It's All Alimentary, Part 1: Gluten-Free Socca

For those amber waves of grain, there is a winnowing of sorts.  America, the Beautiful is sifting through its cereals.  Amaranth is good.  Barley, not so much.  Quinoa is in, rye is out.  Wheat fields are being looked upon in a pernicious hue as people take more note of Celiac's and gluten sensitivities. 

Is gluten intolerance actually climbing or are we just getting better at diagnosing and disseminating information? Is hybridized wheat to blame?  One can mull and stew on this phenom endlessly.   Epidemiology is better left to the WHO*  to figure out the WHY's.

But the HOW of cooking gluten-free was a personal quest for a a food editor of Bon Appétit.  Kristine Kidd discovered she had celiac disease and decided to change her lifestyle.

She shook a fistful of bread sticks and swore, "As God is my witness, I'll never eat gluten again!"

No, that part never happened, but as food editors have standards, she did vow to always eat well.  Hence, her new cookbook:  Weeknight Gluten Free.

And who could breathe life to a cookbook better than the chefs at Williams-Sonoma on E. 59th.  Ms. Ivana Giuntoli took the helm in the lesson while Ms. Wendy James took note of additional dietary restrictions the guests had.  This could be a chef's nightmare.  Gluten-free, dairy-free,  sodium-free, sugar-free - all reasons for a chef to walk over to a guest and suggest he/she dine at the Mayo Clinic.  Attitudes have changed.

Of course I was skeptical.  How fabulous will this meal be?  Manager Garrett Williams laid out yet again, an impressive tablescape - unusual red coxcomb flowers and a gray-linen runner so the event was visually inviting.   But how was one to break bread with another sans the bread?  How would conversation begin?  Given the subject matter, wouldn't a question lead to disclosures on personal health issues? 

It turned out that everyone was open on matters of digestion.  There was a remarkable man who shared his journey from diagnosis and beyond.  The gentleman was working full-time in a business environment and committed to never putting a gluten product in his mouth.  When there was nothing to eat, he drank water to stave off hunger.  He has become a more resourceful person through this ordeal.  And 3 years into changing his diet, his clinical outcomes improved dramatically.  Compliance is key.

Well, compliance didn't appear to be a problem when the chefs brought out the gluten-free chili, cookies, and socca.  The soft socca dish with its particular toppings sent me straight to socca heaven.  If I could compare it to anything, it was like a pizza.  It's really an inadequate comparison as it is light years ahead of pizza.  Even a person with no gluten issues would be delighted by this dish.

The texture of soft socca is similar to that of an uttapam (an Indian flatbread) and a pita - without the tough chewiness of a pita.  Uttapam is made of lentil flour; socca is made of garbanzo bean flour.  And a soft socca is elementary in building delicious socca "pizzas".

So as much as I'd like to jump to the dish that made my heart skip, one must learn to make a basic socca.  I know, boring.  But it is no different from having to learn Bach fugues before one can compose like Pachelbel.  


                           Soft Socca
Recipe from Weeknight Gluten Free, by Kristine Kidd



 You will Need:

1 3/4  cups of garbanzo bean flour (use Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free Garbanzo and Fava Flour)
Olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons of minced fresh rosemary
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 cups of water

                                                           Instructions:

 1.  In a bowl, combine the water and flour with 1 1/2  tablespoons of oil, the rosemary, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, with a generous amount of pepper.

2.  Whisk until smooth.

3.  Pre-heat the oven to 325〫  F.

4.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and brush with oil.

5.  Lightly brush a medium-sized frying pan with oil and warm over a stove until very hot.

6.  Add a fourth of the batter and swirl to coat the pan.

7.  Cook until air bubbles appear on top and the bottom is brown (2 minutes).

8.  Using a silicone spatula, turn the socca over and cook until spotted brown on the other bottome (1 minute or so).

9.  Slide onto the parchment.  Repeat 3 more times until there are 4 rounds in total.

10.  Bake in the oven for 5 minutes.  Now you have socca to add your toppings.

Summer's harvest has begun.  Stroll to the farmer's market for ideas on building your socca masterpiece. ~e

*  WHO:  World Health Organization