Power of Words

When you think of chefs you may not think about them as wordsmiths. Be sure that we are a group greatly entrenched in language.  We have a long history and our own lingo. This realm of terms, definitions, and understanding both describes and confines us. Chefs notoriously use language that some find offensive as a daily ritualistic release of tension.

The language of food is important and chefs rely upon it to convey clarity when speaking about a food request. Having said that, I am a chef who is rubbed the wrong way when people misuse a culinary term but expect to receive exactly what they have envisioned instead of what they have asked for to eat. If you asked for the Tomato Florentine soup, you can't be upset by the presence of spinach, for example, as Florentine means spinach in the kitchen.

Recently, I was on a mini-vacation and was looking for food fair. I called the near-by Cracker Barrel and asked if their were gluten-free options on the menu. They said yes, but when I arrived the menu did not have gluten-free pancakes or waffles nor biscuits, they brought an alternative menu that gave both nutritional information and pointed to some menu items as safe for my consumption. Offering me a bowl of oatmeal, fresh fruit, or steak and eggs, is not offering me options. I found it insulting that this was all that was offered and I didn't need them to tell me the fruit was gluten-free. By the way, the oatmeal was amazing and I had an order for dinner later on that weekend, but that is not the point. When I think of Cracker Barrel, IHOP, Original Pancake House, or any other breakfast spot it should not be difficult to make adjustment for alternative eaters, and shame on those who have the boldness to offer me fresh fruit as if I don't understand what gluten-free means.

Re-branding food items under new labeling is a funny thing these days. Every trip to the grocer has me laughing as the things that should be relied upon to be gluten-free have redesigned packaging to inform us of this new revelation of food category. I don't need anyone to tell me that unpopped whole popcorn is gluten-free, what's next, gluten-free water?

Language can bind us together with a common ground of understanding and communication but also can divide us with a loss of clarity or misunderstanding. For many consumers who purchase gluten-free items, not all of us must buy these items for health reasons like I do, but rather buy these items because the term is trendy and new-ish. I'd even bet there are some who couldn't accurately define the term but swears that it is bad for your health. No, no, no... It isn't good for my digestion, not everyone's. 

Gluten-Free Pain In the Gut

If you are not already aware, there is a lot of buzz over the term Gluten-Free. As with many culinary or food fads, most people that are jumping on this bandwagon, often times do not understand what they are actively participating.

Just for your information, gluten is a protein that develops when wheat flour gets wet. Gluten can also be developed in a few other instances, but the vast majority of items that contain gluten, contain wheat flour. Wheat-germ, barley, and other foods that are manufactured with wheat, or in places where flour is also present, can contain gluten. Those of us who are gluten-sensitive or gluten intolerant, the consumption of this protein can create a large allergic reaction that can be very unpleasant all the way up to life-threatening.

I have fibromyalgia. When we began attempting to test for the source of my medical problems, the first test that my PCP ran was a food and respiratory blood allergy panel. I have known since high school that I have respiratory allergies, about 12 of them, so Spring usually finds me taking lots of antihistamines. Last year, before the Spring weather arrived, I had two emergency room trips for unusual swelling of my hands, feet, and facial features. I woke one morning and looked in the mirror and I resembled someone who had been in a prize fight the night before.

My doctors changed my medicines for my hypertensive condition, hoping that it had caused my symptoms. Then another trip to the hospital was required, and we changed to a third medication. At that point my PCP, ordered the blood panel. I had previously been diagnosed with my respiratory allergies by way of a pin prick test sub-dermal test, which at the time was the most accurate test available, but at no time did anyone test me for food allergies.

The results came back with interesting results, moderate reactions to shrimp and sesame, but the big surprise was that I had a large reaction to gluten. It wasn't life threatening, but it was something that was causing great distressed my system. So the next step was to test me for Celiac disease, a complete intolerance to the consumption of gluten. I do not have that condition, which is a immune disease, my testing revealed that of the 18 known symptoms that make up a fibromyalgia diagnosis, I had a large number of them. Not consuming gluten helps to lessen the severity of some of my symptoms but keeping away from this food product isn't easy.

The American diet is largely made up of lots of wheat products, especially fast foods, so eating from the vast array of restaurants available can be tricky when you can't eat wheat. No fried items because most have a flour batter, no sandwiches, no burgers, some instant oatmeal contain wheat flour as a binder, no baked goods primarily, nothing on a bun, many breakfast cereals have gluten, lots of sauces and soups are thickened with flour, see the problem?

