Gluten-Free Recipe Conversions – Strategies for Substitutions

Published by Friday, August 9, 2013 Permalink 0

Jenn Oliver, Culinary Chemist, The Rambling EpicureCulinary Chemistry: Gluten-Free Recipe Conversions – Strategies for Substitutions

by Jenn Oliver

From the archives

When my husband and I first started cooking gluten-free in our kitchen, we mainly focused on one type of meal — those that were naturally gluten-free.

The naturally gluten-free foods were the easiest to cook from scratch because they required no substitutions at all — risottos, fresh fruit, vegetables, custards & puddings, stir fry, roasted potatoes, homemade “chips”, salads, fresh steamed fish, bean stews, meringues, and even a macaron attempt or two. As a beginner to the gluten-free world nearly five years ago, I was thrilled with how many foods we could make without ever having to worry about an ingredient on a package label that could be harmful to my husband’s health.  As long as we cooked from entirely fresh ingredients and avoided anything that came in a package or required flour, we were fine — and what a great variety we had to choose from!

But it didn’t take long before my husband would say, “You know, I really miss pizza,” or “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a thick creamy gravy to go on mashed potatoes sometime?” It was inevitable, really, that shunning all things flour-related was bound to cause waxing nostalgia for the meals we no longer ate. While it was great to get our feet wet by starting with the easy gluten-free meals that didn’t require any substitutions or extra thought, it seemed wrong to deprive ourselves completely of other foods that we enjoyed.

I set out on a mission of sorts to figure out how to convert our favorite foods to gluten free, where I found a veritable “Wild West” frontier land when it came to recipes — myriad flour blends and formulas either in packages on grocery store shelves or listed in books, none of which explained how they came to be or why they worked, often calling for expensive and elusive ingredients. It all seemed like some esoteric recipe voodoo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided instead to create my own blends, first categorizing the various alternative flours and ingredients by texture and coarseness, and then quickly realizing that while those aspects do play a role in the end product, the key factor was in fact not the texture, but the starch, protein, and fat content, as these are the things that determine most how a flour will behave in a recipe. I can’t say I get a perfect product every single time on the first try, but the turning point in my success was when I started looking into exactly what I was replacing with my gluten-free flour blends.

Sometimes it really is the gluten that needs to be emulated, such as in a bread recipe, where the developed network of gluten in conventional breads actively works to trap the air pockets made by the yeast, allowing the bread to rise. Techniques for mimicking this include adding other leavening agents to help account for the fact that some of the air will indeed escape before the bread is done, or adding binding agents to help trap the air that is formed — and maybe even a combination of both of these techniques.

Often this is why one sees gluten-free recipes that include extra eggs, or gelling agents like ground flax or chia seeds, manufactured gums, or incorporation of starches into the GF blend, such as tapioca or arrowroot. Once we understand why these ingredients exist in a gluten-free recipe, we can better judge how to make substitutions to fit our needs – for example, don’t have ground chia seeds? Maybe adding an egg in its place will do the trick. The bread fell flat a bit and was too dense? We now have options. We consider the properties of the ingredients we are using, and this information can be used as tools for determining how to logically go about changing our recipes to improve them.

Other recipes that conventionally use flour don’t actually care about the gluten at all. Take, for example, a roux, essentially made up of a flour and a fat that are cooked together and then used as a thickening agent in soups and stews, such as gumbo. In the case of roux, there’s no elasticity needed, and no air to be trapped – all we are looking for is thickening, which occurs thanks to the starch components within wheat flour. This is great news for gluten-free cooks; there are lots of starchy gluten-free ingredients at our disposal that we can use to replace conventional wheat flour!

All-purpose wheat flour contains, along with gluten, a fair amount of starch. So to create a 1:1 substitution (by weight of course), one would just need to come up with a gluten-free flour blend that is also mostly (but not all) starch. This can be done either by using flours with similar starch content to wheat flour, or by supplementing the GF blend with a pure starch (cornstarch, tapioca, arrowroot, potato, glutinous rice flour, etc.). Each type of starch differs slightly in its chemistry, but for the most part they all have gelling and viscosity properties – i.e. they help food thicken and stick together. In something like our roux example, it’s not going to matter a whole lot what kind of starches we use, because the only aspect of the starch we are calling upon in this case is its thickening power.

