Gagawin ng Queenslander na si Rejoice Guevara-Thomson ang lahat para sa kanyang pamilya, kaya di naman mahirap para sa kanya na magtutong mag-bake para sa kanila.
"When I married Adam, I found out that he had coeliac disease. If you have coeliac disease, you can't have anything that has gluten. I had to learn how to cook and bake out of necessity and love for my husband. I wanted him to experience what I enjoyed eating. Before he was diagnosed, he was a big foodie. Both of us were," saad ni Rejoice.
"Before he was diagnosed, he was a big foodie. Both of us were." Source: Rejoice Thomson
Gluten-free baking
Maliban sa pagiging isang foodie, ipinagmamalaki ni Rejoice ang kanyang pagiging isang pharmaceutical coordinator para sa isa sa pinakamalaking multinational na kompanya sa Pilipinas. Ngunit, mabilis niyang nalaman na mahirap makakuha ng trabaho sa pharamaceutical industry sa Australya kung wala kang local experience.
Bagamat ganito ang naging sitwasyon para kay Rejoice, tinawag niya itong "blessing in disguise" dahil nabuntis siya kaagad pagkatapos nilang ikasal, at ninais niyang masanay pa sa pagluluto ng gluten-free (GF) na mga lutuin para kay Adam.
"I began learning how to bake. I was baking so much that it turned into a passion. I realised how naturally baking came to me. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it," aniya.
"I learned how to bake out of necessity and love for my husband. I wanted him to experience what I enjoy eating." Source: Rejoice Thomson
Ang ikinagulat din ni Rejoice ay mahirap pa lang ang GF baking. Ibinahagi niya na dumaan siya sa maraming trial-and-error bago niya na-perpekto ang mga baked goods niya.
"I remember I wanted my husband to experience Cinnabon-type scrolls that I enjoyed in the Philippines. I worked on the recipe for three months. There were so many scrolls that went into the bin. Some were so hard that if they hit you on the head, they could kill you," tawa niya
Ang isa pang recipe na di makakalimutan niy Rejoice ay ang GF apple pie.
Rejoice admits that the first time she baked scrolls, that "some were so hard, they hit you on the head and kill you." Source: Rejoice Thomson
Ayon sa kanya, nahirapan siya sa pastry nito; at nung ma-perpekto niya ito, si Adam daw "was in tears because he hasn't had apple pie for the last six years then."
Kahit na-perpekto na niya ang scrolls at apple pie, aminado si Rejoice na learning process pa rin ang GF baking para sa kanya.
"It takes a lot of patience. Every recipe is different. Brownies are a bit easy. You can use a gluten-free all-purpose flour. If you want a fudgier brownie, you would use more eggs than flour. But baked goods like ube cake, you need around three or four different gluten-free flours to get close to the texture of its regular version," aniya.
Ang kapihan
Habang abala si Rejoice sa baking, nabighani naman si Adam sa café culture sa Australya. Habang nagtatrabaho si Adam sa IT noon, naging café reviewer din siya para sa Beanhunter.
Lohikal lamang na ipagsama ng mag-asawa ang kani-kanilang mga hilig at, sa April 2014, pinagdesisyunan nilang magbukas ng sarili nilang kapihan sa Overend Street sa Norman Park.
Binigay ng mag-asawa ang pangalang 'Dovetail on Overend' sa kanilang kapihan.
Combining their love for coffee and baked goods, Adam and Rejoice established their own cafe. Source: Rejoice Thomson
"We wanted a name that would best represent our space, who we are and what we would like to offer our customers. I researched on a name and stumbled on ‘dovetail’. It means joinery in furniture. There was a good ring to it. We wanted our space to connect people."
Para kay Rejoice at Adam, ninais din nilang ibalik ang pagmamahal na ibinigay sa kanila ng komunidad. Ginagawa nila ito sa pag-train sa mga taong interesado sa pagiging barista "so they have a better chance of getting into the specialty coffee scene".
For Rejoice and Adam, connecting to people also means giving back to the community that has embraced them. Source: Dovetail on Overend's Facebook profile
At sa specialty coffee scene, hindi lamang kilala ang Dovetail on Overend para sa kape nito. Kilala rin ito para sa mga GF baked goods na gawa ni Rejoice din. Ilan sa mga baked goods niya ay Filipino-inspired.
"90% of our customers are actually non-Filipinos. I really wanted to share a little bit of my culture through my pastries, so we sell baked goods such as ube cake and ube donuts. They're very popular," saad niya.
Rejoice's daughter Bella with Dovetail on Overend's top-selling ube donut. Source: Rejoice Thomson
Ang kanyang mga dahilan
Ayon kay Rejoice, lahat ng baked goods sa kapihan ay gluten-free at hindi nila tinataasan ang presyo para sa mga opsyong ito.
"Dovetail is a strong advocate for coeliac awareness in food preparation. I want to encourage other cafés and restaurants who have GF items in their menu to make sure that they have a strict process in preparing GF dishes in their kitchen so customers who have coeliac don't get sick," aniya.
Lumalakas ang adhikaing ito ni Rejoice dahil na-diagnose si Bella na may coeliac disease din tatlong taon ng nakakalipas.
Bella was diagnosed with coeliac disease three years ago. Source: Rejoice Thomson
"In everything I do, my family is my 'why'," aniya.
BASAHIN / PAKINGGAN DIN
