How can someone be allergic to meat? (article)

I ran across this posting today on Chowhound.com, which I frequent for food ideas and to find out the truly trendy restaurants in LA to avoid. :) One of the editors, Michele Foley, queried "How can someone be allergic to meat?" because it certainly sounds weird since meat allergy is not as common as the top eight allergies in the US. Here's the article.

http://www.chow.com/stories/11307

What I found interesting was that the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine OR the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln supports that those allergic to beef can eat it IF IT'S COOKED THOROUGHLY. Hm. It was my understanding that an offending food allergen is ALWAYS a protein, and remains there, whether the food is cooked or not. Does this rule only apply to beef? Has anyone experienced this themselves? Chicken is the only meat I'm allergic to, and the few times I've tasted post-Discovery it it has always been very thoroughly cooked, and, yes I had a reaction.

Anyone have an experience to share? I'm dying of curiosity.

Frying food without flour

Every once in a while I get a fierce craving for something fried -- hot, salty and greasy enough to leave oilstains on the paper napkins. To quote Sara Moulton (one of the few REAL chefs left on the Food Network), "fried is my favorite flavor." Amen to that! I do eat french fries, which usually does the trick. Prior to The Discovery, my mom's fried chicken was my standard birthday-dinner-requested-dish year after year. She made hers with Dixie Fry, which is a pre-made seasoned flour mix. (Heaven only knows what's really in there besides 'spices'.) I remember that mom would pull out this scary-looking electric skillet with a dodgy-looking frayed electrical cord (I'm surprised we didn't all die a fiery electrical death) and would fry enough to last us for several days...I would eat it hot, cold and late at night in front of the fridge. *sigh*

One evening after work, the craving for fried food hit me like a ton of bricks. Since I'm allergic to chicken, that immediately killed any thought of going out for some fast-food fried chicken (Popeye's spicy version was my former favorite). Even if I could eat fried chicken, most commercial frying is done with flour and who knows what else bad for us allergic people...too many unknown factors out there to even try. Cooking from home would still eliminate using Dixie Fry, which is flour-based, or a traditional recipe, some of which call for soaking the chicken in buttermilk (!) and dredging it in flour or breadcrumbs. Yikes. What to do?

I remembered a great frying technique that I pulled from one of the Cooks Illustrated "Best Recipe" series. (BTW, not a fan of the cookbooks, I can't stand reading about all the ways they failed before getting to the winning techniques...seems kinda whiny.) It called for dry dredging the meat first, THEN dipping it in egg, then the final coating to get the best crispiness. I ended up improvising a recipe for fried turkey fingers (for some reason the dish doesn't sound as sexy as chicken fingers, does it?) It worked GREAT. They were light, crispy and flavorful, and boy, did they hit that grease spot. It didn't taste heavy at all...we ate them with our hands, mmmm. I was doubly fortunate in this venture that the BF was formerly in charge of grilling and frying at a resort in a previous lifetime, and he managed the deep-frying job...he is more patient than me and turns everything more frequently. (I did this once without him and only turned them once, and they were fine...just not as pretty.)

I dipped mine into my fave Rasperry Chipotle sauce, and he had his with the more traditional Ranch and hot sauce. He loudly declared that he liked these BETTER than chicken fingers. I say "HA!" to the universe! Now I'm off to see what else I can fry as summer comes up. Maybe I'll try some veggies next.

This will not work as well without the eggs, so to the egg-allergic, I apologize in advance. I would still do the double-dredge though, maybe with milk as the protein agent to replace the eggs.

Note: use a cast iron frying pan if you have one (something heavy with sides is the best to evenly distribute the heat). There's a reason they've been around so long, they work GREAT.

FAQ Fried Turkey Fingers (of course you can use chicken too)
four servings

- Frying oil (peanut oil is best for deep frying, but you can also use canola or vegetable oil. Just don't use olive oil, which doesn't get hot enough)
- 1 lb turkey breast cutlets, sliced into 1" strips (if you can't find cutlets, just slice turkey breast thinly, then into strips so that they are of uniform width and depth to cook evenly)
- 1/4 c cornstarch
- 2-3 eggs
- 1/2 c cornmeal
salt
pepper
1/2 t. paprika
1/2 t. onion or garlic powder
1/2 t. dried chile powder (for this recipe I used ancho chile powder)

Preheat the pan to help seal the pores in the metal before pouring in enough frying oil to 1/4". Heat oil on medium heat until it gets to about 350 degrees F.

In the meanwhile, dry the turkey strips on paper towels (water is the enemy of crispness) while you prep the frying ingredients.

Season the cornstarch with a little salt and place in a flat dish (I use pie plates for this process). Scramble the eggs in a shallow bowl. Season the cornmeal with salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder and chile powder and mix well in a flat dish. Line them all up in that same order with a clean plate on the end of the assembly line for the strips ready to fry.

Take a turkey strip, and dredge lightly in the cornstarch, shaking off excess. Dip into the scrambled egg, shaking off the excess. Then dredge in the seasoned cornmeal. Once completed, these stay pretty dry, so you can make a frying pan's worth at once before you fry them. Don't make too many ahead of time or they'll get soggy and won't get as crisp.

Place the strips gently into the hot oil, making sure that they're not crowded or they'll steam instead of fry. Turn over after 2-3 minutes when they look brown, then fry another 2-3 minutes. Because these are breasts with very little fat in the meat, they fry quite quickly. (This goes quickly with a two-person team, one to fry while the other preps.)

Drain the strips on paper towels, then gobble up!

It's Food Allergy Awareness Week! 5/13-5/19

Wow. I've been managing my food allergies for four years, and up until I got an email from Ria (from checkmytag.com) I've have never heard of Food Allergy Awareness Week even though I vist the FAAN site often. (Is there a Food Allergy Awareness parade? Do you get time off from work? Can I wear a funny hat?) *sigh* If only it were that easy to just go outside, wave a flag supporting whichever issue the holiday/subject/celebration and then move on. But for us food allergic types, EVERY week is Food Allergy Awareness week!

The assignment was to submit a personal story about food allergies. Check out the other stories collected by Ria at Checkmytag's community forum. I think my theme is about personal empowerment, because while it's an important subject for all peopledom, it's especially important for us food allergic people and we need to encourage it. Food allergies must have reached the tipping point because I've read at least three articles in the past few weeks related to food allergies, hurray! However, one was from the NYT, who usually does a thorough job in analyzing new topics, but annoyingly turned out a total fluff piece "The jury is still out on gluten". This story was both vague and alarmist...grrrr. Essentially, the medical community doesn't absolutely confirm the effects of gluten allergy on non-celiacs, yet doesn't have a standardized test for gluten allergies, but generally frowns upon self-diagnosis and voluntary elimination? Whaaaa?

This is just one of the seemingly "helpful" articles out there. Food allergies are becoming more common, especially in children, and we're going to be receiving lots of misinformation. (For example, I recently saw a "gluten-free" recipe that recommended substituting matzoh crumbs for bread crumbs. Hel-lo people, matzoh flour is WHEAT. It's unleavened wheat, but it's still wheat. What kind of moron did the research on that?) There are obviously no clear answers for food allergies in the mainstream media. And conversely, there are no clear answers in the alternative health media either. (I'm sorry, but I don't buy the theory that my food allergies are a result of emotional trauma or energy blockages.) Since there is no 100% surefire way to treat them (like getting shots for environmental allergies, which I already do), the only choice left to everyone is immediate avoidance. There is no getting around it, people. But even though it is an everyday chore, I'd like to remind everyone that it is SO worth it. Managing food allergies should be considered a part of a healthy lifestyle, like exercise. Having a body that feels clean, strong and focused is worth fighting for. Because I avoid foods that are toxic to me, I feel vibrantly healthy and energetic -- similar to the endorphin rush you get from exercise, or the post-surf buzz after playing in the ocean. Allergy-free health is intoxicating. I'm an adult and can explain the drastic differences being allergy-free has been for me. Can you imagine how frustrating it would be for a child to not be able to tell you how and when they feel badly due to food allergies? Or if even worse, in life-threatening situations? I'm advocating empowerment for them too. We MUST share real information and facts as well as educate people with calm confidence without being overly dramatic and hysterical. Thank goodness for all these thoughtful people who are contributing to this effort.

I discovered my food allergies in a roundabout way. From childhood, I'd always had hay fever/seasonal allergies, asthma, regular bouts of bronchitis and chronic insomnia. I was always the kid sitting on the sidelines during gym class because of my asthma. As an adult, after years of complaining to my doctor of exhaustion, he sent me to an allergist who determined my extensive environmental allergies (mold, dust, grass, pollen, trees) where slowing me down. Shots worked, it was great. Fast forward to TEN years later, I was struggling with arthritis-like joint pain, severe hormone swings that lasted for months, a few unexplainable bouts of mild depression, and a first-time problem with my weight that I could never seem to manage, both with diet and exercise. The year that the Atkins diet set the world on fire (summer 2002), I tried it and it worked like MAGIC on me. I never felt better. About six months in with almost no grains, I was stuck at the mall during lunch and ate a sandwich. I immediately felt awful: stomachache, sinus headache and I felt like I got hit by a truck. After looking up my symptoms on WebMD it indicated that I might be allergic to wheat, so I trotted off to my allergist for a scratch test. Watching the 20 or so bumps (out of 60) on my arms swell to the size of a pencil eraser, I was informed that not only was I allergic to wheat, I was allergic to dairy, soy, rice, garlic, blah blah blah..see my partial list in my profile box. My allergist had never seen anyone who was SO allergic (3++ out of 5 on most things) to so many foods. It was highly unusual. (Think about it, if you can shock an allergist, you know it's really out there. Call the X-files!) On a sweet note, my allergist sincerely apologized for not testing me earlier. "I could have saved you 10 years of suffering. From now on, when new patients come in for testing, I'm also going to test them for food allergies. Allergic patients are allergic patients." (Look ma, I'm a pioneer!) So after the shock of realizing that I could never eat Chinese food the same way again, I began the elimination/substitution process in earnest.

Just after a few weeks, people who didn't know about my allergies commented that I was "glowing". They guessed that I was in love (sadly it wasn't that!) but really it was my body finally getting the chance to operate at maximum efficiency for the first time EVER. My weight became a non-issue. Actually I weighed about the same post-Atkins, but I've "de-puffed" and lost inches. What I thought was fat was actually years of cumulative inflammation. My joint pain all but disappeared (it had gotten to the point where I was soaking my hands in hot paraffin for relief). The skin on my face looked five years younger. I actually got a deep, restorative full eight hours of sleep for the first time in 40 years. (You'll wince when I share that during my frequent nights of insomnia I used to get up and have a warm glass of milk, or a piece of buttered toast...which would send my system into red alert and keep me up all night.) I felt so good that I took myself off my asthma meds (I notified my doctor who wasn't happy about it) and haven't had an attack since. I also get acupuncture and chiropractic occasionally to help my body heal itself as naturally as possible.

The cosmic tumblers continued to click into place...having cooked all my life and been a caterer for a few years, that Christmas (after a consulting gig fell through) I began working part-time at Surfas, the premier gourmet food and restaurant supply store in Los Angeles. Purely by coincidence, I now had more resources and information in my hands to do more investigative research and cooking for my food allergies than ever. AND, I was running into lots of people who came in to ask for help in managing food allergies for themselves or non-cooking loved ones. So I began keeping track of my experiments, tips and recipes to eventually pull together a cookbook to share what I had learned. My blog was started for my friends and family to help them better understand my situation, and also serve as a framework for the cookbook. I must admit that I've been mildly shocked at how obtuse people close to me have been about the level of maintenance it takes to survive day to day with food allergies ("I had no idea how hard it must be for you, every day." "Hm, your allergies seem out of control."). Eeek. I guess most people assume it's sorta like being on some weird diet, rather than the fact that food allergies dictate your lifestyle...and even your worldview.

Whew! Where does this leave us? I'm basically reiterating what everyone has experienced at one time or another. That due to ignorance, generally well-meaning people will be confused, non-supportive or even downright dismissive of your (or your child's) food allergy needs. (Someone condescendingly said to me once "Do you mean you CAN'T eat that, or WON'T eat that?" Nice.) Some people are just jerks, and we'll have to get that said right away. Just as long as they're not the jerk who has the power to kill you or a loved one, we just need to bless them and move on. But I've found that most people care, that they react mostly because they just don't know how to help. (Or they've had to deal with some REAL drama queen/king out there who fakes food allergies just to avoid unwanted items. There's a special place in hell for those people.) We're living in a time of increasing ignorance about food in general when we're surrounded by fast food and pre-made ready-to-eat grocery items (when I told a friend that I couldn't have a sandwich because I couldn't have wheat, she blinked and said, "but you can have white bread, right?" Oy.).

We need to be empowered to be open to learning as much as we can -- be our own advocates and the advocate of our loved ones, especially kids, who don't always have the ability to argue with grownups (which is why checkmytag and allergicware are such great ideas). It is our duty to explain to people, calmly, that this is a medical condition that in extreme cases can lead to death. Provide them examples of alternative foods and recipes that will work rather than just giving a list of restrictions...(this is what leads to the jerks feeling put out and labeling you as being high-maintenence), the host or hostess will be SO grateful that they can treat you as a guest without fear! Like the boys scouts, be prepared. I always eat something before I leave the house, even when going to a dinner party, so that I don't accidentally end up wolfing up a hidden allergen on an empty stomach. I've found it helps tremendously to be gracious about sharing information, because people resent being made to feel helpless and without solutions. Try to eat organic food whereever possible, it appears that toxins/pesticides affect the immune system of food allergic people a little more drastically. And of course, be smart about your choices. Don't go to an Italian restaurant if you can't have wheat and dairy where you'll be frustrated that you can't eat anything (go to a French bistro instead and get yummy steak frites as pictured!). Be sure to carry an Epipen, just in case. But most of all, be glad that food allergies are something over which you can have some control and the opportunity to generate powerful and postive results, unlike many other illnesses that could befall us.

Go team.

The Discovery of my food allergies

A lifelong cook and foodie, last year I discovered that I was allergic to wheat, dairy, soy, rice (hello, I'm Chinese!), tomatoes, lemons, oranges, lettuce, carrots, celery, squash, peaches, walnuts, hazelnuts, garlic and chicken. Oy. Time to rethink everything!