by info@gfreecuisine.com
8. March 2010 09:35
Serendipity. (ser-uh n-DIP-i-tee) It means the fortunate discovery of something wonderful, by accident. Like finding chocolate at the back of the pantry when you weren’t even looking for it…. or accidentally discovering the most gorgeous dress on the sale rack, while shopping for new jeans.
I wish serendipity happened more often in my kitchen. Since there are no science books on gluten-free baking (as there are for regular baking), we gluten-free cooks make discoveries on our own. We often don’t know WHY something happens in baking; we’re just happy that it DOES happen.|
A serendipitous event happened in my kitchen a few years ago with xanthan gum (which mimics gluten by binding ingredients together and helping baked goods rise).
I didn’t have enough xanthan gum for a yeast bread recipe, so I used half xanthan gum/half guar gum. The result was much better than ever before, so I tried it in everything: quick bread, pizza, pie crust… you name it, I tried it. This combination produced a smoother crust, slightly higher rise, more pleasing texture, and just looked better. It wasn’t anything dramatic, but enough to make me notice.
But….why? It wasn’t until years later, having dinner in Naples, Italy (yes, you read that correctly, but that’s a story for another blog) with a professor from Kansas State University that I learned the answer.
“Certain gums have a synergistic effect on each another,” he explained; that is, they benefit from each other’s traits so they work better together, rather than separately. Since then, other experts have confirmed this. So, that’s why you see both gums in many of my recipes and no, it’s not a mistake as many of you have asked.
The Moral of the Story: OK, this is a little heavy and esoteric, so bear with me. I think there are certain truths out there in the universe that govern our gluten-free baking. These truths are just waiting to be discovered…...like my xanthan gum story. It makes me wonder what else we’ll learn by accident and what it will mean for the future of gluten-free baking.
Postscript to the Moral of the Story: You must use gums, or your baked goods will fall apart and probably won’t rise very much. The two that are most available to home bakers are xanthan gum (found in most natural food stores) and guar gum (order it from Bob’s Red Mill or Ener-G foods if you can’t find it in your store).
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