Keeping Kosher Gluten-Free
Culinary Challenge: Bagels are among the goods at the Los Angeles bakery.
By Elissa Strauss March 19, 2008
For Sandee Hier, making a Friday night challah was no ordinary endeavor. With a husband and two kids who are gluten intolerant, creating bread that measures up in taste and appearance to the real thing was a mighty challenge. But after five years of experimenting in the kitchen, Hier finally came up with something she was proud to call challah.
Culinary Challenge: Bagels are among the goods at the Los Angeles bakery.
After earning a reputation as the gluten-free challah lady in certain Los Angeles circles, Hier decided to bring her expertise to the public. In the summer of 2007, she opened The Sensitive Baker, the first kosher gluten-free bakery.
“I started giving it to Celiac kids to take to school. Then I realized there was a real need, and more and more people wanted it,” Hier said.
Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the intestine cannot absorb gluten, the protein in wheat, barley and rye. According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, one in 133 people in the United States has the disease.
While the challah and hamentashen at The Sensitive Baker hold a special appeal to kosher Celiacs, Hier’s gluten-free baked goods are gaining attention from Jews and non-Jews alike. In fact, her focaccia was voted the best in Los Angeles, gluten-free or not, by Los Angeles magazine in November 2007. Other offerings at the bakery include cupcakes, bagels and brownies, and many of these treats are also vegan.
With her bakery up and running, Hier decided to take on the final obstacle in her quest to make a real gluten-free challah. Jewish law requires that challah be made from one of the five grains: wheat, spelt, rye, barley or oats. The problem is that this happens to be a spot-on list of gluten-containing grains — or at least everyone thought so until new research came out on oats, deeming them safe.
After a bit more experimentation, Hier finally devised a gluten-free challah recipe that lives up to allergy and religious demands.
“I feel like this is my ticket into heaven,” Hier said. “I can enable people to have a mitzvah they haven’t had before.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