Obviously, for baking, things get a little more complicated, but I’m convinced the overall strategy remains the same. The first thing I ask myself when converting a recipe is, “what in conventional wheat flour is doing the work? What traits do I need to make sure I replace with my gluten-free mix?” And then we can use our knowledge about the various gluten-free ingredients available to reproduce those properties. Actually, I think once one gets a bit more comfortable with gluten-free substitutions, there is even more freedom and more possibilities for “customizing” than when working with conventional all-purpose wheat flour. This is because one has the ability to pick and choose from amongst so many great ingredients — not just for certain properties, but also for flavors. For example, I often incorporate chestnut flour, because I just love the earthy rustic qualities it lends to baked goods.

Gluten-free substitutions don’t have to involve some mysterious wizardry in order to have success. Sometimes it’s just a bit of recipe tweaking, and other times, a little knowledge about the science behind why a recipe works goes a long way.

 

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Culinary Chemistry: The Truth about Soy Sauce and Gluten Content

Published by Tuesday, July 23, 2013 Permalink 0

Food writer, Culinary Chemistry, The Rambling Epicure

Culinary Chemistry: The Truth about Soy Sauce and Gluten Content

by Jenn Oliver

From the archives

Soy Sauce and Umami: Now a Staple in Western Cuisine

Soy sauce has been around as a staple condiment in Asian cuisine for thousands of years, used for flavoring all manner of dishes and foods. It’s prized for the “umami” character it gives to the overall taste of a dish, and can have a wide range of subtle notes beyond the obvious saltiness.

 

 

 

 

 

For example, Japanese tamari is often wheat free (I stress, not always). Still, most of the soy sauces available on store shelves contain wheat. While there is some debate as to exactly how much gluten from wheat survives the fermentation and processing, the Celiac Disease Foundation Foundation does list soy sauce as a food that may contain gluten and needs to be verified. The Mayo Clinic also states that soy sauce should be avoided unless otherwise labeled. There is also considerable anecdotal evidence of experiences of people being “glutened” by soy sauce (my husband included). Therefore, for those who must eat gluten free, soy sauce immediately becomes a food that requires attention and is a complicated topic.

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Interview with Najat Kaanache, The Pilgrim Chef from El Bulli

Published by Wednesday, April 3, 2013 Permalink 0

Interview with Najat Kaanache, The Pilgrim Chef from El Bulli

One Woman’s Tireless Pursuit of the Whimsical Spirit of Food: An Interview with Najat Kaanache

 

IMG1895.jpg

 

 

1. Do you remember the moment when you became interested in food?

I was just five years old and my grandma finally trusted me to help make the bread. Each grain was so precious and I was as focused in the kitchen then as I am now!

I remember making bread with my mother and the respect she taught me for the whole process of growing and cooking nutritious food for the family. Simple, natural food was the standard at home. We were so poor that a small piece of hard, crusty bread with a bowl of lentil soup was a luxury. We grew almost all of our food on our property and only went into town to buy flour.

2. Who influenced you most and did they teach you about cooking and food?

Ferran Adria taught me to give my brain and my hands the freedom to create magical dishes. At el Bulli, we practiced the “art of doing” and everything Ferran has achieved came from hard work; none of his innovations was accomplished by accident.

3. Do you think with your taste buds?

I feel with them…my hands, eyes, heart and soul all have taste buds!

4. Where did you start your culinary studies (a little history)?

My first technical training was at Culinary School in Rotterdam, but I’d been butchering, foraging, harvesting, processing and cooking daily since early childhood. Food has always been my way of life.

5. At what point did you become interested in molecular cuisine?

I was working in Rotterdam when I started reading about Grant Achatz and Ferran Adria. I set my intention to do my next training with them, and although I knew it would be next to impossible, I worked every day to make it happen. I dreamed of making crazy sexy food and these two chefs introduced me to a new paradigm of creativity, using science and technology in the kitchen.

