Title: Gluten-Free Breads II
Categories: Bread, Info
Yield: 6 servings
1 No ingredients
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.
From: Frank Skelly Date: 02-14-95
