it should be easier

My son's got a wheat sensitivity. I made this discovery by the power of deduction the last time we visited my parents in Washington, DC; it was a bit of a 'eureka!' moment, after day upon day of a child who should have been cast as Regan's long-lost brother in Exorsist: the Sequel. My sweet, funny, smart, agreeable boy turned into a possessed monster, complete with spitting, cursing (Well, in three-year-old-speak, 'Go away! I don't want you here!' is cursing... thank GOD he doesn't know the 'H' word. No, not Hell, but Hate), biting, scratching, screaming and generally trying to figure out how to make his head spin all the way around on his body. One morning, in a rush, I handed him a baggie of Cheerios and we hopped on the metro to meet my mother at her house. By the time we got there, he was cranky. I thought he was hungry, so we poured the rest of his Cheerios into a bowl, added some strawberries and milk, and had a proper, alebeit late, breakfast. Half an hour later, all hell broke loose, the lightbulb I conveniently happen to have floating half a foot above my head turned on, angels on high were heard to sing, AHhhhhhh! and i smacked myself in my proverbial third eye and shouted at my mom, "IT'S THE WHEAT!" all the while laughing and cackling and scooping my screaming spitting biting light of my life into my arms, dancing around the living room.

Well, my mother lives two blocks away from that bastion of good taste, Whole Foods, so we were set for the duration of our stay. They have gluten and wheat free down pat.

Coming back to the UAE was a bit trickier. But if I don't stop here, i'll have written my whole article about food allergies and published it here, ruining any chance I might have of getting it published in a paying forum. So, cut to the chase.

I know it's impossible to avoid all the over processed foods we have here, there and everywhere. Did you know, M&M's have wheat in them? the shame. It's true. You wouldn't believe what isn't gluten/wheat free.

But I'm living in a part of the world that has not, historically, depended upon wheat for its starchy cravings. I should be able to wander into the stores and find a wealth of alternatives. Perhaps. I've found rice flour, it's true. And glutenous rice flour. And brown rice flour. In three different stores in two differnet Emirates. I buy cornmeal at Spinney's and potato flour at Geant. I've found Quinoa at Carrefour, and Amaranth at the Organic Foods and Cafe, no luck yet on unpearled barley but I'm holding out hope. I've found Iddly frozen in the supermarket, and might tinker with a recipe to make them sweeter. But it's just so hard. I have to drive the length and breadth of Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman to keep my pantry stocked with wheat alternatives.

So today i'm going to try whipping up some crepes using glutenous rice flour. who knows. it might work. But i might have to run around the proverbial chicken to get all the ingredients i need!