A recipe book with a difference, written by a person with allergies for people with allergies. (Review by Cherry MacIldowie)Tammi Forman is your quintessential Jewish mother who has a great love of cooking and feeding her precious family but here is the difference – she has a sensitivity to wheat and sugar and her three sons have various serious allergies that can be life-threatening.
Cooking for an Allergy-Free Lifestyle is a cookbook catering for the millions of people who have allergies as well as intolerances to various types of food. Instead of being deprived of breads, cereals, cakes and biscuits Tammi has devised recipes that are quick and as delicious as any dish containing conventional ingredients. The book includes 146 recipes with egg-, wheat-, gluten-, dairy-, nut-, yeast- and sugar-free options. However, you can also use cake flour and milk products if they are tolerated.
A couple of years ago, I had to go through a period of having to cater for my husband’s drastic diet regime, where just about everything was cut out and I found it to be a very scary experience – I wish that I had had access to this book then. I still like to cook gluten-free as much as possible and there are plenty of dishes to try in this book.
Registered dietician Nicki Urison and Dr Allan S Puterman MBChB(UCT), Fellow of the College of Paediatricians of South Africa, Fellow of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology have both written glowing Forewords to Cooking for an Allergy-Free Lifestyle
Tammi Forman writes an introduction that gives a personal glimpse into her life and that of her family and she comes across as loving and sharing as well as being highly organised in that she bakes two batches at a time -one to eat and one to freeze so that last-minute play dates, school lunches or parties can be catered for. As she says “By returning to basics and simplifying our choices and our recipes, we can eat delicious food that maintain our good health … and not go broke or crazy in the process!”
There is a comprehensive section of “Substitutes” and the various Wheat and Gluten Free flours that are available which is very informative. If, however, you were to purchase all the flours you would need a lot of storage space! The Key is essential in the effective use of the book and indicates all the abbreviations for the ingredients e.g. DF indicates Dairy Free, etc.
Cooking for an Allergy-Free Lifestyle starts off with a chapter on breakfasts which includes cereals, smoothies, muffins and even a Brie and Mushroom breakfast pizza! In the salad section there are many I look forward to trying now that the warmer weather is approaching – Caramelised Pear and Blue Cheese sounds delicious and the accompanying photograph makes it very appealing to the eye as well. There are many different soup recipes which can be accompanied by any of the breads included in the ‘Breads’ section and the appealing snacks too.
The Mains section dishes include fish, chicken and meat choices, but also has Vegetarian options useful to me as my daughter is a vegetarian. The Rye Pizza with Tomato and Basil looks spectacular in the photo which adorns the front cover of Cooking for an Allergy-Free Lifestyle.
The chapter on Cakes and Bakes is important for those trying to treat children with severe allergies and here Tammi excels in pre-preparing what she calls ‘safe treats’ for her children to take to parties. There are many tasty-looking things to try - for instance, the Vegan Vanilla Cake, cookies and crunchies and yummy Chocolate cakes, seven in all in their own section!
At the end of the book the Miscellaneous chapter covers all sorts of interesting things which are easy and cost-effective to make. The iced tea, lemonade and ginger beer are excellent when entertaining. And things like Aroma Cream for sensitive skins, Bath salts, Aroma dough, Play Dough and even Furniture Polish which contains no irritants to worry folk with skin allergies or asthma. At the very back of the book there is a useful and encompassing Shopping List
Cooking for an Allergy-Free Lifestyle is beautifully presented with full-colour photographs by Matthys van Lill which will have your mouth watering before you even begin to cook.
Cooking for an Allergy-Free Lifestyle.is published by Random House Struik ISBN 978-1-77007-899-4. Recommended selling price R180. – Cherry MacIldowie
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