SPEAKING OF FAT . . .

One of the most controversial things in the food world right now is FAT. Through time it has become one of the essential ingredients in most cooking/baking recipes. Why? The reasons are desirable baking properties and bodily health. Like salt, we have to have fat and both are intertwined in cooking. About fat, it is the kind and quantity of fat you take in that affects you in bad or good ways. Here is an excerpt from the section of the book that talks about some of the basic ingredients in Spelt Healthy! Quality Foods:

“All fat is not bad; in fact, it is critical to the functioning of the body. The first choice of oil in almost all of the recipes in the book is Olive Oil. Of all the oils, it is the highest in monounsaturated fat and contains essential Omega-3 fatty acids. It is excellent for the digestive system.” “Like Spelt flours and recipes, olive oil comes in different “flavors” and uses from Extra Virgin for marinating and dressing to Extra Light for frying. At this Light end of the flavor spectrum, Olive Oil is mild and slightly sweet in taste in the range of Canola but far less flat. Spanish Olive Oil, for example, is slightly nutty and sweet like Spelt so it is complementary. The Olive Oils are like wine, they vary from region to region which is one of its benefits to a fresh, whole food cuisine.” (Spelt Healthy! p. 56)

Oil is a category of Fat. Fat can be a solid like butter or lard or a liquid like olive oil or canola. Solid fat and liquid fat act somewhat differently in recipes because they are not the same creature just like Spelt is not modern wheat. I encourage you to read about the distinctions. This is why you see the note in many Spelt Healthy recipes that offer both a fat like butter and a substitution of oil that “Taste and texture will change somewhat” when oil is substituted. In some recipes, oil cannot be substituted for a solid. Many can and you will, hopefully, be happily surprised at the outcome.

The solid fats are called “shorteners.” Fat coats flour particles. This diminishes the ability of the particle to take in a liquid like water, milk or juice which in turn cuts off the ability of the gluten to grow longer (gluten is what makes bread expand and hold its shape when cooled). “Lean” breads, like the Baguettes in Spelt Healthy!, don’t contain solid fats or oil because gluten formation is encouraged to create characteristics like quintessential taste, chewy crust and large air holes in the interior. (You’ll read about this in the Knead to Know section of the book.)

Whether solid or liquid, fat gives the quality of tenderness (versus the toughness that creates “chewy” crust). One of the great benefits also is holding moisture which increases the range of flavors (good taste). When rolling dough like pastry crust or croissants the fat makes layers. This process adds the characteristic of “flakiness”, that lightness, that slightly crisp but melting quality on the tongue.

One of the things you will immediately find out about using Spelt is its wonderful capacity to hold moisture so it retains its fine taste longer especially if you are using a recipe that involves a ferment (biga, sponge etc.).That means you can also use less or no fat. It’s the technique not the additives that matter.

During the making of Spelt Healthy I talked with many people about olive oil. Some said they did not use it often; others said they don’t use it in cooking because it is too strong. Others use Olive Oils to the exclusion of all other fats. I am towards this end of the scale yet still use butter for particular foods because there is no substitution for it both for taste and baking properties in some recipes.
FLAKY EMPANADAS VALENCIANAS (RECIPE ON PAGES 312-313) MADE WITH OLIVE OIL	>

Like Spelt flours and wine, olive oil comes in a terrific and growing range of qualities: color, taste, and cooking properties. Olive oil, wine and Spelt grew up together in the ancient world. This may be one of the reasons that people around the Mediterranean have fewer weight or heart problems than we do in the United States where butter is a heritage food and is found in many recipes. The trio of Spelt, olive oil and wine are complementary foods. The range of flavors that olive oil produces is amazing—and amazingly good. Before you say, “Ugh, it’s too strong!” or definitively say, “I don’t like it—that dark green Virgin oil is overwhelming,” please try Olive Oil again. Start with the Light Olives or go for the Gold when you’re grilling and leave the Green for salads and marinating. One day you may ask yourself, “How did I ever cook/bake without it?”

In Spelt Healthy! Quality Whole Food Cooking and Baking with Spelt you will find a comprehensive section on Measurements, Conversions, Equivalents and Substitutions for people outside the United States and for those of you who simply want a handy set of charts at hand.

I want to share the one on substitutions for oil and butter with you right now. This gives you a place to start. Depending on the Spelt flour you are using, the oil equivalents may change but generally the following amounts hold.  Remember that “recipes are guidelines, not absolutes.” Solid fat and liquid fat (butter or hydrogenated fat versus oils like olive, safflower, canola, walnut, flax and others) work differently in baked goods. For example, oil and sugar don’t whip like butter and sugar so the product made with oil is somewhat grainer and sometimes not as light.