6. There are those who say molecular cuisine is unhealthy. What are your thoughts on this?

Food can be prepared in so many ways.  For me, it’s unhealthy to eat packaged and processed foods without regard for where they originate or what additives they contain. Molecular gastronomy is an experimental way of cooking, but master chefs use only the highest quality organic ingredients and utilize technology just to present the best of each product to the guest. This modern style of cooking really boils down to a measure of creativity, not health. The so-called “chemicals” used are very common, benign food-safe chemicals and only trace amounts are used.  What worries me are all the “natural” blueberry products that contain absolutely no blueberries, just Modified Corn Starch, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Red #40, Blue #1 and Blue #2!

7. You often talk about your dreams and how you are in the process of making them into reality. You seem to have already realized many of your dreams. Which ones do you still have left to fulfill?

I haven’t even started, but I have just a few humble dreams. I would love to be able to offer a perfectly ripe heirloom tomato to every child in the world who’s never had the chance to taste something so vital and naturally delicious.  I would also love to stop big multinational companies from mass-producing horrible GMO foods.

I dream of making “clean” food available for everyone, but for that to happen people have to take an active interest and demand to know how their food is made.  People will pay so much for a pair of shoes, a car or a handbag, and then they give so little thought and attention to the most important thing in their life, which actually becomes a part of their body, FOOD !!

8. You once told me you’d always been a nomad, even with your parents. Can you talk to us a little about that?

My soul was born free and I remain a free spirit, home for me is everywhere. I live simply and make my home anywhere I am. I learn from people and I always need new people around me. I need to see, feel and experience in order to understand the world in which I live. I’m from the Atlas in Morocco and I grew up between there and San Sebastian. I feel so fortunate for the unique mix of cultures I was exposed to throughout my life; it was just amazing.

9. You’ve done internships with many famous chefs I believe? Can you tell us about your adventures?

Each of them gave me all I needed to become the best chef I could be. Grant Achatz made me believe that I was not crazy with my focus and intensity in the kitchen.  Rene Redzepi made me believe that yes, I can create elegant, interesting dishes with just the products I had around in nature. I already knew that deep inside, but it was great to see it in the context of a three-star Michelin setting. Thomas Keller taught me that I was correct in having an insane sense of urgency, and being determined to execute perfection for each guest. And Ferran Adria gave me the chance to free my mind. I don’t have rules and regulations in my brain, only freedom. Everything I can visualize in my brain I can bring to life with my food. Once I’ve seen it in my brain, I just need to find the way to make it happen! That is the magic of creativity, freedom and hard work.

Another thing I achieved with Ferran Adria was to completely kill my ego. That’s perhaps the most special lesson he imparts on his chefs (we call them Los Chicos del Bulli – The Boys of el Bulli, most of whom started very young and spent over 20 years working side-by-side with him). These boys, now men, create magic with food and carry the “World’s Best” title, but they have absolutely no ego and nothing to prove; they simply are who they are…chefs.

Najat Kaanache
http://www.najatkaanache.com
The Pilgrim Chef  at http://elbulli-arco.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NajatKaanache%20″
Twitter: @ThePilgrimChef http://twitter.com/#%21/ThePilgrimChef

 


 

 

 

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Part 4: Step-by-step Fermentation – How to Ferment Vegetables

Published by Wednesday, August 1, 2012 Permalink 0

Part 4: Step-by-step Fermentation

by Diana Zahuranec

How to Ferment Your Own Vegetables

I said in my first fermentation post that I found a couple of particularly helpful websites:

Sandor Ellix Katz, “Making Sauerkraut”
Mary N. Mennes, “Make Your Own Sauerkraut”
Recipes from a German Grandma, “Make Your Own Sauerkraut”

Katz’s was detailed and informative, and I completely trusted his judgment because he is the undisputed wild fermentation expert. Also, he helped my friends and I make cheese, which turned out edible, if squeaky. The unnamed German Grandma had pictures, which I took too and I’ll provide them here for you fermentin’ folks.

Equipment used:

2 big glass bowls
2 freezer bags
Saran wrap
Big plastic tray

Ingredients used:

Click here for French/British/American converter

1 head of cabbage
1 onion
2-3 hot peppers
2 carrots
Stems from a bunch of catalogna (chicory (or a type of), a leafy green with tough stems that I didn’t want to throw out)
1/3 C mildly spicy coarse hot pepper
Salt, water: 3 T salt per 5 pounds of vegetables
Whey from yogurt

Procedure:

Note: This outlines what I did, and might not be the ultimate, end-all-be-all way to ferment; I’m just sharing the experience and knowledge I gained along the way!

