Hawaiian taro was a key crop that sustained the inhabitants of the world's most isolated islands-the Hawaiian Islands-for many centuries. Native Hawaiians fed taro to their babies as a first food and this tradition continues today. Part cookbook, part historical point of reference, Native Flour, Ancient Starch, Gluten-Free Recipes Using Hawaiian Taro Powder offers modern ways to use this ancestral food in meals. Voyaging Foods, a Hawaii-based artisan miller and bakeshop, produces Ancestral Taro Powder as the premium, beneficial fiber to use rather than the over consumed starches such as cornstarch, cassava, arrowroot and potato starch. Considered the most hypoallergenic food in the world, taro contains the smallest starch granule, making it highly digestible. Recipes in this book show how to use taro powder as an alternative flour, thickener in soups, stews, or gravies, bake with it, or stir it into ready-to-eat meals. This book invites the reader to take a closer look into Taro Powder as an underutilized food and offers solutions to these common gluten-free diet challenges: - Does your diet contain an over use of corn, rice and potatoes in the majority of processed and gluten-free foods today? - Is your allergy-free diet neglecting other food groups, such as tubers? - Is there diversity and newness in your gluten-free mixes and meals? - Are you utilizing the most nutritious plant-based fiber and protein flour combinations in paleo, gluten-free, or specialty diets? Ancestral Taro Powder fits into the paleo, auto-immune protocol, grain-free, vegetarian and gluten-free diets. This book features several of Voyaging Foods' recipes sold in cafes, highlights uncommon gluten-free recipes and puts a spotlight on a nutritious staple food quietly cultivated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for thousands of years and now available for home kitchens everywhere. www.VoyagingFoods.com
Brynn Foster, has a passion for a back-to-basics approach to meals and is an advocate for traditional lifeways and foods. Brynn's vision is to live in a food sovereign Hawai'i sharing indigenous Hawai'ian canoe plants. "Studying the different dietary theories through my integrated nutritional education, led me on my own ancestral connection of culture through the food" Brynn combines her two passions, an acquired culinary interest from her studies in Europe, coupled with a dedication to her Hawai'ian heritage. "Studying in Italy without the supersized refrigerator and processed packaged foods led to the discovery of local farmers markets featuring purveyors for pasta, flour and vegetables without a grocery store-loyalty-card in sight." Although raised in Southern California, her passion was born in the soil of Hawai'i. "I have a tremendous passion to perpetuate the knowledge our ancestors gave us. When I was a little girl, my great-grandmother introduced me to a cookie made with Taro. After I had children, I was looking for ways to feed my family a healthy gluten-free alternative and remembered the way my great-grandmother introduced me to my culture through food so long ago. This was a serendipitous way to reconnect to my roots." Involved in many areas of the arts, Brynn is an active member in various non-profit organizations where she volunteers her time and donates a percentage of proceeds from Voyaging Foods to projects that support grass roots wellness-building and self-sustaining agricultural ventures.
