THE PICKY EATER WHO CAME TO DINNER The woman who catered her dinner party to everyone’s dietary needs and wants.
Picky recipes for the holidays Made a healthier meal for the kids by hiding the greens the right way.
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Veggie-U
Understanding how important vegetables are (regardless of your preference).
The Rise of Gluten Intolerance Is gluten-intolerance just a fad, or a growing problem?
@withoutcrustmag
Without Crust
CONTENTS
4
The Thoughts of a Picky Eater
6
The Rise of Gluten Intolerance
7
Recipe: Polenta Fries
8
The Picky Eater Who Came to Dinner
Recipe: Classic Bread Stuffing
13
Question & Answer
14
Veggie-U
15
Dear pi cky eater, We hope this magazine finds you well, whether it is in the checkout lane or the comfort of your own home. Without Crust is dedicated to assisting you whether you are a picky eater yourself, or if you have a picky eater of your own to cook for. Designed with delicious recipes and heart-warming success stories, Without Crust and the editorial team want to ensure you that you are not alone. Embrace your selective tastes! We fellow particular eaters do not view this characteristic as a negative, like many others with lower standards might want you to presume. Having a critical taste palette, in which one does not wish to eat foods that are not enjoyable, is not a problem in the slightest. In fact, it is a gift and should be recognized as such.
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Unfortunately, while we cannot change the way society addresses our choosey habits, we can offer you comfort in Without Crust, a magazine for picky eaters. Read and dine in all your glory, as you can have your favorite dishes without the unappetizing ingredient traditional recipes call for. You are not alone, our friend.
Happy Eating!
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The Edi tori a l Team les
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THE RISE OF GLUTEN INTOLERANCE Celiac 3 Million
I have this conversation at least once a week. Someone who knows I’m a nutrition & wellness coach approaches me saying, “Is it just me, or are a lot more people becoming gluten intolerant? Is this just a fad, or is it really on the rise?”
Gluten Sensitive 15 Million
Follow a Gluten Free Diet
First, let’s be clear about what gluten intolerance is. It isn’t a food allergy. It’s a physical condition in your gut. Basically, undigested gluten proteins (prevalent in wheat and other grains) hang out in your intestines and are treated by your body like a foreign invader, irritating your gut and flattening the microvilli along the small intestine wall. Without those microvilli, you have considerably less surface area with which to absorb the nutrients from your food. This leads sufferers to experience symptoms of malabsorption, including chronic fatigue, neurological disorders, nutrient deficiencies, anemia, nausea, skin rashes, depression, and more.
The current number of gluten-free people is enough to fill the entire state of Florida.
FISH 1.2 m DAIRY 1.2 m TREE NUT 1.8 m SHELLFISH 3.8 m
* The number of celiac and gluten
• Some people may possess as-yet unidentified genes that cause their immune system to think an undigested fragment of the gluten protein looks like a microbial invader.
Surely you’ve noticed it, too. More parents are experimenting with gluten-free diets for their families. More people announce they have a gluten-intolerance, despite not being tested by • Some people who consume gluten may have physicians or having a “real” diagnosis. And, when dysbiosis — damaged gut flora — from antibiotic you read the words “gluten-free” in a recipe or on use or consuming foods that they cannot digest. the packaging to baked goods, you think: “YAY. It’s healthy!!”
18 MILLION
PEANUT 3.8 m
say about how our genes are expressed. Chris Masterjohn lists the following theories as possible culprits which increase the likelihood of the predisposing genes “turning on”:
*
sensitive people exceeds the number of all other allergies combined.
If you remove gluten from the diet, the gut heals and the myriad of symptoms disappears. Depending on the level and degree of the intolerance (which can range anywhere from a gluten sensitivity to a full-blown celiac disease), it may be possible to eventually re-introduce properly prepared grains (sourdough that has fermented for up to a month, sprouted grains, etc) into the diet. Others are not so lucky. Their guts may heal, but their bodies will never be able to digest gluten — even if it’s been “bent” by traditional preparation methods (see below). They have a genetic predisposition that causes gluten-sensitivity. We all know a genetic-predisposition doesn’t mean that developing a disease is written in stone. Our environment & diet has a lot to
let's be clear about what gluten intolerance i s . it i s n't a food allergy. it's a physical condition.
Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics and a nutrition and public policy expert, points out that a real diagnosis is difficult and costly to procure. Here’s her take: Surveys suggest that 1 out of every 133 people in the general population is gluton intolerant. If so, in a school of 1,330 students, you might expect about 10 to require gluten-free diets.If you are seeing an increase, it could be because parents whose kids have such symptoms may be experimenting with gluten-free diets. If their kids behave, learn and feel better on such diets, parents may conclude that their kids are gluten intolerant without bothering with invasive and expensive lab tests. A more likely explanation for the increase is the recent improvement in diagnostic ability. Doctors are more aware of the problem and are testing for it.
G lu t e n- Fr e e H ea l t h B a k e d P o l e n ta F y ri es
pi c k yo u r f a vo r it e
t o p pin g s
!
Nonstick coo 2 qt (2 l) w king spray ater 21 ⁄4 cups (1 lb/500 g ) in 1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) stant polenta whole mil 1 ⁄2 cup (2 k oz/60 g) g rated Parm 3 tbsp uns esan chee alted butt se er, Kosher sa lt and fres at room temperatu h re ly Your favo rite toppin ground pepper gs and/or sauce, for serving Spray a la rge rimme d baking sh parchmen eet with c t paper ooking sp In a heavy ray and lin -bottome e the pan d the heat to saucepan with ,b a simmer and slowly ring the water to a continuin boil over h g to add the p ig olenta wh from the h whisk, until the po ile whiskin h heat. Reduce lenta has eat. Add th g constan thickened e milk, Pa stir with a tly. Cook, , about 3 m rmesan, b wooden s inutes. Re utter, 1 tb poon unti Pour the p mov s l p thorough salt, and 1 olenta into ly incorpo ⁄2 tsp pep e the cente spatula, s ra per and te r of the pre pread it to d and the ward one pared bak polenta is to the edg e in s nd of the mooth. g sheet. U es, coveri pan, push ng sing a rub piece of p ing it into ber archment about two-thirds o th e f the pan with cook polenta to in an even corners and then ing spray lev layer. Spra and gentl about 1 ho el and smooth the y press th y a second surface. L ur. e coated s et cool at Preheat th id e o nto the ro om tempe e oven to rature unti 400°F (20 polenta in 0 l set, ° to strips a C bout 1 ⁄2 in ). Remove the top spatula, tr s c h h ans eet of parc (1 h inch (12 m fer the strips to a c 2 mm) wide and 4 inches (10 ment and cut the lean rimm m) apart. cm) long. Spray the ed baking Bake unti U fries lightl s l the fries y with coo heet, spacing them sing a hav minutes. king spray about 1 ⁄2 Let cool. A e developed a crus an t and the dd your fa edges are d sprinkle with salt vorite top . golden, a pings and bout 30 serve!
7
The Picky Eater Who Came to Dinner It’s becoming harder for Americans to break bread together as our appetites are stratified by an ever-widening array of restrictions.