(chicory (or a type of), a leafy green with tough stems that I didn’t want to throw out)
1/3 C mildly spicy coarse hot pepper
Salt, water: 3 T salt per 5 pounds of vegetables
Whey from yogurt

Procedure:

Note: This outlines what I did, and might not be the ultimate, end-all-be-all way to ferment; I’m just sharing the experience and knowledge I gained along the way!

[caption id="attachment_27484" align="alignleft" width="319"] Chopped vegetables

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Part 3: What is Fermentation?

Published by Monday, July 30, 2012 Permalink 0

“Fermentation is one of the oldest and simplest means of preserving foods. It requires no particular kind of climate, no cooking, and so no expenditure of fuel: just a container, which can be a mere hole in the ground, and perhaps some salt or seawater,” quoted from the ever-insightful Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.

On Food and Cooking

Harold McGee’s “On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen”

vegetable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third article in this mini-series is going to be scientific and a little bit nerdy. Get ready to learn the nitty-gritty behind fermentation.

Fermentation begins in the vegetable or fruit. The naturally-occurring microbes in the food proliferate under the right conditions – namely, under the lack of air. At the same time, these beneficial microbes suppress the growth of harmful microbes that rot the fruit or vegetable. The good microbes metabolize the plant’s sugars and carbohydrates before the bad microbes get a chance. In a way, fermentation is a “controlled-rotting” process: the difference between sauerkraut and rotting cabbage is which microbes are allowed to grow.

When protected from air, these microbes get to work producing lactic acid, alcohol, carbon dioxide, and other compounds and nutrients.

Ferments can be made by crushing the vegetables or fruit until enough liquid is let out, ensuring that the vegetables are covered and protected from the air. Usually, though, the vegetables need a little bit of help: salt draws out the liquids, sugars, and other nutrients, and so ferments are often dry-salted or submerged in a salt-and-water brine before being stored in a covered container.

Crushing: wine is also a form of fermentation

As the plants ferment, much of the material remains intact, hence crunchy kimchi and sauerkraut as opposed to being mushy or slimy (two problems which usually signify contact with air; check out a great troubleshooting link). As the vegetables ferment, not only do they retain their vitamins, but additional nutrients are formed in the process: namely Vitamin B, folate, and the production of enzymes. New flavors and aromas begin to develop, and continue to age and change for as long as you ferment your food.

The salt concentration of the brine and the temperature during fermentation are the two main components that determine which beneficial plant microbes flourish and, consequently, the flavors and aromas that result. Vegetables with a low-salt brine and fermentation under low temperatures will produce mild but complex flavors with Leuconostoc mesenteroides. Fermentation done in high temperatures will produce almost exclusively lactic acid bacteria, from the Lactobacillus plantarum microbe. Also, fermentations undergo a dual process: they produce the first microbe, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, which is then taken over by Lactobacillus plantarum during the second stage of fermentation.

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Lost in Translation: Brown Sugar

Published by Friday, June 15, 2012 Permalink 0

Brown sugar and molasses can be made from both cane and sugar beets

Over more dinners with friends than I can remember, chocolate chip cookies have become synonymous with coming to my house. While my dorm neighbors were making tartiflettes and curries to plant little seeds of home in campus life, I was either making apple crumbles in a roasting pan, or trying to beat butter and sugar until fluffy with a wooden spoon. This is really not as sophisticated or even as homey as it sounds, considering that our 50-year-old kitchens had a decorating scheme typical of a detention centre, and faulty wiring that’s led the university to demolish the buildings. Still, the sentiment was there.

 

Neglecting the brownie, the chocolate chip cookie might be the greatest American delicacy that is almost untraceable on this side of the ocean — apart from some pretty pathetic, grey-looking supermarket things and the greasy mondo version from Millie’s Cookies branches in shopping centres. No matter which recipe I use, the chocolate chip cookie is one I’m asked for more than anything else by friends from all over the place (and is the main reason some called me “Monica” for being anal enough to write “226 grams of butter”).

