Some definitions

Before entering the world of the gluten-free diet, it is important to get some definitions right.

Gluten: a name which derives from Latin which means glue.
It is a component of cereal seeds (wheat, barley, oats, rye) owner of properties that allow it to play an important role in the swelling of the dough during the making of bread. It is for this reason that cereals that do not contain gluten, such as corn and rice, give flours that even when wet remains flaky and do not inflate.

Starch: a white carbohydrate food substance found in potatoes, flour, rice, semolina, etc.
It has got a different name depending on the plant it comes from; starch of potato, tapioca of cassava, sago of sagotier, etc. The starch industry has developed from cereals (wheat and especially corn). It also allows to obtain glucose syrup or fructose that is a substitute sometimes for the traditional sugar. The starch of corn serves as a thickening agent in cookie-making and industrial pastry.

Bran: The outer covering of grain which is left when the grain is made into flour.

Chemical yeast : It is composed of bicarbonate of soda or carbonate of ammonia, the tartar cream or phosphate of aluminium or flour or starch of corn. The effects of the chemical yeast are comparable to those of natural yeast but it does not possess nutritional qualities (rich in proteins and vitamin B). As a result, corn and rice flour which are gluten free and which have not, therefore, the ability to inflate as the flour of wheat, do not need to be added a natural yeast. It will need just to use the chemical yeast in the right sense in appropriate receipts.

Spices: As all natural products (coffee, cocoa, mustard, etc.) they are allowed in the diet but with moderation, especially for children.

To follow a gluten-free diet and without looking for a dietary products in a foreign country, we have just to substitute corn or rice flour to wheat flour and to other cereals. And it is not that difficult to find rice or corn to buy throughout Algeria. Personally, I consume corn in two forms:

These two products are used in the gluten free bread, cake, and cream making. As for the rice, in grains or in flour (cream of rice), one can consume it and cook it by using all classic recipes (salted or sweet) that we know (in sauce, gratin, cake of rice, Mhalbi, etc.) And for the unknown recipes please click on lexicon.