These days it seems like you can't hang around the local supermarket swinging a baguette without hitting a Celiac anymore. I think we all know at least a few people with gluten intolerances: friends, family members, random passersby in the grocery store. So, with my loved ones in mind, and as an apology to those who got a little too close to me as I practiced my bread kata in the bakery aisle, I agreed to a series of mini-reviews of various gluten-free food options. Today I start my court-ordered community service with a couple gluten-free pasta options and a couple chocolate desserts.
First up was De Boles' spaghetti style corn pasta. We had heard from April's mother, who has been eating gluten-free for many years, that corn pastas were pretty gross, so my hopes were not high. Right off the bat, the bright yellow color is slightly off-putting, but this is to be expected from corn flour.
One benefit to cooking it was that it does not stick together, making stirring it unnecessary, but the benefit ends there. It takes much longer for corn pasta to soften up when added to water, leaving the ends of your spaghetti sticking out of the top of the pot longer, making cooking it evenly more difficult. This also makes the cooking time a bit longer than wheat pasta, but only by about 2-3 minutes. It seems that the corn pasta went from being under-done to over-done very quickly, as it was still fairly hard in the middle at 9 minutes, but a little soggy at its full 10.
Opting for simplicity, so as not to cover the flavor of the pasta itself, I served the pasta with only an olive oil and garlic sauce. The corn pasta did not 'drink up' the sauce as readily as a wheat pasta does, and left a pool of oil in the bottom of the bowl. The flavor was unremarkable, giving only a brief taste of corn meal that quickly receded. The texture was mealy, and had little bite to it. I don't know that I would call it gross, but it wasn't very pleasant. If I had no other option, though, I could see eating it on occasion.
Next up was Ancient Harvest Quinoa Spaghetti. I was very curious about this one. Quinoa has become a big staple in my diet; I love the flavor, the nutritional benefits, and how easy it is to cook.
In short, this was like night and day. The color was a more appetizing light yellow, and looked much more like wheat pasta. It behaved much more like wheat pasta in every way, softening quickly in the water, having a more predictable cooking time, and eagerly soaking up the sauce. The texture was superior as well, with far less of the mealy mouth feel than the corn. The slight grassy flavor of quinoa was present, but not overpowering.
Moving on to dessert I first tried Udi's Gluten Free Double Chocolate Muffins. The muffin was a light reddish brown, reminiscent of Dutch-process cocoa, and didn't smell too overpoweringly chocolaty. This was somewhat deceptive, however, as the chocolate was quite pronounced, and the texture was rich and similar to a fudge brownie. All this richness was not overpowering, though, due to a bright lemony flavor from the inclusion of sugared lemon zest. Aside from the distinctive chew that is evident in baked goods that use xantham gum for their structure, one might not know it was gluten free. I thought it was quite good for a gluten free product.
Lastly, we had Amy's Organic Chocolate Cake. This treat boasts to be not only gluten free, but also is dairy free and vegan. I would have preferred it to be soy free, a trait the muffins had, but you can't have it all. The color was much darker than that of the muffins, and it had a very rich chocolate aroma that was punctuated by a strong vanilla extract smell. It was also sticky to the touch, leading me to expect a decadent chocolate experience. Like the muffins, my initial expectations were wrong, as the taste was severely lacking: the promising aroma of chocolate was deceiving, and the vanilla extract tasted of poor quality. The texture was gritty, and much less chewy than expected. This one was very disappointing.
The winners here were clear. If you are in the market for a gluten-free pasta option, or even just want a healthy and interesting wheat pasta alternative, consider giving quinoa pasta a shot. And for dessert, you could do a lot worse than Udi's Double Chocolate Muffins.
First up was De Boles' spaghetti style corn pasta. We had heard from April's mother, who has been eating gluten-free for many years, that corn pastas were pretty gross, so my hopes were not high. Right off the bat, the bright yellow color is slightly off-putting, but this is to be expected from corn flour.
One benefit to cooking it was that it does not stick together, making stirring it unnecessary, but the benefit ends there. It takes much longer for corn pasta to soften up when added to water, leaving the ends of your spaghetti sticking out of the top of the pot longer, making cooking it evenly more difficult. This also makes the cooking time a bit longer than wheat pasta, but only by about 2-3 minutes. It seems that the corn pasta went from being under-done to over-done very quickly, as it was still fairly hard in the middle at 9 minutes, but a little soggy at its full 10.
Opting for simplicity, so as not to cover the flavor of the pasta itself, I served the pasta with only an olive oil and garlic sauce. The corn pasta did not 'drink up' the sauce as readily as a wheat pasta does, and left a pool of oil in the bottom of the bowl. The flavor was unremarkable, giving only a brief taste of corn meal that quickly receded. The texture was mealy, and had little bite to it. I don't know that I would call it gross, but it wasn't very pleasant. If I had no other option, though, I could see eating it on occasion.
Next up was Ancient Harvest Quinoa Spaghetti. I was very curious about this one. Quinoa has become a big staple in my diet; I love the flavor, the nutritional benefits, and how easy it is to cook.
In short, this was like night and day. The color was a more appetizing light yellow, and looked much more like wheat pasta. It behaved much more like wheat pasta in every way, softening quickly in the water, having a more predictable cooking time, and eagerly soaking up the sauce. The texture was superior as well, with far less of the mealy mouth feel than the corn. The slight grassy flavor of quinoa was present, but not overpowering.
Moving on to dessert I first tried Udi's Gluten Free Double Chocolate Muffins. The muffin was a light reddish brown, reminiscent of Dutch-process cocoa, and didn't smell too overpoweringly chocolaty. This was somewhat deceptive, however, as the chocolate was quite pronounced, and the texture was rich and similar to a fudge brownie. All this richness was not overpowering, though, due to a bright lemony flavor from the inclusion of sugared lemon zest. Aside from the distinctive chew that is evident in baked goods that use xantham gum for their structure, one might not know it was gluten free. I thought it was quite good for a gluten free product.
Lastly, we had Amy's Organic Chocolate Cake. This treat boasts to be not only gluten free, but also is dairy free and vegan. I would have preferred it to be soy free, a trait the muffins had, but you can't have it all. The color was much darker than that of the muffins, and it had a very rich chocolate aroma that was punctuated by a strong vanilla extract smell. It was also sticky to the touch, leading me to expect a decadent chocolate experience. Like the muffins, my initial expectations were wrong, as the taste was severely lacking: the promising aroma of chocolate was deceiving, and the vanilla extract tasted of poor quality. The texture was gritty, and much less chewy than expected. This one was very disappointing.
The winners here were clear. If you are in the market for a gluten-free pasta option, or even just want a healthy and interesting wheat pasta alternative, consider giving quinoa pasta a shot. And for dessert, you could do a lot worse than Udi's Double Chocolate Muffins.
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