In those beginning days in university halls, the oven was so temperamental that it was okay to make sweeping substitutions with whatever you had on hand, because you never knew what would come of it. (Seriously – there was always a poor and hungry Frenchie willing to vacuum up the disasters.) It wasn’t until I moved kitchens that I realized my “randomize” approach just wasn’t cutting it. I needed to test several recipes, and I needed to know which one was the best…and so began the Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Quest!

A chocolate-chip cookie.

A chocolate-chip cookie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing that stood out immediately was the small but obvious difference in taste and texture between the light brown sugars found in North America and the UK  — an ingredient essential to the success of a good chocolate chip cookie recipe. Inspired by fellow expat David Lebovitz, I set about finding out the difference, and here’s what I found.

Disclaimer: I researched general processes — not those of specific companies — and I am no food scientist. The further I dug into the subject, the more I wanted to learn (and I’d heartily welcome any corrections).

3 TYPES OF COMMONLY USED BROWN SUGAR

To figure out what kind of product I’m actually trying to reproduce, I looked at light, dark, and muscovado (or “regular”) brown sugars. Light brown sugar consists of a small proportion of molasses at 3.5%; dark brown sugar at 6.5%; and muscovado sugar at nearer 10%.

 

Brown sugar examples: Muscovado (top), dark br...

Brown sugar examples: Muscovado (top), dark brown (left), golden brown (right).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUGAR CANE vs. SUGAR BEETS


Sugar is made from a variety of plants, but most of the sugar that we reach for in the baking aisle comes from either sugarcane or sugar beets; which one you use is all about climate. Sugar cane grows exclusively in tropical climates like in Hawaii. Brazil and Indonesia, making it the main import in the US market. Sugar beet grows exclusively in “temperate” climates like parts of Russia, the American Midwest, and East Anglia in the UK, making it the standard in Britain and the surrounding European countries.

It seems that sugar beet in the UK has a greater consumer loyalty (than the non-loyalty of North Americans to a specific plant), due to sugar beet being viewed as a more “green, local, British” product. This is also true for the parts of the States that grow sugar beet, but because we’re a huge country with such varied climates, branding a ‘national’ sugar source presents some problems.

English: Sugar beet Sugar beet at Blue Barn Farm

English: Sugar beet Sugar beet at Blue Barn Farm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun fact: it takes about 6-9 kg (or 4-6 bulbs) of sugar beet to produce a kilogram of refined white sugar, and about 8 kg (or 5-6 stalks) of sugar cane to produce a kilogram of brown sugar. (Brown and refined white sugars have surprisingly similar densities.)

Cane sugar is often touted as being more beneficial for health, due to its roots reaching further into the ground beyond topsoil that may have had many of its nutrients washed away. But this appears to be true only of unrefined — and not refined white — sugars. White sugars are refined by stripping all flavorful minerals and “impurities” from plant juice by centrifuging out the syrup by-products from the crystallized sugar, the only slight and indiscernible difference between cane and beet sugars being that during the treating and whitening of beet juice, a few more natural agents are used due to its different chemical composition. This difference in processing has absolutely no effect on the flavor and little effect on the natural composition of the final product in white sugars. (Recent studies have shown that it is possible to ‘fingerprint’ a beet or cane sugar particle and reveal trace elements leeched from the soil where it was produced, and lock down regional connections, but any elements found are in such small quantities that differences are pretty negligible to nutrition. Pretty cool, eh?)

Venezuelan sugar cane (Saccharum) harvested fo...

Venezuelan sugar cane (Saccharum) harvested for processing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I’m getting sidetracked: the principal difference between cane and beet brown sugars is in the nature of the syrupy by-products from each plant.

English: Ox-wagons transporting harvested suga...

English: Ox-wagons transporting harvested sugar cane to the sugar factory in the Netherlands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In sugarcane processing, the molasses syrup that results from removing sugar after each stage of boiling can be categorized as either sulphured or unsulphured. Sulphur dioxide is added in the first case to preserve sugarcane which has been picked ‘young’, and unsulphured molasses is derived from fully mature stalks which have sun-ripened over 12-15 months. Regardless of whether sulphur dioxide has been added or not, the first boiling of juice yields ‘mild’ molasses and the second yields ‘dark’. ‘Blackstrap’ molasses is obtained from the third and final round of boiling, after which the proportion of sugar in the syrup is too small to be extracted economically. This makes blackstrap molasses the lowest in sugar content and the most rich in “impurities” (like B6, calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron). That’s why it’s promoted for good health, providing the most concentrated dosage of all of those minerals and accounting for up to 20% of their recommended daily amounts!

