“Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back…And How You Can Too” (Shauna James Ahern)
I am worried about this book. The publisher seems to be marketing it as an allergy cookbook–or, worse, a diet book, the kind of thing doomed to rocket to the remainder tables. But it’s none of those things. And the book has a force behind it that I believe to be more powerful than any ill-advised PR: the author herself.
Before I talk about why I like the book, a few words about [Shauna James Ahern](http://www.glutenfreegirl.com/). The first time I ever heard from Shauna was when she sent me an email with the subject:
> hey Matthew, I want to help get you and Iris on tv!
If I sent you an email like that, you would add me to your killfile. It’s a good thing I didn’t do that, because I read the email, and as a result, Iris and I were on the Food Network a couple months later. Shauna has a reality distortion field, like Steve Jobs. If she says she’s going to get you on TV, it sounds reasonable, and then she makes it happen. She’s also been instrumental in getting my book published. So I owe Shauna a lot more than a mere positive book review, but that’ll have to do for now.
To explain why I enjoyed this book, I’m going to use an analogy that I hope won’t be too tortured.
For several years I served on the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board, a citizen board that advises city government on all things pedestrian-related (budgets, projects, planning documents, enforcement, and so on). One of my fellow board members was Jean Healy. Jean, who lives in my neighborhood, is deaf and blind and a tireless advocate for people with physical disabilities.
When Jean first joined the board, I was pleased that she was advocating for her constituency, but I didn’t see how it was relevant to me. At every meeting, she’d bring up an example of a design or enforcement issue that was annoying or dangerous to people who were blind, deaf, or in a wheelchair. It took me way too long to notice that the solutions she was suggesting wouldn’t just be a win for people with disabilities: they would be a win for people pushing strollers, people wearing headphones, people who want to walk around their neighborhood without crashing into a misplaced Dumpster or getting mowed down in a defective crosswalk. In other words, when Jean wins, everybody wins.
So it is with Shauna and her fight to make the world safe for the gluten-intolerant. Her book isn’t about replacing wheat flour with rice flour (which, she’s quick to point out, rarely even works). It’s about having her eyes opened to all the great things she *can* eat. In that respect, it’s like The Amateur Gourmet.
I can eat gluten. But yesterday I was staring into the pastry display case at Tully’s. It was about 10:30am. Snack time. I don’t think there was anything gluten-free in the case. Because I was working on this post, I imagined Shauna being stuck there. (Airports, she says, are the most heinous gluten ghettos.) But forget about Shauna for a minute. What about me? What if I don’t want an overinflated pastry for a snack? What if, as is often the case, I would like to snack on meat or cheese? Would it be so hard for a coffee shop to offer a cheese plate with some salami? Maybe a couple of roasted red peppers? Chinese turnip cake, like they serve at dim sum?
> Sitting in the living room of our London house, pale sunlight filtering through the windows, I took a bite of the soft cheese from Holland. First, I tasted milkiness, like a bucket of warm milk condensed into one bite. It was chewy, with a true texture, which forced my teeth to bite down. After a moment, there was a hint of something almost smoky at the back of my mouth. My tongue noticed the nubbly texture where the cheese met the waxy red rind. And in the end, it all smelled clean, like pastures in spring.
Yes! That’s what I wanted for snack. Instead I got a bad chocolate-chip cookie. Give ’em hell, Shauna.
(This post is part of Shauna’s [virtual book tour](http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/2007/10/life-gluten-free-with-little-help-from.html).)
I am so with you. Some Starbucks have started selling cheese plates and other non-carb options, and it’s so much more in line with what I want to eat in the morning (or even in the afternoon). Of course, they cost three times what the pastries do, but I suppose protein is expensive.
I was going to mention that I’m totally willing to pay more.
After months and months of weeping over Shauna’s blog, and then over her book, I finally made the decision to try out la vie gluten-free. It’s only been, like, two days (haha) and it’s still difficult for me, but not as difficult as I THOUGHT it would be — thanks to Shauna’s wonderful recipes, practical everyday hints, and just her existence, which reminds me that my house is hardly the only house spreading cheese on Asian pears instead of crackers. You make a great point: sometimes people who don’t necessarily have celiac have made the decision to eliminate gluten from their diets. Or, maybe they just don’t feel like being surrounded by processed white flour all the time. Either way, I like your Jean Healy analogy… spot on.
my friend ru had celiac disease…she said the best advice she ever got was from the mom of a kid with a much more severe wheat-intolerance situation. the mom said “look…sometimes you’re just going to be hungry. it’s okay. you’re not TRULY hungry…lots of people on the planet are truly hungry. you just have to wait a little bit longer than you’d hoped to have a snack. and when you eat, DON’T do yourself the disservice of, say, eating the inside of a piece of pie, or the top off the pizza. skip it. that’s not really eating, and you should only eat if you’re going to enjoy it on all levels.”
which i thought was geniusy advice for…pretty much everybody. and how nice that now shauna’s book is in the world! i will send a copy to ru!
(incidentally, my husband can’t have dairy from cows (and not because it makes his tummy grbly…it affects him chemically; he’ll have panic attacks, heart palpitations, general ockyness and malaise…his mom and sister have it, too), so i understand the frustration of parsing out ingredients…of asking in restaurants “is there any milk in that?” only to hear “no, no milk! just butter, and cream, and whipped cream, and cream cheese, and cheese, aaaand yogurt. but no milk!” i’ve seen the poor man eat the bottom of a piece of pizza…if only he and ru had hung out, they could have ordered in together!
incidentally, did you know that lots of salamis have milk in ’em? it’s true!)
anyway, hooray for shauna, and yaay for actively finding what you need on the planet instead of passively bemoaning the planet’s lack of bending to you!
Nicely done–and I think you’re right on, we all win when the world becomes more understanding, accomodating, considerate. Isn’t that what true diversity is all about–learning from and appreciating each other’s differences?
Plus, salami, and Asian pears with cheese, are just plain yummy.
I love it when people take hardship and transcend it entirely. I have a good friend who has struggled with a gluten allergy. Potlucks, buffets, holidays – they can be a bit stressful for her. I’m sending her an email to tell her about it now.
Only problem is that sweets go really well with coffee, and savories don’t so much. So obviously the solution is that they should start selling sherry and red wine… (or I should just go to Cafe Presse).
That’s a good point, Laurel. But I mostly drink tea. Which goes very well with dim sum…