It's difficult when dietary choices prevent people from fully participating in social life he offending object? A footlong loaf of bread, stuffed with savory cheese, purchased at a beloved Italian bakery and presented with pride at a recent potluck meal. “This bread is delicious,” I crowed. The kitchen went quiet. You’d think I had offered up a bouquet of poison ivy. One guest said she was gluten free. Another didn’t consume milk products. The mood lifted only when someone else arrived with a large bowl of quinoa and lentils. It’s becoming harder for Americans to break bread together. Our appetites are stratified by an everwidening array of restrictions: gluten free, vegan, sugar free, low fat, low sodium, no carb, no dairy, soyless, meatless, wheatless, macrobiotic, probiotic, antioxidant, sustainable, local and raw. Though medical conditions like celiac disease and severe allergies have long relegated a small percentage of diners to rigid diets, more and more eaters outside this group appear to be experimenting with self-imposed limits, taking a do-it-yourself, pickand-choose approach to restricting what they consume. Some group-dining devotees say they are happy to adjust as the occasion demands. In April, Coco Myers, a writer who avoids gluten and lactose, invited a fishaverse friend to a dinner party in East Hampton, N.Y., hosted by a couple who don’t eat red meat. A few days earlier, the hostess (Scott O’Neil, a painter and an amateur cook, who had been planning a seafood stew) e-mailed Ms. Myers to ask about problem foods. “Sometimes I go to dinner parties, and you just deal with what you get, right?” Ms. Myers recalled. “But she put it out there.” So she compiled a dietary no-fly list: no fish, no gluten, no lactose.
Ms. O’Neil was up to the challenge. “Nowadays I always ask, because there’s so many things people don’t eat,” she said. She swapped the stew for a mixed grill with chicken, scallops, salmon and tofu, rounding it out with rice, an asparagus-topped salad and an upside-down rhubarb cake. Joanne Heyman, who owns a consulting firm in New York, thinks that stories like this illustrate just how much “the locus of responsibility has moved from the eater to the hostess.” Ms. Heyman, a former vegetarian, said that she recently organized an invitation-only business dinner for two dozen people. On the day of the event, she started getting last-minute notes from guests saying they were vegetarian, vegan or gluten free. “The distinction is not that people have restricted diets,” she said. “It’s their attitude about whose responsibility it is to meet their dietary needs.” But where are all of the atomized eating habits coming from? Do these diners have anything in common, apart from ownership of single-serve Tupperware? Unlike the diet fads of yesteryear (Atkins, Zone, South Beach and countless others), many contemporary eating styles speak directly to values and virtues, aiming to affirm your ethos rather than nuking your love handles.
FOOD AS AN IDENTITY Today’s restricted eaters are prone to identity-driven pronouncements along the lines of “I’m gluten free.” (It’s worth nothing that, back in the aughts, no one declared “I’m Atkins!” Except, quite possibly, Dr. Robert Atkins himself.
Consumers seem to be building self through sustenance, adjusting their appetites to reflect independence and moral character. In numerous interviews with restricteddiet adherents and those who study and feed them, control and identity were two common themes on everyone’s lips. “It’s an alternative way of finding an identity in a place where identity is increasingly uncertain,” said Richard Wilk, the director of Indiana University’s doctoral program in food studies. “So much of our lives are completely out of our control. You can go to college and not get a job. You can do an internship and not get a job. The economy takes some new tack every 15 minutes.” Wilk, the director of Indiana University’s doctoral program in food studies. “So much of our lives are completely out of our control. You can go to college and not get a job. You can do an internship and not get a job. The economy takes some new tack every 15 minutes.” Meredith Yayanos, a musician and a founder of the alternative culture magazine Coilhouse, adapts her diet to influence her mood. “I love the idea that there’s a mix and match going on,” she said. Ms. Yayanos first dropped gluten, sugar and carbs on a friend’s advice after being mugged at gunpoint, a trauma that left her fending off panic attacks and depression. “Within 48 hours, it felt like a thick layer of gauze had been pulled off my brain,” she recalled. Now Ms. Yayanos revisits that diet whenever her mood drops. She’s noticed her friends experimenting with food, too, essentially “hacking” their bodies, tinkering with different fuels to reap feelings of clarity and energy. But Fabio Parasecoli, a native of Rome and the coordinator of food studies at the New School, worries that diverse diets can kill the pleasure of shared meals. “For me, food is very social, and I would never show up at someone’s place with Tupperware,” he said. “It’s difficult when dietary choices prevent people from fully participating in social life.”
36%
of people would ref use food they didn't lik e a t a d i n n e r pa r t y.
