savory carrot and fenugreek cake, gluten-free, starch-free, gum-free

Sometimes I forget, dear neighbors… I forget that this blog is not just about recipes and the places I love. But then reality hits and I remember it’s about sulfites and living sulfite-free. Recently I have been contacted via my French blog and on several occasions, by people who struggle with the same issue. Some of the people who got in touch with me have been « officially diagnosed », real progress since we first became aware of the problem, five years ago ! Unfortunately, while sulfites are now identified as potential triggers of asthma, hives, swelling of the tongue, eyelids, migraines, loss of smell and taste, no one, as far as I can tell, has really looked into the « why » or « how » : why did my husband, for one, become overly sensitive to them ? Was it genetic? I doubt it – or maybe I married a mutant ? My hypothesis is that he ingested too many non natural sulfites over the years (well hidden in processed food) and one day his system was on overload and could not process them any longer. Now maybe – just maybe – someone in the scientific community will stumble upon this and decide to start researching the long-term impact of sulfites on the body: do we even eliminate them? These are all questions I would love to see answered.

Back to reality. One of the main problem for those of us who have to deal with any kind of food intolerance is traveling without getting sick. Actually, it applies to any trip outside of our comfort zone, namely our home, such as a hospital stay. Here is a recipe for a savory cake loaf which keeps better than bread, provided you keep it well wrapped. At home, we eat it with a green salad or a soup. When traveling, it is nice to have with a cup of green tea or home-brewed coffee, kept warm in a thermos. At the end of this post I will give a list of the types of “survival” food I make when we have to leave our home for more than a few hours.

Ingredients (for a 24 cm x 9.5 cm / 9½” x 3¾” loaf pan, to be adapted if your pan is bigger)

– 120 g / 4.25 oz organic corn flour (not starch)

– 60 g / 2.10 oz sorghum flour, easily available, or fonio flour if you can find it, really excellent in this recipe; I also use it in substitution for teff flour in my universal gluten-free pie dough

– a good half tsp all natural sea salt (no additives)

– 1 tsp fenugreek, optional, for a more flavorful version of this savory cake

– 4 eggs, whole

– 200 g / 7 oz carrots, finely grated

– ½ tsp baking soda, activated by a drizzle of freshly squeezed lemon juice (no bottled juice) OR 1 tsp Trader Joe’s baking powder (or any other that works for you)

– 75 ml / ¼ cup olive oil

How to:

(Preheat your oven to 200°C / 390°F)

1. Beat eggs.

2. Grate carrots and add to beaten eggs along with fenugreek, salt, and oil.

3. Add flours and baking agent / baking soda and lemon juice.

4. Pour into lined greased baking pan and bake for about 45 minutes. Test for doneness with a knife – when inserted should come out clean.

The sliced loaf can be enjoyed hot, warm, cold, or even toasted!

Here are a few suggestions of ready-made food that we take with us when traveling, besides the obvious fresh or organic dried fruit, carrot sticks, hard-boiled eggs, slices of cold meat (roast beef or chicken):

– other savory loaves, such as a picnic loaf with sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella, shrimp and pepper loaf, in French, or with zucchini and Parma ham, (also in French)

– savory pies, such as  this kohlrabi and carrot quiche

– a cold vegetable loaf: buckwheat and kohlrabi loaf

– spring rolls… or autumn rolls!

As always, any other ideas are welcome, dear neighbors: don’t forget to comment if you want to share them!