Review by Angela Day
SA Cookbook For Allergies And Food Intolerance
By Hilda Lategan
(Tafelberg)
Price: R285
With so many people having an intolerance to one or more food ingredients these days, it can be quite daunting to find suitable recipes.
Registered dietitian Hilda Lategan has years of experience in providing her patients with useful advice and tips when it comes to coping with food allergies and intolerances.
She believes that having to exclude certain ingredients from one's diet does not mean you have to forgo tasty delicious food.
In this book Hilda focuses on providing recipes which are wheat, gluten, maize, egg, milk and soya free. At the beginning of each chapter there is a useful chart highlighting which ingredients each recipe is free from.
The first chapters in the book explain at length the difference between an intolerance and an allergy to foods, as well as useful advice and information about the ingredients used in the book.
It's also nice that the recipes are typically South African, so readers will find their favourite comfort foods like baked sago pudding and macaroni cheese in the book along with a host of innovative recipes like beetroot and cranberry muffins and a tapioca melkkos.
If you have any of the aforementioned intolerances, you will find this book very useful.
Here are a few recipes from the book to try for yourself or your family.
PILCHARD AND RICE BAKE
Makes 4 portions
250ml cooked brown rice (140g)
50ml chopped fresh parsley
215g can pilchards in tomato sauce
10ml canola or olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped (100g)
1 large tomato, sliced (150g)
salt and pepper to taste
125ml grated white cheddar cheese (50g)
1 large egg
125ml low-fat milk
dried thyme, to taste
Preheat the oven to 180deg.
Mix together the cooked rice and parsley. Spoon it into a greased 230mm pie dish and level the surface of the mixture.
Drain the pilchards, but retain the sauce. Flake the pilchards and spread them over the layer of rice.
Drizzle the retained sauce over the fish.
Heat the oil and stir-fry the onion. Spoon the fried onion over the fish and arrange the tomato slices on top.
Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the cheese over the tomato slices.
Beat the egg and milk together and pour over the dish.
Sprinkle over a little thyme. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the dish has set. Serve hot.
GLUTEN-FREE PANCAKES
Makes 6 pancakes
140g gluten-free flour mixture
1ml salt
1 large egg
250ml low-fat milk
20ml canola or sunflower oil (use 25-30ml oil if freezing pancakes)
Sift the flour mixture, baking powder and salt together twice to mix well.
Beat the egg, milk and oil together and, using a balloon whisk, stir it into the dry ingredients until a smooth batter is formed.
Leave the batter to rest for 10 minutes.
Pour a thin layer (±75ml) of batter into a heated, greased frying pan with a diameter of 200mm.
Turn the pancake when the surface of the batter has set.
Cook until the second side is lightly browned.
OVEN-PAN CHOCOLATE CAKE WITHOUT EGGS
Makes 24 squares
300g bran-rich self-raising flour
90ml cocoa powder (35g)
10ml baking powder
2.5ml bicarbonate of soda
2.5ml salt
325ml castor sugar
160ml canola or sunflower oil
30ml vinegar
500ml water
250g icing sugar
125ml cocoa powder (50g)
80ml milk-free margarine, melted
75ml water or coconut milk
Preheat the oven to 180degC. Grease an oven pan and line with baking paper.
Put the self-raising flour in a mixing bowl. Sift the remaining dry ingredients over the flour. Mix the dry ingredients together and make a well for the liquid.
Mix together the oil, vinegar and water. Add to the dry ingredients and beat until smooth.
Pour the thick batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes until well risen and done.
Make the icing in the meantime. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder together. Stir the melted margarine and water or coconut milk into the icing-sugar mixture.
Spread the soft mixture over the hot cake as soon as it comes from the oven.
Decorate with toasted coconut or cherries.
CURRIED SOYA STEW
Makes 4 portions
100g dry soya nuggets
15ml vegetable stock powder
350ml boiling water
30ml vinegar
20ml canola or olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped (100g)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
10ml mild curry powder
2.5ml each ground turmeric and ground cinnamon
4 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
50ml apricot jam
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (160g)
2 small carrots, scraped and sliced (160g)
100g fresh or frozen peas
± 2.5ml salt, or to taste
1 medium banana, peeled and sliced (± 100g)
Put the soya nuggets in a mixing bowl and sprinkle over the stock powder. Pour the boiling water and vinegar over the soya nuggets and soak for 30-45 minutes.
Drain the soaked soya nuggets and retain the stock for use in step 3.
Heat the oil and stir-fry the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent. Add the soaked soya nuggets and stir-fry slightly, taking care not to burn the mixture.
Top up the drained vegetable stock retained instep 1 to 200ml with boiling water and stir into the fried mixture together with the spices and jam. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add more boiling water during the cooking time to ensure a saucy mixture. Add the potato and carrot and simmer for 15 minutes until the vegetables are nearly cooked. Add the peas and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
Season to taste with the salt and add the banana slices. Serve hot with cooked rice.
ANGELA DAY
The Angela Day cookery column is published in The Star, the Cape Argus, the Daily News and the Pretoria News.
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