Gluten Free Bakery
Do you feel like you're missing out on all of the good baked goods and eateries because of your gluten intolerance or Celiacs? It can be so frustrating, can't it? It seems like everything is derived from wheat in some shape or form. The one true irony in the whole gluten free industry is that having to sort through all of the labels and mislabeled information could "drive you to drink" and ironically enough, you actually can! Because most alcoholic drinks, even though they are derived from grain and wheat, are usually gluten free due to the distilling process of creating alcohol. Sorry to diverge, but seemed like a route worth taking. Especially if you happen to be walking down the street in New York past what seems to be an endless supply of fresh, tempting bakeries!
Well, believe it or not, more and more gluten free bakeries are opening up. And honestly, that's a good thing because baking without gluten can be quite challenging. While there are several gluten free flours available there are fundamental differences in how they respond chemically to the baking process with different pans, different ingredients and even with each other. Typically a gluten free bakery will use various different gluten free flours in specific formulas in order to best emulate how the traditional wheat flour would perform in the particular recipe. This level of precision is what makes baking with gluten free ingredients so tough and also why so many have less than stellar results.
So what can you expect to find at a gluten free bakery? How about gluten free cheesecake and coconut carob cake, or various types of gluten free bread? The one thing you will want to be aware of, however, is that if you are also allergic to eggs you are likely going to have a hard time finding many items that you can eat in a gluten free bakery. This is due to the fact that eggs really kind of pick up some of the slack left by taking gluten out. Therefore they are pretty heavily used. You may likely find a few items though such as pizza crust bread, baguettes, focaccia, sourdough bread, pumpkin chocolate chip bars - you never know what you might find.
As you navigate the city looking to try out new gluten free bakeries, you'll likely discover a lot of friends in the process as well. You see many of the people that run a gluten free bakery do so because they themselves have been diagnosed or perhaps one of their loved ones. The end result is a small mom and pop atmosphere that really feels like family. As you go from one bakery to another it will almost feel more like you are navigating within a separate "community". This, of course, is common in super niche markets - people tend to unite not just around the product, but around the support group that it forms as well. Enjoy your trips through the gluten free bakeries in New York or wherever you may roam.