Food allergy cookbook a great resource

By M. Scott Carter
The Moore American

June 04, 2008 02:34 pm

— Be thankful for people like Nocolette M. Dumke.
As more and more Americans discover they, too, have food allergies, Dumke has written their survival guide.
“The Ultimate Food Allergy Cookbook and Survival Guide” provides a detailed explanation of how to understand your food allergy and suggests diets to cope with it.
And no, it’s not written like a medical school textbook.
Dumke’s cookbook features wonderful recipes, easily understandable for those of us who can’t eat everything we’d like to.
Take, for example, her Spicy Oil Sauce for Pasta.
• 1/2 cup oil (traditionally olive oil).
• 1 to three cloves of garlic (optional).
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper or two to four red pepper pods to taste.
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley (or two tablespoons of dry parsley).
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
Preparation: Peel the garlic, if you’re using it, and cut each clove into quarters. Combine the garlic and red pepper pods with 2 to 3 teaspoons of the oil in a small skillet.
Cook the vegetables in the oil over medium heat until garlic is golden and the pepper pods are dark brown. Remove the vegetables from the oil.
Stir the parsley, salt, black pepper and remaining oil into the oil in the pan; or, if you are going to use the sauce on pasta immediately, sprinkle the pasta with the parsley, salt and pepper and toss it with the oil.
(Note: If you wish to make this sauce ahead of serving time, store it in a jar in the refrigerator and use it in a small amounts on individual servings of pasta. Makes about 1/2 cup of sauce or enough for two to three pounds of pasta).
With her simple to recreate recipes and her knowledge of how allergies can affect the typical human, Dumke — who holds bachelor’s degrees in microbiology and medical technology — has written a book that is a must have for any kitchen or any household who has problems with food.
Plus her recipes are just damn good.
The Ultimate Food Allergy Cookbook and Survival Guide is published by Adapt Books, 1877 Polk Avenue, Louisville Colorado. For more information call (303) 666-8253.