Making It Work

Doing my best to hold on to my heritage.

The family in front of the home of our grandfather, Patrick Gallergher, in Termon, Co. Donegal. Left to right: my niece, brother, nephew, me, sister, and cousin Gary who lives down the road a piece. (The rain was slashing, hence the reason one had turned her back to the camera. The rest of the family are hardier people.)

Put aside the last time I ate with my sister and brother and his family. It’s not a big deal that they feasted on one carefully crafted large pepperoni pizza and an equally large tomato pie while I pretended to be very content with a bowl of gluten-free salad greens slicked by a so-so dressing. Odysseus’s struggle to steer clear of the Sirens is poppycock next to sitting several inches from two boxes containing the most luscious pies I’ve seen in a long time.

I mean, come on!!! Credit: Pizzajawn Pizza.

This is what dealing with a gluten-free diet has come to. I wouldn’t blame you if you were done with my whole gluten-free diet harangue. But this time it’s different. This is now affecting my cultural heritage and one does not take that lightly. It threatens a cherished core of an inheritance that has been passed down to me through generations.

We’re talking about soda bread. Every year at this time I make several loaves for my house and my sons’ households. I follow my mom’s recipe that she received from her mom, Mary Sheridan Gallagher of Glen, Country Donegal.

Unfortunately, it turns out to be the exact same recipe found in many, many cookbooks. But that doesn’t matter. My grandmother taught it to my mom and she taught it to her children and her children have taught it to their children. You may have your own handed down soda bread recipe or you may rely on one you found in countless cookbooks. What’s the difference? I’m sorry to inform you that there’s a huge difference because those recipes lack an indispensable ingredient: a direct lineage to Mary Sheridan Gallagher from Glen, County Donegal.

Left, the land the Gallaghers still own. Right, the road outside the family's front door that my grandfather followed in 1909 to take the train to the boat to America.

Now comes my challenge: how to deform Mary’s recipe by using gluten-free flour and have it come out without insulting my ancestors. I came upon a few recipes that are non-starters because they require me to do math. Others warned that I could not use the most recommended gluten-free flour substitutes such as almond, oats, or rice. But then King Arthur and Krusteaz offers several gluten-free flours. I haven’t seen them in markets around here, though, even in the health-food aisle. Bob’s Red Mill is available for $5 one pound. I had to buy two for the recipe.¹

I’m about to make three loaves: my family’s, the recipe in the superb The Irish Bakery by Cherie Denham, and one of the gluten-free recipes I found on the web.

I’ll let you know at some point this week how they turn out. Mary Sheridan Gallagher and her daughter are already turning in their graves!

1. Limited research from two different Brooklyn food markets conclude that people of limited means cannot afford to cook with gluten free products. One 5 lb bag of King Arthur’s all purpose unbleach flour is $5.59 while one 1 lb 6 oz bag of Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten free flour is $8.99. Other gluten free products are similarly expensive.