Wheat alternative easy to mix in recipes

Quite some time ago, somebody asked me about using spelt. Spelt is an ancient grain, Triticum spelta, described by one source as the “grandparent” grain of wheat. It originated in the Near East, was domesticated in the Bronze Age, and from it, the common wheat, Triticum aestivum, was developed.

Then somebody else called me up and we had quite a conversation about spelt versus wheat. What I understand is this: If you are allergic to wheat but are not allergic to gluten, then spelt’s the flour for you.

People who are celiacs – that is, allergic to gluten – can’t use spelt, rye, oats or barley. According to the Web site www.glutenfree.com, even foods such as “licorice, soy sauce, malt vinegar, some flavorings, most processed foods, self-basting turkeys, some cold cuts, and many prepared stocks and soups” can contain gluten. The gluten damages the lining of a celiac’s intestine and, if not avoided, can be life threatening. Fortunately, there are many products out there for people with celiac disease, and a lot of information is available for them to learn how to live with the condition.

Merely being allergic to wheat – symptoms include gastrointestinal distress when wheat is eaten – leaves a fair number of options, including rye, rice crackers and cakes and spelt. Spelt has a fairly long history in this country, brought here with German settlers in the 18th century, but most people preferred true wheat.

Spelt is a good deal easier to find now than it used to be, because so much so-called health food is now in mainstream stores. I ordered mine from the Wood Prairie Farm run by the Gerritsen family in Bridgewater, who also have graham flour (remember the graham muffins we had back along?) and all kinds of interesting Maine products, including fingerling potatoes and seeds and whole food mixes.

My friend Kristina King in Rockland, tired of chronic tummy aches, learned how to work around wheat in her diet, and has adapted several favorite recipes – even cookies – with spelt. She particularly enjoys spelt biscuits because everyone in her family likes them, too, and she can make then to go with soup or stew, or for breakfast, just as she would make regular wheat biscuits. She adapted James Beard’s Buttermilk Biscuits from his “American Cookery.”

Kristina says when you measure the spelt for this recipe, there is no need to sift it; just pack it into the measuring cup. If you want tall biscuits with crisp outsides, she says, place them on a baking sheet about an inch part. If you want soft exteriors, then “snug them together” on the baking sheet. I liked these biscuits very much, as a die-hard old granola would.

Spelt Buttermilk Biscuits

Yields 14 2-inch biscuits

2 cups white spelt flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into half-inch pieces

3/4 cup of buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Mix the dry ingredients together thoroughly. Cut in the butter. Add the buttermilk and stir until it forms a ball. Turn out on a board floured with spelt and knead a few times. Roll or pat the dough out to 3/4 inch thick. Cut the biscuits and brush them with melted butter. Place them on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes.