Dietary
Medellin Elite Catering caters gluten-free events and celiac-safe meals across Medellín, built on the corn, yuca, rice and plantain that Colombian cooking already loves. Our head chef plans each menu so gluten-free guests can eat most of the buffet, not one plate set to the side.
We cook for people who avoid gluten by preference and for people with celiac disease, an autoimmune condition in which even a trace of wheat damages the small intestine. Those are two different jobs, and this page explains how we handle each one.
Cooking for events since 2019 has taught us where gluten hides in local food: in beer-braised meats, bouillon cubes, some bakery pandebono and the malt drinks poured at children's parties.
Plan your event
Our gluten-free catering removes wheat, barley, rye, spelt and uncertified oats from each dish and from everything that touches it. We serve whole gluten-free events, gluten-free sections within a larger menu and individual plates for celiac guests.
Wedding hosts often choose a mostly gluten-free buffet, which spares the coordinator from tracking special plates. Office teams order gluten-free boxed lunches through our corporate lunch catering, with each box sealed and marked with the guest's name.
Our refrigerated van reaches homes and offices for catering in Envigado in 30 to 45 minutes, so celiac boxes stay sealed from our kitchen to the table. Larger events get a coordinator who checks every gluten-free dish on the buffet before service starts.
Gluten-free describes the ingredients, while celiac-safe describes the whole process, including everything the food touched along the way. A corn arepa has no gluten, yet if it is toasted on the plancha used for wheat bread, it can pick up enough to make a celiac guest ill.
The Codex Alimentarius, the international food standard, sets 20 mg of gluten per kilogram (20 parts per million) as the ceiling for food labeled gluten-free. A few breadcrumbs on a 100 g serving can exceed that, which is why ingredients alone are not enough.
| Gluten-free by ingredients | Celiac-safe | |
|---|---|---|
| Suits | Guests avoiding gluten by choice or with mild sensitivity | Guests with celiac disease or a wheat allergy |
| Ingredients | No wheat, barley, rye or spelt | The same, plus packaged items checked for "puede contener trigo" (may contain wheat) |
| Equipment | Shared, washed between uses | Dedicated fryer, purple boards and utensils |
| Service | From the buffet with its own spoon | Covered, named plate served first, or a separate buffet section |
We do not hold a gluten-free certification, and our kitchen bakes with wheat on most days. What we offer celiac guests is a documented set of controls, described further down this page.
Colombia is one of the easier places in the world to eat gluten-free, because so much of the traditional food is built on corn, yuca, plantain, rice and potato. The details still matter, since recipes vary between kitchens and brands.
Antioquian arepas are made from ground white corn or precooked corn flour (masarepa), water and salt. Our corn empanada catering uses the same yellow corn dough, so the classic beef and potato empanada suits gluten-free guests when fried in our dedicated fryer.
Pan de yuca is yuca starch and cheese, pandebono adds a little corn flour, and almojábanas are made from corn flour and cuajada (fresh curd). Many bakeries add wheat flour for structure, so we bake our own each morning on trays lined with fresh parchment, before any wheat flour is opened.
Patacones, maduros, white rice, arroz con coco, frijoles and sancocho contain no gluten when cooked from scratch. The risk sits in seasoning, since bouillon cubes and packaged sazón blends often contain wheat, so ours rely on hogao and homemade stock.
These are the local foods we check or replace for gluten-free menus:
Celiac plates are protected by dedicated equipment, a fixed order of work and sealed transport, applied the same way at every event. We use a countertop fryer reserved only for corn, yuca, plantain and potato, with oil that never meets wheat breading.
Purple-handled boards, knives, tongs and spatulas live in a sealed bin and are used only for allergy and celiac food. Gluten-free baking happens first thing in the morning, and the finished food goes into lidded containers on the top shelf of the cold room, above anything containing wheat.
Celiac plates travel covered in their own insulated carrier, each one labeled with the guest's name and table number. At the venue they are served before the main buffet opens, and staff wash their hands and change gloves before handling them.
Each of these menus is entirely gluten-free by ingredients, and any of them can be prepared celiac-safe for the guests who need it.
Mini cheese arepas, chicken skewers, corn empanadas, fruit cups and a cornstarch-based cake suit a celiac child and every friend at the table. Our kids' birthday party catering can make the whole party gluten-free, so nobody eats a different snack.
Questions and answers
Yes, arepas made only from corn, water and salt are naturally gluten-free. Some packaged arepas and corn flours add wheat or carry a ‘may contain wheat’ warning, so we read every label and make our own arepas in house. An arepa toasted on a grill shared with wheat bread is no longer safe for a celiac guest, which is why ours are cooked on cleaned, separate equipment.
Yes, we use a fryer reserved only for gluten-free foods such as corn empanadas, patacones, yuca and papa criolla. It is filled with fresh oil before each event and never cooks anything breaded or made with wheat. If a celiac guest's menu includes nothing fried, we leave the fryer out of the plan entirely.
Reserve your date
Tell us your date, guest count and how many guests are celiac or avoiding gluten, and we will send an itemized quote within 24 hours. Detailed questions are welcome at info@medellincatering.com.