Meg Geldart, a circus acrobat in Portland, Ore., is determined not to let that happen. She frequently cooks meals with as many as 20 friends who are, variously, omnivorous, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, vegetarian, vegan, diabetic or allergic (to garlic, onions, nuts or legumes). “It just became havoc,” Ms. Geldart said. She and her friends eventually arrived at a decision: “Not everyone’s going to be able to eat everything.” But with careful planning (plus a lot of recipe collecting and cross-referencing of diets), they’ve been able to ensure that, at any given meal, everyone can eat something. “We did an East Coast-style clambake that was really fun,” she said. “Our vegans and vegetarians weren’t too excited, but we did a vegetable roast for them.” Still, even in Ms. Geldart’s hometown, that famously tolerant foodie mecca satirized on “Portlandia,” patience may be waning. On the Web site of the local alt-weekly The Portland Mercury, anonymous readers recently aired their frustrations over restricted diets. “You probably don’t have celiac disease anyway. Self-diagnosis on WebMD doesn’t count,” one wrote.
RESTAURANT ACCOMMODATIONS Some restaurants steadfastly refuse to change a single dish to meet restrictions, on the grounds that even small alterations can slow a busy kitchen and butcher carefully calibrated recipes. Last year, Gjelina, a Los Angeles restaurant with a no-alterations policy, made national headlines after refusing to sideline the toppings on a smoked trout salad for Victoria Beckham, who was pregnant and dining with the celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. Both guests walked out.
11
picky tweeters
i hate birdseed!
When it comes to picky eating, you’re not alone. Here are some of our hand-picked tweets from some of our most high maintenance eaters.
thoughts of a pi cky eater Pick apart the brain of a picky eater In this month’s issue, Dominic Palumbo, a college student in Chicago, was chosen for our Picky Eater segment. Let’s pick apart his brain about his picky eating habits. *
What is your favorite food? There are foods that I would eat every day, but then there are also special occasion foods. My favorite food has got be a steak, a really nice steak, like a Gibson’s steak. Seasoning, but no vegetables.
What is something you eat every day? An apple everyday. Usually, I eat a bowl of cereal, and an apple on my way to class. After my first class, nothing, But then I’ll have lunch at rambler room-- chicken tenders, French fries and a Reese’s. Nothing until dinner. But I’ll snack on tortilla chips, no dip. I’ll eat a hamburger and fries at Five Guys or put a frozen pizza in the oven.
Have you ever tried dips? Yeah… this restaurant called El Cortez, they give you salsa with warm chips. But I’d rather have them plain.
Do you eat out a lot? Yes, it’s because I’m a student and a picky eater.
Want to have your tweet featured in one of our issues? Tweet #pickyeater today!
I would never gladly eat green bean casserole either, because it’s a casserole and the green beans. I don’t like any vegetables.
When was the last time you ate a vegetable? Wait, go through the vegetables.. Onion! I’ve had onions, at Chipotle. And I eat lettuce. But mushrooms, I would never cook or eat mushrooms. I hate broccoli and cauliflower too.
Now, you said you attribute your picky eating to Hyper Sensitive Taste Buds, is that true? Oh HSTB---yeah, I laugh about it, but I don’t think that its real. Although, I do have very good taste buds. I can tell the difference between specific rices, and noodles. I can tell how many days it’s been since they’ve been cooked.
Do you think you’ll ever expand your palette?
Is there anything that you would never eat?
Yes, because I know I have to eat healthier. As I get older, I need to start eating better. You can do this as a college student, but you have to be healthy when you start getting older.
Sushi, I’m not a fan of seafood. I’ve tried calamari, and it’s alright.
*no picky eaters were harmed during this interview.
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13
Q&a
Expert researcher Danielle Reed dishes advice about picky eating.
