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QOTD #52

michaelnatkin

Do you avoid gluten? If so, why?

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Ritch_28889

A chef cooks for people, to please them and adapt to their taste not just for himself. I understand your point, but this is the new reality and it won't go away. Allergies are everywhere now, and they all need to adapt.

simon_woodrow

i have no space for an extra fryer, and i'm not going to get one, i'm already 'the guy' that tries to accommodate challenges, i work 60 hours a week and produce a brand new menu every month of the year. If people are trying to stay healthy, don't go to a high end restaurant, i have friends who are coeliacs and they never complain, they are happy to get what they can. I'm allergic to shellfish but i don't bitch and moan when i can't eat the scallop dish, we will always accommodate people with any allergies, i'm just saying don't go complaining to the manager if you can't eat something, especially if it's by choice that you don't eat it. I don't want to argue, it's just extremely frustrating when i'm in the middle of service with a full restaurant, and suddenly i have to stop what i'm doing and go through the menu with a waitress to tell them what they can and can't have.

tshewman

This is my personal concern with the gluten issue. Obviously the more processed the food (e.g. bread) the further we are away from real food (for lack of better words), but this also means to say someone is "gluten" sensitive etc may be a bit misplaced. Gluten may stimulate the response but it's the liver ' (and other) metabolic pathways that require the attention......and gluten gets the bad wrap. IMHO.

e_lancaster2002

Did your baby have neonatal hyperbiliruminemia, treated with light therapy? That's interesting, because I had it as a slightly preterm baby, but light therapy wasn't discovered yet so I was treated with a complete transfusion. One of my brothers also had it, and now has every symptom of adult onset celiac disease, inluding idiopathic hepatitis, but is sero-negative for celiac.

e_lancaster2002

Why not? If Chick-Fil-A and Ted's Montana Grill can have dedicated fryers, why can't your kitchen? It doesn't even have to be a large one, just a tabletop Krups fryer would do.

A restaurant is part of the service industry, dependent upon satisfying paying customers. They don't need you, you need them. Having a "too bad for you" attitude is one that will ultimately cause a loss in customers. Why not be the guy who strives to accommodate those challenges? We are trying to stay healthy, after all, not make your life harder.

simon_woodrow

Its not about lack of knowledge, its just frustrating when you have made the perfect dish which you have included flour in because its best for the recipe, and you get some woman whining and complaining that she can't eat it. It's not just gluten free, everybody is apparently allergic to something these days, i just want to cook my food the way i want it to be and if you can't eat it i'm very sorry. And of course chefs still use the same fryer, how many fryers do you think are in kitchens? Should chefs have a gluten free fryer as well?

FrankM_3301

For those who have celiac disease, I can't imagine the challenges that staying gluten free presents. I would happily prepare a meal, without gluten, for you. I would do everything in my power to make it delicious.

For those who have jumped on to the gluten-free band wagon...here is some gluten free chicken I picked up today.

ajcampelli

Brendan, are you saying that upscale places are always using tamari instead of soy sauce? Or just when customers have gluten issues? I would be surprised by the former.

tshewman

I have Jannsen's paper that compared different soy sauces and tested them on celiac patients (some reacted, some didn't) and all were below 20ppm. The issue with celiac (or any other GI problem) is a complex one. Gluten per se is not the issue but stimulates a response. So by avoiding it, the subject avoids the discomfort (which can be harsh) but does not take care of the cause of he response (how their body handles the food). Further, Gluten is often included with other products that have untoward side effects in celiacs (and others) and thus Gluten is not solely to blame, but relatively easily avoided. This is not the fault of the individual and some can over come this via elimination (if formal testing is unavailable or not affordable-Dr.Mark Hyman has written a fair bit about how to do this). The take home message is that Gluten is not the bad guy as it were, but it is part of a complex set of circumstances that can be tolerated by some and can cause significant discomfort in others, I respect those who say they can't eat gluten and have harsh reactions and also respect those that doubt the many that don't when blindly tested (which is not a fun thing to do to a family member and what the discomfort after).

