Digestive Discrimination: Don't be Rude. Get with the Program!

Seven years ago, I was diagnosed with food allergies, including gluten and dairy, which I call "the big ones." At the time, I was a dedicated sandwich eater—Dedicated. I was also heavily involved in the food community as a server, and as the girlfriend of an up-and-coming celebrity chef. 

Suddenly, I felt like an outsider. To put it lightly, many people went out of their way to make me feel that way. I experienced strong digestive discrimination from friends, relatives, and strangers at restaurants, social gatherings, and dinner parties. I even received threats from chefs and owners of restaurants, who thought I shouldn't be working in in the industry if I couldn't eat their food. 

Now that so many people are being diagnosed with gluten intolerance and Celiac disease, I am considered a valuable member of the food industry. I am able guide people around menus, and I can teach chefs and bakers about the differences between glutenous and non-glutenous grains. 

Digestive discrimination has lightened over the last year or so, but it is still a problem that needs to be educated out of our society. 

 

Only a few days ago, the burger featured above got me into an argument with a random patron at a McMenamins pub in North Portland. The guy must have noticed that I had brought my own bread into the restaurant. I'm sure that, to any other patron, I must look extremely particular bringing in my own bread. But that's my business, and if the guy had been listening, he would have heard me tell the waiter that I couldn't eat gluten. Anyway, I overheard him making fun of me from across the room when I started taking pictures of my food. And you know, the boisterous laughs from his friends that quickly followed grated against my already sensitive digestive system. 

I told the guy that he didn't need to be a jerk. Red faced, he said he was just joking. None of his companions turned to look at me. I told him to joke more quietly next time. So he did, and his companions laughed even louder at my expense. I looked directly at their table, but not one of them had the courage to look at me. 

If you know anything about the passive-aggressive nature of Portlanders, you know how unexpected my reaction was. Not even a minute later, the guy was suddenly interested in an evening walk.  Before I put my camera away, he and his friends left without another look in my direction.

I'm sure that many of you have experienced digestive discrimination since your diagnosis. But be strong. We deserve to eat out just like everyone else. And here's an encouraging thought: people who have discriminated against me, have later come to me for help (or at the very least, for support) after they were diagnosed with food allergies. I was nice enough to embrace them, even after they were rude to me. This blog isn't called Eating Friendly for nothing! 

Product Review: Udi's Bread

There are a number of gluten-free (GF) bread products available in supermarkets and natural food stores, but they are expensive, and some of them taste like cardboard. To keep from being disappointed and wasting your dollars, you simply need to know which products to buy.

Meet Udi's, the company that is revolutionizing the way GF bread is made. Based out of Denver, Colorado, Udi's makes a number of GF products, including bagels, pizza crust, granola, and muffins. You can find them (and their store locator) at udisglutenfree.com

For those of you who know how dense GF bread is, and how easily it crumbles unless toasted, you will appreciate the soft, springy texture of Udi's breads. The slice shown in the picture below wasn't toasted. I pulled it straight out of the bag, pressed on it, and took a snap-shot. Un-toasted, the bread was spongy, chewy, and slightly sweet. For flavor, I gave it an A-. I'm still waiting for Udi's to make me think of mom's home baked when I bite into their bread. For convenience of use, I gave it an A+! I purchased this loaf for $4.99. Some brands of GF bread loaves cost up to $7.00!

The hardest thing about eating GF bread is its portability. I remember, years ago, fantasizing about building a portable toaster that had interchangeable plug-ins: one that inserted into a car's cigarette lighter, and one that inserted into a wall socket. I used to lay in bed at night and think of how a toaster could be made small enough to fit into a computer bag. Well, that fantasy is over, because Udi's bread is very portable. It's soft and enjoyable, and it doesn't require a toaster to make it so. Last summer, I took a bag of Udi's bagels with me on a road trip, sometimes leaving it in the car in temperatures as warm as seventy-plus degrees. Most GF breads need to be refrigerated or they will go bad. Udi's bagels were tasty to the very last. 

Like all GF breads, if you are eating something juicy, like a burger, toasting the bread helps keep it from falling apart. If you're eating a regular sandwich, like ham, or PB&J, the bread will stay together, it will be soft and chewy, and it will taste great!

I enjoy Udi's plain bread and bagels, more than I enjoy their whole grain version. To me, it tastes more like fresh baked bread, but not quite like the real thing (yet). The raisin bread is very tasty, especially when toasted and eaten with cream cheese (I used tofutti sour cream: De-lish!) When toasted, Udi's bread is light, crunchy, and it almost melts in your mouth. I tried to eat a burger with the whole grain bagel (un-toasted), but the saying "Where's the beef?" came to mind. See image below:

All it means is that Udi's bagels are not hamburger buns, which I hear that Udi's now makes. Once I get my hands on some of Udi's buns, you'll be reading about it here.  
 

Happy Eating Friendly! And enjoy those summer barbecues with the convenience of bread portability!

Restaurant Review: Mississippi Pizza

There's this great little website called www.glutenfreeportland.org. I went there looking for pizza. I'd been having a serious craving for a slice for about a week, and I hadn't eaten at a real pizza place in over nine years. It was long overdue.

Mississippi Pizza was close to my house, and the menu on their website looked promising. To be safe, I called and asked if their crust was dairy-free. It was.

Now, Mississippi Pizza sells pies by the slice. But if you're looking for gluten-free, you will have to get one to order. They offer different sizes:

• 12" for $13.25
• 16" for $18.75
• 18" for $22.00

The price includes red sauce and cheese. Extra toppings cost a little extra, depending on the size of the pizza. Or, instead of building your own, you can order a combination from their sections titled either "meat," or "veggie," or "vegan," for just $3.50 more. I'm an omnivore, so I ordered the pizza called Maggie May: salami, bacon, mushroom, and fresh tomato. The feta cheese they use is made with sheep's milk. Not all of the staff members at Mississippi Pizza are aware of this, and some will tell you it's made from goat's milk. Make sure they check before putting it on your pizza. (Mississippi Pizza also offers soy-based and non-soy cheese alternatives, which I plan to check out next time I visit.) We sipped our drinks in anticipation while we watched the room fill with pizza-loving patrons.

Our steaming pizza arrived at the table only fifteen minutes after we ordered it. The crust was about the thickness of a hand-tossed dough, crispy on the bottom, and fluffy in the middle. The crust was very well executed. It didn't draw attention to itself from a lack of balance, and the center wasn't doughy or dense. The un-sauced portion, often referred to as the pizza bone, was crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the center. It was faintly reminiscent of a warm biscuit. The sauce (for those of you who understand what it is like to miss the taste of pizza) launched me into a pizza cloud. I meant to save a slice for later, to see how it tasted cold, but I ate every bite before I knew what I had done. That's okay. I plan to go back and try other combinations.

For the record, I left satisfied. One could even say that I was glowing. It was my first gluten-free pizza adventure beyond my own kitchen. Now that I've broken the barrier, I plan to eat pizza out more often. I only hope that my experience at Mississippi Pizza is the beginning of a beautiful culinary adventure.

Remember to be safe, my allergic friends. Always call ahead of time to make sure that the facilities are suitable for your level of sensitivity. You can find their number at mississippipizza.com

And by all means, Enjoy!