Roll Cuisine Corner
Pass the Pasta
by Pierre-Luc Moeys, Owner/Chef Oriole 9
what’s the deal with gluten?
The thing that gives most doughs and pastas its chewy
texture and elasticity is gluten, which is a special type of protein
commonly found in rye, wheat, and barley, and is found in most types
of cereals and in many types of bread. Gluten provides many additional
important qualities to bread. For starters, gluten keeps the gases
that are released during yeast fermentation, allowing the dough to
rise before it is baked. In addition, gluten firms up when it is cooked
and, with the help of starch, helps ensure that the bread maintains
its proper shape. Gluten also has an absorbent quality, which is why
bread is capable of soaking up broth. Because of this feature, gluten
is often used by those on a vegetarian diet as an imitation meat. On
the downside, gluten is believed to be partly responsible for causing
bread to become stale.
Some people suffer from a disease called celiac disease,
which is an allergy to gluten. If improperly treated, celiac disease
can be fatal. Fortunately, not all foods from the grain family contain
gluten. Examples of grains that do not have gluten include wild rice,
corn, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, quinoa, teff, oats, soybeans, and
sunflower seeds. Since extreme care must be taken when eating grains
that do not contain gluten, it’s important to know the source
of your grains, particularly oats and teff, as they are commonly grown
near foods with gluten or processed in the same bins.
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