Knight in Shining Armor

I’ve realized that I haven’t really posted about gluten. That’s probably because it is fairly easy to avoid, at least in comparison to corn or casein. Bread is obviously out, and I’ve already discussed the alcohol issue. The thing that gets pretty tricky is vinegar. Vinegar can be made from a number of things, including grain. Since most ingredient lists only say “vinegar” without any reference to what kind it is, my boyfriend usually assumes that it is a grain variety.

However, this has been pretty easy to avoid too. Most of the things with vinegar added to them, like ketchup or other commercial sauces usually have other allergens, so the issue of whether or not there is gluten in it doesn’t really come up. Pickles he gets around by buying lactic acid fermented varieties instead of ones that add vinegar. For recipes that require vinegar, we rely on rice or apple cider kinds.

Gluten can also sneak its way into things that are processed alongside grains. Oatmeal, although naturally gluten free, is sometimes contaminated with particles from other grains during the harvesting process. Regular table salt can also be a bit tricky, so he uses sea salt.

Although gluten can generally be avoided, it is sorely missed. I’m used to a diet which relies on grain products. I am a bit of a pasta fiend in my own right and I love bread and other baked goods. That’s the thing that distresses me most. There are gluten-free bread recipes that we can/have tried out, but nothing can really ever compare to a good hunk of sourdough dipped in soup. Although we can use rice flour or other unconventional varieties, you can sort of taste a difference. On the upside, this gives me a chance to futz around with recipes I already know and make them even better with creative, gluten-free solutions! Also, for when I feel like an easy fix, there is a gluten-free line of King Arthur Flour mixes which I am pretty sure are free of the 8 most common allergens found today:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/mixes/special-diet

Not only that, but the mixes are produced in an allergen-free facility! Now that’s the kind of thing I want to see more of in today’s packaging. It says right on the box that it is allergen-free and on the website they even provide a PDF of the packaging for each product so you can double-check the ingredients.

When I found that King Arthur had this, I was ecstatic. My mom is a huge fan of this brand, so I was automatically trusting of it. I was also happy that they had pizza and brownie mixes. I have found that pizza dough is extremely versatile and can be made into many things, so I think it would be a good thing to keep a box of this handy at all times. Of course, my boyfriend would still prefer to make everything from scratch, which I can agree with. However, in a pinch if we needed dough we wouldn’t have to worry about how many yams we have or how depleted our stash of guar gum is for the recipe he found.

(image from here)