Spotted: Found five half-used bags in my "starch drawer" when moving
Cost: $3.49 for a 22-ounce bag
Attraction: Chances are you've tried Bob's muffin mix, or you like the kitschy label, or are too lazy, like I, to make an extra trip to the bulk store.
Where to Buy: Online from Bob's Red Mill or in just about any moderately upscale grocery in any upwardly mobile neighborhood skirting any major city.
My palate can't get used to the oft-dreadful mix of soy and rice flour, which reminds me of the baking equivalent of Diet Coke. Because Americans weren't raised on a soy-based diet, soy flour comes off as strange to many of us (not that we come across it every day). I'm absolutely shocked that more wheat-free baking doesn't take better advantage of the magic that is garbanzo bean flour, also known as chickpea or ceci flour. For those without a gluten concern, chickpeas are just plain healthy. Nutty, slightly sweet, and only a little beany, chickpea flour is high in protein and iron and absorbs water like nobody's business, increasing its versatility. Chickpea flour doesn't put off the palate like soy or rice flours, and the variations are endless and produce various fantastically crispy results.
Many areas in Italy make a flatbread or fritter out of chickpea flour. For farinata, from Northern Italy, a very thin batter of the flour, oil, and water goes into a pre-heated skillet and then into an oven, creating firm pancake-like bread that has a toothy outside like thinner pizza crust. Italians cut farinata into squares and serve it plain, with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil, but you can use it as you would pita for a mezze platter, or top it with a tiny bit of grated cheese. This basic recipe can be adjusted by adding more water for the preparations below.
In Southern Italy, chickpea fritters, or panelle, are the staple of every fry shop. Panelle batter uses less water to make a paste just thicker than hummus. The mixture can set up in the fridge like polenta, which renders it friable; or you can skip this step and get a crispier result, just like falafel nuggets, by dropping spoonfuls of batter into hot oil. For extra crispy fritters coat them in more chickpea flour before frying.
In the south of France, this flour makes socca — thin crepes of merely flour and water, with a similar flavor to buckwheat used in savory preparations. In Calabria, cooks use chickpea flour and water to thicken pasta sauces instead of cream. Indian pakora, light and crisp vegetable fritters, require chickpea flour as the batter. When shopping in an Indian market, look for the words "gram flour" or "besan," aliases for chickpea flour. You can use a heavy fry pan for pakora, but a deep fryer will produce the best results — puffy tan clouds hiding veggie surprises.
Maggie Savarino Dutton is an industry veteran who has played bartender, sommelier and line cook and who now consults. She writes "Search & Distill," which appears every Wednesday in the Seattle Weekly, and maintains The Wine Offensive, her blog about wine, food, and anything else that might be discussed over the bar.
"Point of Purchase" photograph by Roadsidepictures via Flickr (Creative Commons), "Pantry" photograph by Áslaug Snorradóttir.
