Gluten-free food: an invitation to open up the range of flours

When I was diagnosed with celiac disease, the first comments I received were, “Can’t you eat more flour? Are you never going to eat pasta, pizza and croissants again?”, and between a lot of uncertainty and little certainty I wasn’t sure what to answer. Luckily, when I started the diet and researched the subject, I discovered that yes, I could continue to eat flours, but of course, not wheat, but the whole variety of flours that exist without gluten and that my body tolerates without rejecting it. From Las Flores, a 100% gluten-free restaurant, they told us about the process and the challenge of looking for new recipes and new mixtures to achieve gluten-free breadings, puff pastries and pastas. In that sense, they clarified that the search was a constant trial and error until the desired mass was achieved.” The idea of telling the story of the process is so that all people, beyond celiacs, can open up the range of gluten-free flours,” they say from Las Flores. Of course, the handling of these types of ingredients is not the same as when handling wheat. Therefore, there were several attempts until the perfect dough was achieved. Some of the gluten-free flours they work with in the restaurant are: Sorghum flour, corn flour, brown rice flour, polished rice flour, mochi rice flour, corn starch, potato starch, cassava starch, quinoa flour and psyllium. How was the process of achieving gluten-free brioche bread:According to Las Flores, a first approach to cooking brioche bread was to start with the recipe with gluten. Then, replace the ingredients with a mix of flours without tacc and follow the same steps with the same amount. However, they point out that this first approach was not what they expected, since it was a bread with low elasticity, compact and heavy crumbs. The key is to not give up and keep trying. So, the next step was to make some modifications. That’s how it was, they got that by adding more hydration to the dough, less butter and more milk. That led to the preparation being a better dough. Then in a third test, what they did is add more psyliym, less xanthan gum, use a smaller mold and make the cooking time a little longer. With this last option, a desired and tasty gluten-free brioche bread was achieved. I should point out that, as a person with celiac disease, it is not easy to find this type of product in everyday life. There are still few places that dare to try new recipes to expand the variety of gluten-free products. Therefore, I celebrate that Las Flores can do it and also, that the food is so rich and delicious so that everyone, beyond the pathologies related to gluten, is encouraged to try different flavors.
Original source in Spanish