Around Town: Gluten-free tips for those so inclined

After a successful kosher, dairy- and gluten-free Thanksgiving, with everything made from scratch, I’ve decided to take this whole gluten thing up a notch.

But first, a hat tip to the Great Gluten Debate. The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness estimates that 18 million Americans have gluten sensitivity, whereas only 3 million have celiac disease, but other medical experts argue that non-celiac gluten sensitivity does not exist.

Done? Debate over?

OK. If you order a gluten-free pizza at Blaze Pizza in La Cañada, the servers will ask, “Are you gluten intolerant or is it a preference?” This is an important question. Those with celiac disease can’t just move the wheat-based crouton off the salad. If the lettuce touches the crouton, the gluten residue can cause symptoms.

The following is not advice for those with celiac disease. Around Town does not give medical advice. Around Town is a lifestyle column for both the inhibited and uninhibited.

Back to society’s newest “pet rock,” aka the gluten thing, what if it actually works? What if eliminating modern GMO mass-produced wheat products actually improves joint pain, insomnia and the ague?

For the reductionist, there are two avenues of approach. Either make everything from scratch using natural products, or help stimulate the national gluten-free food-processing economy.

Approach number one is to make everything from scratch. It’s called cooking. You wake up in the morning and go into the kitchen. It doesn’t have to be a fancy kitchen. Just a stove, a knife, pots and pans and a working refrigerator. Hopefully there are no Edison outages in the Foothills on the first day of the experiment.

It’s very simple. Boil water in a pot and add the oatmeal. No instant packages. Make an egg white omelet, using real eggs, not the little milk cartons. There’s the possibility of Udi’s bread, but wait! There’s those black beans, made from scratch last night. And corn tortillas. Isn’t there a government subsidy for corn? Like soy beans and school cafeteria cheese?

Approach number two is to go processed. The gluten-free business is booming. Here in La Cañada, there’s a gluten-free shelf at Gelson’s, the gluten-free list at Trader Joe’s and similar shelves and lists at Ralphs and Sprouts. You can even buy gluten-free soy sauce. Tapatio is gluten-free.

But what if you don’t want to cook? Maybe you’re still tired from Thanksgiving?

La Cañada has an ever expanding list of possibilities for those who toy with the gluten thing. Blaze Pizza is not alone. On the West side of town, Hello Pizza, the home of the Kimchi Pizza, offers a gluten-free crust.

Maybe McDonald’s is not a good gluten-free choice. Taco Deli is across the street and uses free-range, organic and hormone-free products and corn tortillas. Their super grain taco is made with quinoa, lentils and brown rice — but ask the owner to be sure.

There are additional gluten-free friendly options at the Flintridge Proper and Anthony’s. Taylor’s? It’s hard to resist the bread, but they’ll grill meat and fish a la carte. They buy their fish from Fish King.

Down in La Crescenta, Baja Fresh does not have a gluten-free menu per se, but their sauces are made without wheat and with fresh ingredients, with the omnipresent corn tortillas in a starring gluten-free role.

Questions remain as to the efficacy of any of this. Is it better to cook from scratch at home? Is the gluten-free industry safe or is it yet another mass-produced agri-food business? They say it takes three months to get the gluten out of your system, an easy task here in La Cañada, with our surplus of gluten-free vendors.
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ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com and follow her on Twitter @anitabrenner.