Viking Magazine - May 2015 - 46

Q&A
Inspiring Teenager
Food blogger and Sons of Norway member Sema Dibooglu is
passionate about living gluten-free.
BY SARA SCHLUETER
D
iagnosed with celiac
disease, also known
as gluten intolerance,
teen Sema Dibooglu has chosen
to take a positive approach in
creating a lifestyle that works
with this condition. She started
a blog in 2013 called " Eat
Without Gluten " and posts
recipes, tips and positive advice
on living with gluten intolerance.
Her uplifting blog was a runnerup
to the Norwegian Best Food
Blogger Award in the junior
blog category. She plans on
continuing to advocate for the
gluten-free lifestyle in the future.
Q How do you hope your blog
can inspire others with
celiac disease?
A I saw how people struggled
coming up with tasty glutenfree
options. I wanted to make
sure that people, through my
blog posts, understood that
gluten-free does not necessarily
mean taste-free. I hope my
blog inspires others to obtain a
positive outlook on the glutenfree
lifestyle.
Q What are some of the biggest
challenges in having a gluten
intolerance?
A The biggest challenge of
being on the gluten-free diet is
educating others. For example,
when I told my Norwegian
grandmother I couldn't eat her
waffl es, she said, " No problem,
46 VIKING MAY 2015
sonsofnorway.com
I'll make you pancakes. " (The
pancakes, of course, were made
with batter containing wheat
fl our.) After we taught her that
it wasn't hard to create glutenfree
alternatives, she began to
make delicious pastries as well
as waffl es!
Q What are some of your
favorite recipes?
A My favorite recipes are the
ones that don't require a lot
of time and ingredients! I am
always running around, and
sometimes it's nice to quickly
fi x something up on those days
where you don't have a lot of
time to spare for meals. I get
most of the recipes from my
parents, as they love to cook
everything from scratch. You
don't even have to be gluten
intolerant or have celiac disease
in order to enjoy the recipes I
share! My blog usually focuses
on dishes that are naturally
gluten-free and delicious.
Q Have you tried turning classic
Nordic dishes into gluten-free
alternatives?
A I am always experimenting in
the kitchen and will substitute
with gluten-free fl ours when
needed! Many classic Nordic
dishes and desserts are naturally
gluten-free, such as fårikål and
lapskaus, which makes it easy to
be a guest in a Norwegian home.
Growing up with a Norwegian
mom, I have eaten a lot of fi sh
dishes in my lifetime, and many
of these dishes are naturally
gluten-free. My relatives in
Norway have all inspired me to
make gluten-free Nordic desserts
such as tørr vafl er (waffl es made
with potato fl our), kransekake
(almond cake), suksess kake
(also made with almond fl our)
as well as various puddings
and fruit compotes. We have
our weekly grøt (rispudding) at
noon on Saturdays, keeping up
the tradition from my mother's
region in Norway.
Q Besides running your blog
and social media channels, what
are some of your other hobbies?
A Music is defi nitely a big part
of my life, as I play the violin
in two orchestras as well as the
guitar. I have two music videos
on YouTube, as well as three
songs on iTunes and Spotify. My
artist name is Sema Elin.
Name:
Sema Dibooglu
Blog:
eatwithoutgluten.com
Facebook:
facebook.com/semaelin
Instagram:
@eatwithoutgluten
Did You Know?
Studies have found that
celiac disease is more
common in people
of European descent,
most notably the
Scandinavian countries,
Italy and Ireland.
http://www.eatwithoutgluten.com http://www.facebook.com/semaelin http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - May 2015

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