A gluten-free barbecue – its easier than many situations.

I am just about to head out to my friend’s place for a BBQ.  He’s supplying the meat and the condiments.  I assume that includes buns as well, which will of course be made with wheat.  This just won’t do.

If I’m lucky, his girlfriend will remember my gluten allergy and remember to bring gluten-free buns, but I’m not counting on it.

Gluten allergy may have a cause.

First, note that a gluten allergy is considered rare.  More common is gluten sensitivity, or celiac disease. 

Some people are allergic to wheat, but not the gluten in wheat.  For such people, following a gluten-free diet, now growing ever more popular, is a convenient way of avoiding wheat, using language (“gluten-free”) that more and more people are familiar with.

The medical establishment is very conservative in attributing cause and effect, especially when there is not clear surgical intervention or prescription medicine to manage a specific set of symptoms.  Keep this in mind as you continue to read this article.

Gluten-free bread, good bread, is a truly amazing food if you haven't had any bread at all for over 20 years.

That's the situation I've been in - I only just started eating bread regularly about a year ago. What passed for gluten-free bread 20 years ago was so bad, that I decided I was better without bread entirely.

I just received the following comment, posted under the Self-Testing for Food Allergies page.

I decided to provide the reply as a separate article, rather than burying it in the comments, because there are a few important points here that I think you will find useful, and I want to make sure you can easily find this article.

Here is my reply:

So, you have your gluten-free bread, and now you want to make toast.

Is putting it in a toaster the best solution?

A toaster is a great way of turning bread into toast, but watch out for cross-contamination!

If you use the same toaster that everyone else uses for their wheat-based bread, then you are asking for trouble.

There are two safe solutions.

One is to simply have a separate toaster that is kept absolutely free from wheat - i.e. all bread that is not free of gluten.

This is a good and convenient solution.

I'm working on getting some stuffing recipes together to help you prepare your Thanksgiving bird. Most, if not all, bird stuffings depend on bread crumbs. This will not do if you have a gluten allergy or a wheat allergy.

Making a gluten-free stuffing for your Thanksgiving turkey is not that hard. For starters, you can take a traditional stuffing recipe, any stuffing recipe really, and use cooked rice or quinoa to replace the bread crumbs.