Sorghum: Ancient Grain for Our Gluten-Free Diet by Carol Fenster
I use sorghum almost every day and take it for granted in my baking. But that wasn’t always the case. My father raised it on our farm in Nebraska (we called it “milo”) and fed it to our livestock. It wasn’t considered fit for humans.
Despite this negative cloud over sorghum, I began using it nearly 15 years ago and have come to love its flavor and the excellent baked goods it produces. Sorghum has been vastly improved since I began using it and the flour is widely available.
But, when I looked into sorghum’s history, I found an interesting irony. When our previously-nomadic ancestors began sowing grains 10,000 years ago, they could settle in communities and enjoy a more readily available food supply in the form of wheat, barley, and rye.
But society began paying a dear price for this convenience. Yup, you guessed it…. gluten intolerance (either celiac disease or what we now call non-celiac gluten sensitivity). Experts think this condition has been around for centuries.
So isn’t it ironic that we now use another ancient grain called sorghum to make food that treats for gluten intolerance?
Sorghum has been around for many centuries in Africa and India and has no gluten. Its flavor is close to wheat and it has a pleasing texture and light color, making it perfect for our typical American foods like bread, pizza, cake, pies, brownies, muffins, and pancakes that we miss the most. And, it is more nutritious than the rice flours (both brown and white).
I use sorghum flour in all my cookbooks (e.g., Gluten-Free 101) and in the recipes at www.GFreeCuisine.com, and in the mixes I develop for Bob’s Red Mill (check out the new Vanilla Cake and Shortbread Cookie mixes).
The pizza recipe we use at GfreeCuisine is sorghum-based and gets rave reviews from users. If you want to see “how-to” photos for pizza-making, go to http://www.savorypalate.com/pizza.aspx (then click on Pizza 101). You’ll see how the dough should look and how I handle it.
I also love whole grain sorghum. I use it as a side dish, to replace bulgur in the Middle Eastern grain salad called Tabbouleh, and as breakfast cereal. The only drawback is that this hearty whole grain needs to be soaked the night before, and then boil in it water or broth (just like rice). Or cook it all day in your slow-cooker. I have not seen whole grain sorghum in stores yet, but you can easily order it at www.glutenfreemall.com. I urge you to try it; it’s a great way to get more whole grains into your diet.
So, there you have it. An interesting irony about one of our gluten-free foods that you can mention at the next cocktail party to demonstrate your gastronomical knowledge!
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