Georgia Magazine - March 2011 - (Page 44)

Champagne and caviar: The gluten-free life BY JANE F GARVEY . JEFF MOORE / GARNISH FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MIDDLE GEORGIA GIG F or many folks who suffer from celiac disease, a condition that prevents the body from absorbing nutrients properly, avoiding gluten is a way of life. Gluten may also play a role in autism, and it’s been thought to be connected with alopecia, a condition resulting in hair loss that may be linked to celiac disease. Folks with wheat allergies also need to avoid gluten. What exactly is gluten? The word comes from Latin and means “glue.” It’s a protein composite found in wheat and related grains, such as barley and rye. Gluten gives elasticity to dough, and, in turn, gives bread made from wheat its chewy texture. Gliadin and glutenin constitute about 80 percent of the protein found in wheat seed. Corn and rice sometimes are called glutens, too, but their proteins differ from wheat gluten because gliadin is absent. So these grains, and others such as millet, potato ﬂour, rice ﬂour, chickpea ﬂour, tapioca and quinoa, may be used by someone who is gluten-sensitive, unless, of course, one also has a sensitivity to a speciﬁc grain. Avoiding gluten is trickier than just avoiding bread and pasta. The stuff is used in a variety of prepared foods and may not be listed among the ingredients. Vegetarian meat substitutes, such as seitan, contain gluten. Watch out for the soy sauce! Wheat-free soy sauce is widely available, however. But ketchup could contain it, and even ice cream. And beer is a no-no because of the hops, although some gluten-free beers are available now. Chefs around the state have 44 Left: Tifton’s Betty Hargrove won the ﬁrst annual gluten-free recipe contest held by the Middle Georgia GIG at the Georgia National Fair, in Perry. Above: Taqueria del Sol’s Eddie Hernandez ﬁnds the Memphis Taco especially appealing for gluten-free patrons. (See the recipe on page 50B of the March 2011 digital edition, online at www. georgiamagazine.org.) georgiamagazine.org. shared with us ways to avoid gluten and still enjoy a rich and varied diet, focusing on what one can have and not what one can’t have. Monticello native Carl Brown today is chef and managing partner at Maggiano’s at Cumberland Mall, near Smyrna. He likes to adapt the restaurant’s dishes to a customer’s sensitivities. “We like customers to tell us what their needs are,” he says, “and we’ll send a chef out to the table to talk with them and see what we can do.” One dish that’s popular is the restaurant’s stuffed mushrooms, a recipe he generously provides on page 48. Be careful when purchasing polenta that other grains have not been mixed in. Christian Messier, executive chef at the Sun Dial Restaurant, Bar & View, in downtown Atlanta, agrees. “Look at the menu and tell me what you’d like,” he says. “The restaurant’s sauces already are gluten-free,” he adds, as he prefers to use arrowroot More online at www.georgiamagazine.org as a thickener or sometimes cornstarch rather than ﬂour. His chicken salad with cranberries, blue cheese and pear, page 46, is just one example of the gluten-free dishes the restaurant routinely provides. Still other restaurants offer a standardized menu of gluten-free items. Perhaps the largest is found at P.F. Chang’s, a chain of Chinese-inﬂuenced restaurants, with three Atlantaarea locations and one in Augusta. The ginger-steamed salmon with bok choy, asparagus and tomatoes is so tasty you’ll never feel deprived. At South City Kitchen’s two locations (Midtown Atlanta and Vinings), Executive Chef Chip Ulrich says, “It became evident that a lot of our guests were having issues with gluten or wheat, and making requests and asking what they could eat on a menu. So we decided to be a little more proactive, creating a submenu of dishes that either are gluten-free or can be made that way.” There’s a ﬂourless Belgian chocolate terrine; pork shanks braised with fresh apple cider, buttermilk and chicken stock; roasted parsnips GEORGIA MAGAZINE http://www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - March 2011

Georgia Magazine - March 2011
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Currents
Georgia’s Energy Outlook
Special Energy Report
A Balancing Act
Right on Key
Around Georgia
Georgia@Home
My Georgia
Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - March 2011