As a chef, I have always cooked the majority of the foods eaten in my house, but on those occasions when ordering out is considered, I often am out of options. Since the testing, I watch what I eat so I can be more comfortable, but even being careful isn't always enough. I ate some McDonald's fries with my daughter and had a negative reaction, I am sure it had nothing to do with the 19 ingredient formula they use to make the fries.

Fibromyalgia is hard to diagnosis and the chronic pain associated with the condition can often be misunderstood by doctors. I was, at several different points in my life, given diagnosis that only spoke to one symptom or another, for example, I was told that I have irritable bowl syndrome, which could not be treated in 1990's, but it was only a part of what was going on. Gynecological pain, knee pain, headaches, swelling hands and feet, sciatica, dizziness, memory issues, muscle aches, and a few more, all were treated as a separate issue that would come and go from time to time. I knew it was bigger that this day's issues or the next. I suspected that there had to be a connection to all that I experiencing.

Day by day, I have to deal with this and be mindful of everything I eat and drink. I have had dreams of good toast and jam, a smothered pork chop in gravy, or my favorite type of cookie that has no gluten free alternative. There is a sea change happening on our grocery store shelves and more and more items have options for us who suffer. That's great but even that has a down side. In order to make thing gluten-free, a substitution of the wheat flour for others such as a rice flour is required, naturally. These flours do not act in the same way that wheat flour does, and additives are included to give a natural stretch when bread is rising, for example. They also are not produced as readily as other types of flour, so the associated costs are much higher. The same loaf of sandwich bread that can range from $0.99 to $1.79, for example, can cost you up to 6 or 7 times the price of the original. This is not only a pain in the gut, medically, but also it can hit your pocket very hard. I am glad to find some substitutions that do a great job both in taste and availability, while some alternatives are expensive and horrible tasting. I'd rather not eat a sandwich, as much as I miss them, than to eat one on horrible bread that tastes like an old kitchen spounge.

If you too are a sufferer that has to avoid gluten, like me, and has found a great substitute for wheat flour, please let me, and other readers know, as I haven't found one my self yet.

Snap, crackle, and pop drop.

I was having a stressful but better than average mood today until I heard some very sad news. But before I go there, and I will, I just wanted to make a quick post about my fibromyalgia. I do not want this blog to be taken over by news on my condition, but felt this was worthwhile.

The last couple of weeks I have had a infatuation with cereal, milk, and bananas. I have not been able to consume milk products regularly since 2nd or 3rd grade. I would eat ice cream, well because it's ice cream, and just suffer any upset stomach or bouts with diarrhea that can with it. Now, since I have been on some new medications to control my symptoms, I have found, or reignited, my love of bananas, milk, and cereal. Add to this, a lot of the cereal manufacturers have changed their formulas to make their products gluten-free. Cheerios, for example, was using wheat flour as a binder in their old formula, but now it is certified gluten-free.

I woke this morning and eat yet another bowl of my new found treat. The ability to enjoy breakfast again is welcomed. I haven't been eating breakfast regularly in years as most of what we consider breakfast items were not well suited to eating them and then going to work. The upset stomach and having to rise earlier to fix something to eat, has never been good for me. Making something quick would always leave me with upset stomach, and the items that take longer to prep and consume would always leave me lethargic and uncomfortable.

This last year, or more, has had me making fruit and vegetable smoothies to both raise my metabolism and nourish me throughout the day. This regimen began on a smoothie cleanse and when it was over, I could really tell when I wouldn't fix one, that my body functions were slower and sluggish. So I would make an carry one everyday I was working, and that made it much easier to consume food while away from home, and not be searching the grocery store for something to eat, as the fast food joints had zero, or next to zero, gluten-free quick meals or snacks. On my days off, if I didn't get out the blender, I would be functioning very well, and would regret not preparing one for myself.

The marketplace is improving its options for gluten-free offerings and we sufferers of gluten allergies and Ceilacs disease thank you. The American diet is highly concentrated around wheat flour, it is in almost every well know product, even in ways that are harder to discern by just glancing over the nutrition labels.

Now for the drop.... As I was watching one of my shows on Hulu, a commercial break appeared, and I opened up my Facebook feed only to find out that my life-long favorite artist, hands down, Prince has died at the age of 57. I am heartbroken. The last couple of months we have lost the legends of music and radio that has been devastating to my generation especially, Phife Dawg, Doug Banks a king of radio broadcasting, last week, and now Prince. I grew up with Prince, danced on stage with him once at a show, I've heard every released track, sat in the fourth row center isle to see him perform, took fashion cues, watched his movies, memorized the lyrics and dance moves.

It's with a heavy heart that I say thank you to someone I have only been in physical proximity only once. Goodbye to a voice of my generation that moved us like none-other. And I send my tidings of peace to his weary soul.