Gluten-free breads ii

6 servings

Ingredients

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Directions

ABOUT YEASTED BREADS: It is probably impossible to imagine how convenient bread is unless you are one of those rare people who are allergic to gluten and can tolerate no grain at all except rice. * If you are allergic to gluten you are probably not a vegetarian--or you are very thin. Maybe we can help change that.

Our yeasted rice breads are based on the dedicated work of two women who were determined to find a way to provide real yeast-raised bread for people whose diets are limited in this way. Maura Bean and Kazuko Nishita of the USDA Western Regional Research Laboratory in Berkely tested every available natural and synthetic gum, trying to find one that could do what gluten does. They came up with methylcellulose, not what you might call a natural food for sure, but it works. The gum is extracted from cellulose fiber, and is impressively non-toxic. **

Our own version of their work uses brown rice flour instead of white, and includes a long fermentation period to improve both the flavor and keeping quality of the bread. There are three variations: Brown Rice Bread, which tastes like--rice; Garbanzo Rice Bread, with a mellow flavor and the advantage of added legume nutrients; and Soy-Raisin Rice bread, cakier, and sweet. Whichever version you make, be sure that your brown rice flour is really fresh and that it was ground from short- or medium-grain rice, not long-grain.

Your local health food store may be able to get methocel for you.

Other wise it can be ordered by mail, but it is expensive, $7 for half a pound as we go to press. [pre-1984] Half a pound will be enough for 24 loaves. To order by mail write to: Ener-G Foods, Inc. P.O. 24723, Seattle, Washington 98124-0723 Ask for Methocel K4 M (90 HG 4000). Ask for a copy of their product list too. This company sells a variety of products for people with severe food allergy.

* Corn may be tolerated also. When you see references to "corn gluten," it is corn _protein_ that is meant, not gluten in the allergic sense. Our recipe for Basic Cornbread is glutenfree.

** "Evaluation of the health aspects of cellulose and certain cellulose derivatives as food ingredients." FASEB/SCOGS Report 25 (NTIS PB 274-667) 1974; cited in The Food Additives Book, Willis A.

Gortner and Nicholas Freydberg, Bantam 1982, page 508.

Posted by Kyosho Connick. Reposted by Fred Peters.

Submitted By FRANK SKELLY On 02-14-95

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