The thought of planning meals without wheat can be daunting. No toasted ħobża to dip in olive oil for breakfast, no sandwiches in the packed lunch, no pasta for supper, no baguette with the soup, no bun with the burger?

But it is not that difficult, and after a while, one becomes accustomed to shopping that bit more carefully, to reading labels and to adjusting one’s cooking. In the end, there is little sense of deprivation.

Cornmeal, in the form of polenta and tortillas, is an essential store cupboard staple. And if I have a choice, I buy the product labelled cornmeal rather than polenta, as the latter is often two or three times as expensive.

Dunn’s River cornmeal is an excellent buy. Commercial corn tortillas are good for breakfast and for wraps. Try scrambled eggs, mixed with chopped spring onions or chives, a hint of chilli, shredded ham or smoked salmon, wrapped in a warm corn tortilla.

Potato flour, arrowroot, cornflour, chestnut flour and buckwheat are all wheat-free and can take on a variety of roles in the kitchen, especially in baking and in sauces. Buckwheat flour is the main ingredient, traditionally, of the Russian blin and the Breton galette. And Dove’s Farm gluten-free plain flour means that one’s nearest and dearest are not deprived of cakes. This silky flour is excellent for baking and I use it for my intensely decadent chocolate cake. I also use the flour mixed with corn-meal to make muffins and corn bread.

Oats and oatmeal are indispensable cereals for those removing wheat from their diet. Oatcakes, especially Nairn’s and Walkers, which come plain, with ginger, with dried fruit and spices and many other variations, are also a firm favourite – excellent with cheese, and all manner of toppings.

To make a fabulous crumble topping for fruit, I mix gluten-free flour with oatmeal, muscovado sugar, butter and chopped nuts, and for a savoury version I replace the sugar with grated parmesan or pecorino. Rye flour also makes a very good wheat-free loaf, dark, chewy and flavoursome; a lighter loaf can be made using a proportion of gluten-free flour with the rye.

Consider quinoa as a substitute for couscous and bulghur wheat. It is such a versatile and delicious grain in its own right that every cupboard should have some. Native to the Andes, quinoa is now widely grown, in America and China.

It is a grass with highly nutritious seeds. These look like tiny, pale, straw-coloured lentils. They absorb three to four times their volume in water, are quick to cook and have a good flavour when cooked, mild, slightly vegetal, nutty.

Quinoa is an excellent addition to the vegetarian or vegan diet, as it contains many important amino acids. I find it particularly good combined with cooked lentils and I like to use it for stuffing vegetables.

Not eating wheat provides an opportunity to perfect one’s cooking of paella and risotto, especially since the whole range of appropriate rice varieties are available: arborio, carnaroli, vialone, baldo nano for risotto and Calasparra or bomba rice for paella. And the rice pudding is not to be ignored.

I have been experimenting with several versions recently – a caramelised clotted cream rice pudding which I first developed in the West Country filming a cookery series some years ago, and another version using vanilla for flavouring, then topping the pudding, when chilled, with a scoop of clotted cream, sliced, poached apricots and a split vanilla pod.

This week’s recipe is my current favourite, however, and it could not be simpler. The daring might want to add a hint of chilli.