English: Organically produced blackstrap molas...

Refiners’ syrup, used widely in the commonwealth countries under the name golden syrup, is made by refining and filtering the pre-boil, concentrated cane juice through bone charcoal. It’s similar to molasses, but consists of only certain sugars and moisture – and does not include any of the minerals and other “impurities” in molasses that cause its distinct flavors.

English: Old sugar beet factory A landmark on ...

English: Old sugar beet factory A landmark on this side of Ipswich, in view from the A14 but seen here at close hand from the Gipping footpath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the other hand, sugar beet processing yields different results. Molasses can be produced from beet sugar, but it only appears after the second round of boiling (because of this, the first and second boils are called the ‘high’ and ‘low’ greens, or raws). Sugar beet molasses, obtained from the second or third boil, contains a lot of salts and compounds which don’t make it very tasty for humans, so it’s used predominantly in the production of cattle feed. In the Low Countries, sugar beet molasses is sold as “sirop de candi“, in a normal version branded as ‘sweet’ — due to a higher proportion of remaining sugars — and also the third boil, very dark version. Sirop de candi is used as an ingredient in traditional treats like speculoos biscuits (cookies), or as a topping for toast or waffles. Beet molasses is also used as a coating for road salt, due to its low melting point and de-icing properties (which actually ends up attracting deer to road networks in cold weather, but that’s a tangent for the transportation engineer in me!). Refiners’ syrup can also be made from beet sugars by a different process than that used to obtain it from cane.

Sugar beet clamp at Vlissegem, Belgium

Sugar beet farm at Vlissegem, Belgium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s important to note here that some of the products we know as molasses in North America (such as Grandma’s Own Original Molasses) are, in fact, reduced cane syrup: molasses which has been gently heated, but not boiled, and had none of its sugars removed. This is sometimes referred to as ‘high-test’ molasses, and is not a by-product of sugar production. As a result, what most people recognize as normal pantry molasses is much less bitter than black treacle here in the UK, which is a 50/50 mixture of blackstrap molasses and golden syrup. Bottom line: unless your North American recipe calls for ‘dark’ molasses, don’t use black treacle as a substitute and expect exact results!

THE BIG DIFFERENCE ACROSS THE POND

Essentially, all of this means that most standard brown sugars in the UK have to have the less palatable beet molasses completely extracted, and then add in ‘dark’ sugar cane molasses to the refined white beet sugars. (So that package of “British” brown sugar actually has a pretty large carbon footprint!) This alone doesn’t cause any variations — even most brown cane sugar producers totally refine their sugar and then re-add the extracted molasses, in order to control variations in the harvest and make a uniform product with a standard molasses content. It’s the processes commonly used for re-adding the cane molasses to either kind of white sugar which makes a difference. While the molasses added to the cane sugar is combined via a stage of re-boiling, the molasses added to beet sugar is always sprayed over the granules. This coating of the white sugar creates coarser and less saturated particles, and totally explains why North American light brown sugars are softer and more compactable than the relatively free-flowing light brown sugars in the UK — like the difference between slightly moist and just-drying sand.

So after all of that technical mumbo jumbo — now what? To make your own brown sugar at home, molasses can be re-added to white sugar at a recommended proportion of 1 tablespoon to 200 grams. But which grade of molasses to add is never mentioned! This is because the syrup that is said to be re-added into white sugars at the factory is always a blend of molasses and/or treacle varieties produced and sold differently to companies in different parts of the world. Whichever blend is used contributes to the different flavors found in every country.

Now that I’m itching for a factory tour, I want to reproduce this in my own kitchen. The homemade method means that the molasses content is roughly 7.5% if using the ‘blackstrap’ variety.  Using my highly developed engineering skills, I calculated that in order to get a 3.5% molasses content, one tablespoon of molasses must be at around 60% sucrose content; dark second-boil molasses contains about 55% sucrose, as does black treacle. Like most things worth doing in baking, I might play mad scientist, go try some British-made cane sugars, or even make my own, and see what happens. All in the name of chocolate chip glory!

