May 16, 2016
Food writer, professor, and locavore Graham knows firsthand about the old adage that you don't know what you've got until it's gone. When Graham was in his late 30s, knee-deep in love with food and managing a serious beer-brewing practice with his pals in rural New York on the Canadian border, he suddenly discovered that he had celiac disease and had to give up what was almost a sacrament for him: gluten. In detailed and thoughtful prose, balancing the lyrical with the scientific, Graham illustrates how his deep connection to bread was challenged, and how his body was gravely poisoned by his glutinous true love. His wife, Bec, who baked regularly and filled their house with the deeply familiar aroma of bread, committed the ultimate act of love and gave up gluten as well, even though she is not allergic to it. Graham becomes a "scholar of stews and ragouts," and says, "By necessity, I became more fearless and innovative" as a cook. The rise and fall and rise again of Graham's relationship with bread is enriched by his renewed passion for cooking. The landscape of gluten-free offerings is getting better, but Graham discovered during his transition that many manufacturers who remove gluten from common items also radically raise the fat or sugar. Graham skillfully blends each part of his memoir with the precision of a baker: it's part history and part science, with a dash of humor and a generous helping of exquisite storytelling.