Customer Reviews

Cooking Free : 200Flavorful Recipes for People with Food Allergies and Multiple Food Sensitivi

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have tried many allergy cookbooks and this one is by far my favorite. Every recipe that I have tried has been very good. My diet eliminates wheat, dairy, eggs and soy. Cooking Free has many, many recipes without these ingredients. Soy is used some but you can usually substitute something else. Once you gather up the different types of ingredients used you will be set to make many very good things. I was able to find everything at either my local health store or Co-op. I would highly suggest this book to anyone with restrictions in your diet.

This book, per its cover and introduction, aims to introduce recipes which are free of such allergens as gluten, dairy, eggs, and sugar. Unable to eat gluten and diary, I purchased this book in a bona fide effort to diversify my somewhat-restricted diet. In a blatant contradiction to its claims, almost every recipe in this cookbook calls for some type of diary (milk, buttermilk, butter, margarine, and powdered milk), sugar, and/or eggs. There are only so many substitutions that can be made without altering the chemical make-up required to achieve an edible baked good. There are also only so many substitutions a consumer should be required to make when she expects to purchase a ready-to-use cookbook. (The recommended products with which to stock an allergen-free pantry also include dairy products and sugar.) I am in the process of returning this book.

I purchased 3 allergy cookbooks due my daughter's allergies to dairy, soy, eggs and nuts: "Cooking Free" by Carol Fenster, "The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook" by Cybele Pascal, and "The Ultimate Food Allergy Cookbook and Survival Guide" by Nicolette, M. Dumke. Out of the three, my favorite by far is "The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook."

"Cooking Free" lists margarine and other soy containing products for many of its recipes. I know Fenster doesn't advertise that her recipes are soy-free but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated soy as one of the most major allergens and her book is for people with "multiple food sensitivities." She describes how to substitute oil for margarine in her recipes, but after looking over her recipes I don't think her dishes will taste that great with oil (or with the amounts of oil called for).

Even if my daughter didn't have allergies to soy, the recipes don't seem very inspirational, exciting, diverse or particularly healthy to me. I find Pascal's book more reader friendly and better organized. Fenster's stocking the pantry section isn't as complete as Pascal's.

This is a wonderful cookbook. I was a bit worried at first when I saw that some recipes called for gelatin. Vegetarians and people wanting to avoid exposure to mad cow disease probably would need to use something else, I thought. I made an item and substituted agar flakes. It turned out okay, not the greatest. I have since left the gelatin out and had great results, so do consider leaving this item out and experimenting if you don't wish to consume certain products.

My favorites so far are the focaccia (best I've had), raisin bread (ditto, with Earth Balance is spectacular!), graham crackers, multigrain bread, French bread (makes great banana or pecan milk French toast), and my boyfriend's new favorite rice noodle dish (which actually surpassed a delicious Thai peanut-basil one) is the Thai noodle bowl, with a few veg modifications. The pretzels came out a bit gooey but I will tweak it next time to work.

I definitely recommend this book for people who have allergies and intolerances and those who want to expand the types of grains they eat. I have found that of all of the cookbooks I have (over 125), most call for whole-wheat flour, whole-wheat pastry, or unbleached white. Well, good health is dependent upon a variety of grains for the various nutrients they supply; Cooking Free is a way to achieve that.

Cooking for those with multiple food sensitivities is difficult, especially since food sensitivity tends to run in families. Over 11 million Americans have sensitivities to more than one food, so Carol Fenster, founder of savory Palate, a resource for those with food allergies and special food needs, has developed dishes which omit four of the most common allergens. There's no diary, eggs, gluten or sugar in these dishes, yet breakfast cereal, homemade pizza, and granola bars are among the many dishes which can be produced without them. No color photos, but the easy recipes don't need them.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I just recently purchased this book from a Borders and it is great! You have to read through the beginning and end of the book to understand her methodology. If you just skip to the recipes you will probably be confused and think that her book is false advertising. In the beginning and the end of the book she tells you what to substitute for which ingredients and in what portion. What is also great about this book is that it has things like chicken stock and other cooking basics so you can start altering your diet at the source depending on your allergy. I have been looking for a book like this to build my new diet from the ground up. It will also help me modify my usual recipes so that I can keep those staples in my life. So give it a try. No book is perfect, but I think this one is pretty close. I just wish she had the chart for the flour usage portions since some gluten/wheat free flours cannot be used alone, but I think I may have found another book to do that. Great foundational allergy book!

My 2 year old is allergic to eggs, wheat, nuts, and dairy, and this is the best cookbook I have found so far. There are tons of suitable recipes to choose from, directions are detailed yet easy to follow, and the results are quite good, especially when you compare them with store bought versions (ugh!). Clear explanations of what substitute ingredients do and where to get them (egg replacer powder, anyone?). To save time, I buy pre-made gluten-free flour at my local health food store rather than making it as the author suggests, and the results have been fine so far. Worth every penny.

I have a lot of cookbooks, but this one will remain a favorite. With several in my family that have food allergies and intolerances, Cooking Free has enabled me to provide them their favorite foods using alternative recipes for homemade bread, cookies, pastries, soups, even whole meals. I recommend this book to all who find that they too need to replace wheat, dairy, eggs or other ingredients in their diets.

It is a joy once again to have a dish to share, that we can eat, and yet be good enough to bring to pot-lucks or parties. The no-gluten desserts and breads have been such a hit.

I am gluten-dairy-egg-and-sugar-free (among other things), so finding this book was like a godsend. Many recipes have been fantastic. The Foccacia is my current favorite. However, many of her recipes use soy - pureed tofu for example, to replace eggs. In those cases, since I am avoiding soy, I simply use my own egg-replacement - ground flax mixed with hot or boiling water (1T flax to 3T water = 1 egg), and it has worked for me. She also tends to use "fructose granules" instead of sugar, which I have been hesitant to try, since I am used to non-refined sugars only, this one sounds refined to me. It is difficult to find other dry sugar replacements so when I replace with agave or honey (using her instructions of using 3/4 the amount AND reducing other liquid in the recipe), it still comes out too moist. I still love this book though, and highly recommend it. Another great book that is very similar is "Whole Life Nutrition" by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre - mostly gluten, dairy, egg & refined-sugar free also - as well as their wonderful blog, [...].

I bought this book since I have a son with wheat, egg and peanut allergies. I found the different flour substitute recipes at the end of the book very helpful and used them a lot. However, I did not have a lot of luck with the few recipes I tried. So, the cost of the book was worth it to me for the substitution information and guidelines but not the meal recipes.