We’re happy you’re here.
Let us introduce ourselves!
On our honeymoon in the Dolomites, South Tyrol, Italy. After a harrowing 26 miles through the mountains behind us!
We are
Tricia & Nathan
Family is very important to both of us, and food is very important to the many sides of our diverse family. We grew up on the food of the Philippines, Korea, New Mexico, Italy, Kansas City (BBQ, specifically), Mexico, and the Pacific Northwest.
About a dozen years ago, Nathan was diagnosed with a rare lung condition that is not well understood by the medical community…but 14 collapsed lungs and 3 major surgeries later, it turns out that gluten (and some other proteins) were the culprit.
Because food plays such a significant role in our families and our lives, we’ve spent the last 12 years experimenting and searching for gluten free foods & ingredients that are great (not just “pretty good for gluten-free”).
Through Catalla Pai, we hope to share some of the food discoveries that have made eating gluten free truly delicious. After all, avoiding gluten is not a statement of values or morality—for many, it’s a medical necessity that can threaten to take some of the joy (i.e., bread & pasta) out of life. So give our products a try! If you’ve been putting up with cardboard-like bread for years, we think you’ll get what we’re talking about.
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In her day job, Tricia works for at a community foundation where she is part of a team that leverages philanthropy towards greater equity and deeper community in the Denver Metro area. Nathan leads an organization that supports community-based nonprofit leaders who are working hard to make the world a better place. We spend most of our free time cooking, climbing/hiking in the mountains, and…in normal times…traveling and hosting dinner parties.
About our kitchen
For now, while we’re itty bitty, we’re selling our products under the Colorado Cottage Foods Act, so we can’t legally market them as “certified gluten free”. However, 100% of the ingredients we use are certified gluten free. Beyond that, there is zero chance of contamination during our our preparation and baking process because no products containing gluten (packaged or unpackaged) are allowed in or anywhere near our kitchen.
We’re also legally required to include the following disclaimer on all of our products, as per the Cottage Foods Act:
“This product was produced in a home kitchen that is not subject to state licensure or inspection and that may also process common food allergens such as tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, soy, wheat, milk, fish, and crustacean shellfish. This product is not intended for resale.”
But again, due to our own strict gluten free diets (and Nathan’s medical condition), no gluten-containing products make it into or anywhere near our kitchen. So while we can’t legally advertise certified gluten free foods (yet), we are allowed to share that we have very strict (“zero presence”) practices in order to prevent contamination.
COVID-19
We take the threat of COVID-19 very seriously. In addition to standard food safety practices, we wear masks and gloves when handling and packaging our foods. As soon as they are ready and cooled, we package our products, seal the bags your order comes in, and store them away from people to avoid the risk of transmission. Just like any responsible food product company, restaurant, or general business: if anyone at Catalla Pai has contracted or has been in close contact with someone who has contracted COVID-19, we will put everything on pause until we can ensure safe products for you (our beautiful and talented customers).
But on a lighter note…
some of our food adventures
from around the world
The best meal of our lives: at Michelin 3 star restaurant Le Calandre in Padua, Italy. Where we learned that gluten free cooking can in fact be world class...in this case, one of the top restaurants in the world, and in Italy, no less!
A dinner party with friends: Korean BBQ. This obviously doesn't work quite as well in COVID times...but hopefully we can do this again soon!
Gluten free puff pastry from a tiny gluten free bakery in Venice, Italy. This demonstrated to us once and for all that gluten free baking can be as life changing as the best gluten-full breads & pastries!
Our first trip to Oregon: 10 dungeness crab after a day of crabbing Yaquina Bay in Oregon. Nothing better than a massive pile of crab after a day on the water!
An amazing meal at Him Tang, a small country restaurant 25 miles outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Grilled pork tail, Sai Ua (Northern styler herbal sausage), Laap Mu Dip (raw pork, blood, bile, and tons of herbs), Aeb (pig brain grilled in banana leaf), and Lou (raw pig blood soup with fried intestines). While the descriptions make it all sound a bit extreme it was all incredibly delicious...though we admittedly weren't crazy about the Lou.
Iceland: visiting "the shark man" who makes kæstur hákarl, fermented Greenland Shark. The natural antifreeze the shark produces requires some serious fermentation...so it doesn't kill you when you eat it. Tasting notes: rotten flesh with strong ammonia undertones.
On our balcony in Corniglia, Italy a few days after we got engaged. GF pizza, meat, cheese, and wine from our balcony in Corniglia, Italy.
One of the best meals we had in Thailand, which is easily one of the best 3 food countries in the world. Following in the footsteps of the greats.
Dinner on the farm in Króksfjarðarnes with descendants of vikings, plus some Swedish travelers who we invited in after watching them attempt to put up a tent in a blizzard at dusk.
Amazing meats and cheeses at Rifugio Malga Brogles--in the middle of the most amazing 26 miles backpacking loop through the Italian Dolomites.
A wonderful and rugged week couchsurfing at a mussel and sheep farm in Króksfjarðarnes, a tiny village in the Westfjords of Iceland (population: 24). Stay courtesy of Víðir: Iceland's first and most badass mussel farmer!
In Porto Vello--a town in the western reaches of the Brazilian Amazon. This dish is Tacacá: a soup made by people indigenous to the Amazon. With jambu leaves (which numb your mouth), dried shrimp, and tucupi (manioc broth, contains enough cyanid to kill you if it's not boiled for long enough). Funky and delicious.