Beyond Gluten-Free: Sprouted Grain Baking
I can distinctly remember the moment my mother casually announced to my teenage self, that our family would be switching to eating organic food. I was dismayed, insulted even, that my very own mother would impose upon us a mandate of healthy eating. At the time, I had no clue what organic meant. All I 'knew' was that it was all brown and tasted like really expensive cardboard.
I smile through my teeth sometimes when I announce to new comers at my bakery, that yes indeed, my bakery is all gluten-free, sprouted grain, plant based, and organic. I remember that eye roll I gave my mother and anticipate the karmic return from those I wish to share my goods with. Well, often I am met with surprise and relief as there are a lot of folks these days that are choosing the gluten-free path. I notice that when people come to my baking space, they sort of brace themselves for rejection when they ask, "What's gluten-free here?", "Is anything gluten-free?". It is honestly such a cool feeling when I can happily announce, "Everything", with a sincere smile and I can sense their ease and expression of the simple joy of being met, and not othered for their dietary choice.
Speaking of dietary choice, there are seriously so many different ways that people are choosing to nourish themselves these days. So many different boundaries. I won't go into all the most common diet types right now, but I do want to explore the gluten-free path a little more closely. Imagine there are several different connecting circles, like a vin diagram, of all the different dietary paths, you will notice that a linking component of all these diets is opting for no gluten. But if you look closely at all the different baked items that carry the name 'gluten-free' you will notice that the term does not guarantee they will fit into your dietary guidelines. Oy! There are so many gluten-free items out there that heavily depend on processed sugar, and highly processed starches to appear palatable. But, these items that have been offered in the name of good health, often do not taste very good, and quite frankly leave you feeling not so much better than if you went ahead with eating gluten.
Considering all of this, and the way that a lot of gluten-free pastries have been experienced as not enjoyable really, and highly compared to conventional wheat based tastes, its hard to stand in the position of being a gluten-free baker and encouraging people to yet again, put their faith in an alternative. What I can offer in my expression of pastry is more nutritionally informed and intentionally delivers a product that aims to satisfy your nourishment experience via taste, and biological reception. Lately the term 'beyond gluten-free' has been coming to mind in describing my pastries. By that I mean that the way that I go about the baking process isn't so much concerned about mimicking a conventional pastry that has been made a million billion times, but ushering forth a new expression of pastry that uses a palette of ingredients that are all recognizable whole foods, that happen to exclude wheat.
To start with, my grains that I use are whole. I do not purchase pre-milled grain flour, I make it myself with my tiny little Wonder Mill. But, before I mill the organic grains that I use, I expose their nutritional benefits by soaking and sprouting them, then dehydrating them for preservation. This is usually the point in explaining my baking to people that I get the head tilt of "huh, what the heck does that mean ?" (EDIT: Since writing this, I have incorporated pre-milled flour such as almond, and cassava-which are both nutrient dense flours I myself cannot make, but I can stand behind in using!)
Soaking/sprouting grains, as I mentioned before, is a way to allow the food's nutritional potential to become available. The grains that I soak and sprout, and mill flour from at my bakery are buckwheat, quinoa, and millet. All of these grains are high protein, and contain beneficial macro and micronutrients, vitamins and minerals. But, many of these essential dietary components remain either undigestible or inhibit the digestion of nutrients from other foodstuffs due to phytic acids which when bound to a seed/grain are known as a phytate. But, the phytates are the energy source responsible for sprouting the seed/grain, hence they get used up in the process of germination and are removed before consumption. So, the process of soaking and sprouting unlocks the potential of the seed/grain to become bio-available and beneficial. You will notice a deeper feeling of satiety when eating sprouted grain pastries than convention, due to the fact you are actually receiving more nutrients! Pretty awesome.
I tell people when they come to try my baked goods for the first time that my pastries are gentle, and nourishing as they are crafted with intention to deliver a product that tastes good and feels good. And as there has been a lot of improvement in the gluten-free baked good market in the past few years, there seems to be a lack of consideration of the sprouted-grain awareness in the gluten-free market. But, it is my privilege to have been taught these essential tools that allow me to bake in a conscious and intentional way, that hopefully surprises the tried and true gluten-free choosers into a new perspective of what gluten-free can be.