 

This post has previously appeared on Rowth an’ Scowth, where Melissa writes about baking and expatriation from Edinburgh, Scotland.

 

 

 

 

 

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Yummy Umami: The 6th Basic Taste?

Published by Thursday, April 26, 2012 Permalink 0

Yummy Umami: The 6th Basic Taste?

by Diana Zahuranec

Quick, name the 5 basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty…and the fifth one is umami. Umami is the word that describes the savory taste of food, or perhaps “meatiness” of a food. It is the taste of the amino acid L-glutamate. The Japanese singled out this flavor in the early 1900s thanks to a chemistry professor from the Imperial University of Tokyo, Kikunae Ikeda, who isolated the glutamic acid compound C5H9NO4. Glutamic acid is found in both free and bound forms. The free form, which is formed when the protein molecule breaks down and releases glutamic acid, is the one we taste. “Umami” means in Japanese, literally, deliciousness.

Kikunae Ikeda, the Chemist who singled out MSG

A few years ago, I remember there was some hype that spread virally through America’s highly-informed (and often misinformed) consumer culture about MSG.

What is this lethal-sounding additive in the foods we eat, so cleverly covered up by only using three letters to trick us when we know better? It was soon known that MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is an ingredient added to most processed foods in order to enhance their flavors. In the media, MSG was linked to many ills, including migraines, nausea, and cancer, among others.

Wariness and fear of MSG actually began in the 1970s, after Dr. Ho Man Kwok wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine that he was experiencing all sorts of uncomfortable after-effects from a Chinese dinner, including numbness, weakness, and palpitations. He did not specifically link his symptoms to MSG, but a year later a study was done on baby mice by injecting high dosages of MSG (up to 4 grams per kilogram of body weight) and observing the brain lesions the mice suffered afterwards. Thus was born Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (CRS). Studies, anecdotes, and reports were quick to follow suit afterwards, claiming that MSG was linked to all sorts of ills. Some prominent nutritionists today are convinced that added MSG is harmful, especially for children.

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GMO Labeling Required in China and Russia, But Not in U.S.

Published by Tuesday, January 31, 2012 Permalink 0

by Wendy Kirby

Do you know exactly what is in the food you are buying? Many Americans have become accustomed to reading the labels of the food they are purchasing. Verifying that the food is safe to eat, whether there is a need to safeguard against food allergies, or simply a matter of preference for ingredients, has become commonplace for many throughout this country. This is a smart habit, but it’s only useful if something is actually written on the label. Are you aware that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require labeling foods that have been genetically engineered in laboratories or contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?

 

 

 

 

 

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Culinary Chemistry: 10 Gluten-Free Tips for the Holiday Meals

Published by Thursday, December 15, 2011 Permalink 0




Culinary Chemistry: 10 Gluten-Free Tips for the Holiday Meals

by Jenn Oliver

The upcoming festivities are all about sharing, seeing friends and family, creating new memories and reliving old ones. It’s a time of joy, inspiration, goodwill, and laughter that I look forward to each year, while looking ahead to the New Year and the fun and exciting experiences the coming seasons will bring. We stroll around the Christmas markets tasting chocolate, nougat, mulled wine, and roasted chestnuts, flavors and delights not just for the taste buds but all five senses — and has become something I look forward to at this time every year.

But for some — such as those who are gluten intolerant or celiac — holiday festivities can bring about a certain anxiety, a stress caused by imposing dietary restrictions on those doing the cooking, or fear of gluten contamination from the grand holiday meal. Just having had a successful family Thanksgiving dinner that everyone, including the gluten free enjoyed, I thought it might be useful to share some of our tips for surviving, and keeping the holidays fun without stressing out about food. So here are 10 gluten-free tips for surviving the holidays.

