her company can be done in the standard gluten free nut free kosher manner, or they can be done as “non-dairy,” and/or “low glycemic,” and/or “egg-free.”
When questioned about her professional training, Allie is quick to volunteer that she is Allergy-Certified by AllerTrain, has a Nassau County Food Managers License, but that other than one or two classes at Sur La Table, she has not had any formal culinary training. Instead, she states, she comes from the “baking school of Mom,” which as we know is judged by some of the toughest critics!
Allie’s can be purchased by calling 516-216-1719 or www.alliesgfg.com.