davejes1979

Yes, I avoid it. To be precise, I avoid wheat fairly religiously (unless I'm at a Michelin star restaurant). Part of it is my paleo philosophy, I minimize all grains as a class (various anti-nutrients and metabolic/blood spiking effects. Wheat, in particular, is especially problematic. The gluten may in fact not be the central problem in wheat. See Davis' "Wheat Belly." Also, note that modern wheat is not your grandma's wheat. It is a short-stalked semi-dwarf wheat bred in the '60s, and doesn't even have the same number of chromosomes as heritage wheat.

unklvictor_53333

Monsanto intolerance is more the truth

Wheat is drenched in round up before harvest

When you eat that wheat product it kills the good microbes in the gut with resulting GI issues

Try some cultured probiotics and it helps many with GI issues

e_lancaster2002

They would like you to think that, but if I eat regular soy sauce I'm sick for days. And even if they use tamari on the table, they often use regular stuff in the kitchen.

Donielle_135382

Boy I wish I didn't have too, its a total pain. Especially since I'm a baker..... Imagine making a beautiful batch of dark chocolate cupcakes and just watching other people eat them.

coryhansen78

Gluten Free, I meant.

But, hey, whatever.

tshewman

we limit gluten as we have some in the family that negatively react (blindly fed-did pasta without gluten and with-with gluten not good reactions in both individuals) and with at least one it would seem to be consistent with GI issues, diagnosis at birth (pre-hepatic jaundice) and subjective observations of potty movements. Is also consistent with annual check-ups. One adult has shown to be gluten sensitive (fed pasta and bread with gluten a couple of times where they thought it was Gluten free and reacted) and typically does not react with a gluten free products. With Mother/daughter relationship and the pre-hepatic jaundice it is likely a phase I liver issue (the "pace" of the liver) relative to phase II. These genetics can in theory be turned "off" but likely have to get the organs working at full steam ahead. That part is of course speculation.

robert.c.brown15

Better girlfriend choices? I guess that is a bonus?

Brendan_Lee_56950

Furthermore, any upscale place is usually using tamari these days which is brewed without wheat.

lfmichaud

Actually according to Kikkoman the gluten in soy sauce is denatured so much that it doesn't cause any allergies. The tests ran on different soy sauces are usually under 5ppm of gluten (The limit of detection) The norm for gluten free is under 20ppm.

Ritch_28889

I don't but I have a friend who is and can't get any gluten, and it's not that hard to cook for her.

What amaze me the most is the lack of knowledge from chef in restaurant, most of the time they think they just need to not put anything with flour in the dishes, but still use the same fryer, soya sauce, etc.

e_lancaster2002

I do avoid it because I have celiac disease. I don't make a huge fuss, I let the restaurant know ahead of time that I can't have it, and remind them when I get there. There have only been a few times where I've had gluten in a dish that wasn't supposed to, but most everybody has been very helpful. The bigger problem has been at other peoples' houses.

I love when I get asked if it is a medical necessity or a preference. Definitely, my preference would be not to be GF!

HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

No way! I do have a friend who is a true celiac and can cook for her but, I know ahead of time so its not that difficult. When we all go out she has the courtesy order what she believes to be gluten free and simply double check.

matthew.snyder77

I wish people understood the lengths professional kitchens have to go to when a diner reports an 'allergy'..........

coryhansen78

No, gluten is awesome and useful. Plus, beer is delicious.

At least all of this trendiness has resulted in more/better GF choices becoming available for legit celiacs (I know only one).

seijoed

Nope!!!

simon_woodrow

I've worked in the same restaurant for 12 years and the amount of apparent 'coeliacs' has risen so much in the last two years, and it's not a sudden epidemic, it is now just trendy to say you have a gluten intolerance and kick up a fuss wherever you go, and just generally annoy chefs everywhere. If you have genuinely been diagnosed with coeliacs disease, then by all means we will try and cater for you, but if its self diagnosed self detox mumbo jumbo then eat at home. Am i right, chefs unite!

http://www.buzzworthy.com/science-proves-gluten-sensitivity-isnt-real-people-are-just-whiners/

Tim_Sutherland_52834

I am not a Coeliac, so no I don't avoid gluten.

robmcquarrie

No. I'm not one of the 0.5% of people that have celiac.

FrankM_3301

Not a chance! ...don't get me started....