  1. Be involved – The more you are involved in the process of deciding what gets made and from where everything comes from, the better chance you will have to help direct the meal towards foods and dishes that are safe for you. Being proactive from early on rather than waiting til the last minute may save a lot of stress and worry.
  2. Educate friends and family – It is beneficial for others to know about your dietary needs and what is involved in creating a safe environment. Not everyone fully understands the risks of cross contamination, or that croutons can’t just be picked off of a salad and that a knife can’t be double dipped into the apple butter when spreading on rolls.
  3. Suggest naturally gluten-free dishes – Recipes abound for a myriad lovely and flavorful courses that never contained any flour to begin with, such as salads, roast meats, vegetables. Feel free to explore/suggest dishes that require no alterations to prepare gluten free.
  4. Cook from scratch – Processed foods have a tendency to have a long list of ingredients, including some off limits and questionable ingredients, such as barley malt syrup, modified food starch, etc. Cooking from scratch gives one more control over what goes into a dish and is also easier to modify in order to make a food gluten free.
  5. Offer to host  – While hosting is often a lot of work, you know the safety status of your own kitchen with regard to holidays foods, and it may be easier to host than making sure that someone’s kitchen counter that was dusted with flour earlier that day from baking holiday cookies doesn’t end up contaminating your dinner. If you can’t host, offer to cook some of the dishes to help make it easier for the host to accommodate you, or at least to help with the cooking when you arrive so that you can help keep food prep safe for you.
  6. Make GF versions of your favorites – Many dishes require very simple substitutions to be made gluten free – stuffing can be made by just substituting GF bread; gravy and creamed sauces by substituting GF all-purpose flour, or GF cookies can be used to make your favorite cookie crumb crust for a pie.
  7. Keep GF foods completely separated from gluten foods – If you are eating at a mixed GF/gluten dinner, make sure that the foods you want to be able to eat are completely separated, so no one mistakes which serving spoons go into which dish and bread crumbs don’t find their way into the GF courses. Another idea is to serve the gluten-free folks first, before anything has a chance to get contaminated.
  8. Try new traditions and recipes – Holidays are all about traditions, but they can be as much about making traditions as keeping them. Rather than trying to replicate a longstanding favorite dish, why not try something completely different? A new set of flavors perhaps, so you don’t feel as if you are replacing your great grandmother’s heirloom recipe, but more just creating a new tradition for friends and family to enjoy in the years to come.
  9. Don’t gamble with your dinner – If you are not sure whether or not a dish is GF, it may be best to pass on it. No one enjoys being sick from having a gluten reaction over the holidays or while traveling. Depending on how long you will be there and who you are staying with, it may be a good idea to also bring some snacks just in case.
  10. Remember, it’s just a meal – There is so much more to the holidays than simply one dinner together – the holidays are also about spending time with friends and family, and sharing those special moments. If dinner doesn’t end up being the idyllic meal you had dancing around with those sugarplums in your head, remember the fun moments and spirit of the season, and the real reason for getting together in the first place.
Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday season, and a joyous New Year!
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Jenn Oliver writes our column Culinary Chemistry. She has a Ph.D. in science, and explains the scientific aspects of what really goes on when you cook (the next Harold McGee?). She’s been running a gluten-free blog, Jenn Cuisine, since 2008 and her kitchen is more like a laboratory than a kitchen. She’s focuses her chemical calculations and experiments on figuring out how to make traditionally glutinous food gluten-free.
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USDA: new guidelines for calculating fertilizer; runoff producing over-nutrition in waterways

Published by Wednesday, December 14, 2011 Permalink 0

Around the world, environmentalists and scientists are mobilizing to fight the plague of over-nutrition due to over-fertilization

The problem with farming today — whether fertilizer be conventional or natural — is that fertilizer runoff produces over-nutrition of waterways and other natural habitats.
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So around the world, environmentalists and scientists are mobilizing to fight the plague of over-nutrition. That’s where the new USDA document comes in. It lays out a host of steps that farmers can take — and will have to take, if they get funding from certain USDA programs — to minimize the spread of nutrients outside farm fields.

Essentially, it involves putting farmland on a sensible diet. Only feed the land as much as it really needs. And don’t apply fertilizer, including manure, when the crops don’t need it. Also, try to capture and store any excess nutrients. For instance, grow wintertime “cover crops” that can trap free nitrogen before it leaches into groundwater.

Click here to read this on NPR’s blog.

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