Q: My son is an extremely picky eater, to the point that I feel he almost has anxiety attacks about trying new foods. Is this a genetic condition or more of a psychological condition? He at times seems to have actual “fears” about trying new foods. Kim, Milford, NH Reed: Children are more cautious about food compared to adults and for good reason—they are in the process of learning what is safe to eat. This behavior harkens back to a time when our food supply was more dangerous than it is now, when choosing what to eat was a life-or-death decision (spoiled meat, poisonous plants). Although it is difficult for parents who are trying hard to ensure their children get a broad variety of nutritious foods to remember that pickiness in children was adaptive, it helps to remember that it is normal for children to be cautious (or in your son’s case, ultra-cautious) about what they eat. While your son’s behavior may seem extreme, many children express trepidation when asked to taste new foods. Let go of your end of the emotional rope. Adam Strauss, M.D., a pediatrician in Mansfield, MA
offers a word of caution. “When parents demand that their kids eat certain foods, they’re attaching negative connotations to it. Pretty soon, the struggle is worse.” Put the food on her plate, but if it stays there, don’t push her, and don’t stress over it. As children become teenagers and young adults, most eventually eat and enjoy a wide range of foods.
Q: I am known by friends as the picky eater. I love to eat, but I am very particular about how the food is combined, the texture, its appearance, and how often I have eaten it. Most of the time I pick what I will eat based on the above, and if nothing seems right I just won’t eat. Very bad habit. Melisssa Lujan, Portland, OR Reed: Your behavior is at the extreme end of a continuum of normal behavior. Eating food that is attractive and carefully prepared is a survival instinct, but most people can overlook less than perfect food when they are hungry. You may have a reduced hunger drive relative to your friends, which allows you to seek more variety and focus on food appeal.
Q: If glutamate types of foods are savory , then why do so many people have an allergy to glutamate (myself included)?
How is this evolutionarily helpful? Gale Crowe, Tampa, FL Reed: Our love of glutamate evolved to guide us towards nutritious foods like tomatoes and mushrooms, which contain abundant amounts of this amino acid. However, we now add much more concentrated forms like monosodium glutamate (MSG) to our food, and some people like you do not tolerate it. The same logic applies to sugar— it helps guide us to foods like fruits that are healthy, but as we have added more and more concentrated sugars to foods, many people cannot tolerate its effects and become obese and diabetic. Our food habits are changing faster than the ability of our bodies to cope, and this leads to food intolerance and disease in some people.
Q: Is there any link in your research to explain the “gag” reflex to mushy or stringy food? Has plagued me all my life. Anonymous Reed: We do know that these types of aversions can develop early in life through experiences, such as eating a stringy food and feeling nauseated because of an unrelated cause (e.g., stomach flu). If you reflect back on your childhood, perhaps drawing on the recollections of your parents or other caretakers, you may be able to pinpoint the formation of this aversion.
spinach Spinach is a wonderful green-leafy vegetable often recognized as one of the functional foods for its nutritional, antioxidants and anti-cancer constituents. Its tender, crispy, dark-green leaves are favorite ingredients of chefs all around the planet.
VEGGIE-U Learning the value of vegetables
brussel sprouts The sprout buds are exceptionally rich in protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Asparagus is a very low calorie vegetable. 100 g fresh spears give only 20 calories. More calories will be burnt to digest than gained, the fact, which fits into the category of low calorie or negativecalorie vegetables.
asparagus tomato
mushrooms Often grouped with vegetables, mushrooms provide many of the nutritional attributes of produce, as well as attributes more commonly found in meat, beans or grains.
Tomato, a nutritious fruit commonly used as a vegetable, is another wonderful gift of Mayans. The humble vegetable has grabbed the attention of millions of health seekers for its incredible phytochemical properties. Interestingly, it has more health-benefiting properties than that in an apple!
cauliflower broccoli Broccoli heads are rich source of phyto-nutrients that help protect from prostate cancer and stroke risks. It is actually a flower vegetable and known for its notable and unique nutrients that are found to have disease prevention and health promoting properties.
Packed with rich nutrients, cauliflower or cabbage flower is one of the commonly used flower-vegetable. The flower heads contain numerous health benefiting phtyo-nutrients such as indole-3-carbinol, sulforaphane etc., that help prevent prostate, ovarian and cervical cancers.