Belltown Bakery Askatu Makes Gluten-Free Bread With Molecular Science

Golden ube and crimson bean mooncakes glow within the pastry case at Belltown’s Askatu bakery. Inside, Askatu’s bakers frost muffins, proof loaves, and enhance dahlia cookies because the percussive rattle of Seattle’s monorail speeds by – a scene near a Richard Scarry Busytown illustration. Steam billows from the espresso machine, a rack of sourdough emerges from the oven, clients chat in line. Proprietor and baker Estela Martinez pulls a tray of pastries from the oven, setting them on a rack to chill. She nudges a show of tea cookies and solutions a query about mung bean flour earlier than heading again into the kitchen with a brand new customized bread order.

With a background in biology and grasp’s diploma in public well being, Martinez spent years creating progressive protein-rich and nutrient-dense recipes. Earlier than opening Askatu, Martinez studied the biochemistry of proteins to create balanced flour blends with elements like millet, teff, legumes, candy potatoes, and sorghums. (Martinez emphasizes her use of many various sorghums as a result of they every present a special component.) In her journey to make allergen-free meals with out compromise, that’s, meals that tastes higher and appeals to everybody whether or not they have allergic reactions or not, Martinez has completed the seemingly not possible. Some clients purchase Askatu’s bread for a semi-keto eating regimen, some are vegan, and others simply want the flavour of Askatu’s pastries. When clients who would not have meals sensitivities strive her bread, they typically comment they will’t inform the distinction between it and the wheat selection.

Sabra Boyd

Askatu’s gluten-free baguettes boast a crunchy Maillard crust and exquisite crumb when sliced; a exact mixture of proteins create the feel that each nostalgic celiac or gluten-intolerant individual longs for. (This would possibly sound like over-the-top reward, however for a lot of, life with out bread can really feel limiting.) The bakery’s teff rolls are gentle and ethereal with an earthy, nutty taste that compliments every thing from savory sandwiches to toast with jam. Not like most gluten-free bakeries, Martinez by no means makes use of xanthan or guar gums. As an alternative, she studied the chemistry of wheat to scientific-method her technique to a dough with the suitable consistency.

Growing these recipes has been a labor of affection for Martinez — and there was rather a lot at stake. When one in every of Martinez’s kids was identified with over 50 meals allergic reactions, together with hypoallergenic toddler method, she was susceptible to malnutrition if the household didn’t rapidly determine allergen-free meals. Martinez sprang into motion, pouring over meals science journals and biochemistry analysis articles at medical libraries. She turned her kitchen counter right into a lab bench and started working, turning into an professional in amino acids and molecular baking. When a household pal tried her new recipes, she steered that Martinez begin a enterprise.

Sabra Boyd

Sabra Boyd

Ceci (“chechi”) bars, one in every of Askatu’s hottest pastries, are just like Nanaimo bars. Martinez says the title comes from the Italian phrase for chickpeas and was created looking for a nut butter various as a result of her daughter felt unnoticed at college when classmates raved about how a lot they beloved peanut butter. Via trial and error, she perfected the protein-rich unfold. “She would deliver a ceci butter and jelly sandwich to highschool and felt like she was like all the opposite children. All her buddies requested to share it,” Martinez says.

Martinez is at present engaged on a brand new bao recipe, or siopao, as her Filipina grandmother referred to as it. Askatu will quickly add steamed bao to their menu with two variations to select from: one full of pork adobo, the opposite with inexperienced jackfruit, cabbage, onion, garlic, carrots, and ginger. The bakery can also be increasing to supply online tea cookie orders that may be mailed throughout the nation; Martinez recommends emailing orders for bread prematurely, as they generally promote out.

Drea Parlin

Festivals and farmers markets are the place the bakery initially acquired its begin (Martinez’s son at present works its farmers markets stand). Each different Saturday, Askatu serves clients on the University District Farmers Market, providing lots of the similar objects because the Belltown café location — Instagram is the perfect place to seek out its schedules. When the seasonal Queen Anne Farmers Market reopens in June, Askatu will promote bread and pastries there too.

Gluten-free consuming has waxed and waned in reputation over time; however for a lot of, the selection to observe a gluten-free eating regimen has to do with actual meals sensitivities or an autoimmune dysfunction like celiac illness, probably the most widespread genetic issues worldwide. The precise variety of celiacs is unknown due to socioeconomic and racial disparities and unequal access to health care, however traditionally, charges of diagnoses improve as entry to well being care and high quality of life improves. When bakeries like Askatu supply merchandise which can be the identical high quality as breads comprised of wheat, barley, and rye — assume deliciously tender inside, preserved inside a tough crust — the eating experiences of these residing with a gluten intolerance or celiac illness can solely be made higher.

Martinez’s eyes grow to be moist as she recounts tales of consumers with debilitating meals allergic reactions: the bride whose Hungarian household beloved her dobosh wedding ceremony cake and couldn’t inform that it was gluten-free; the mom who had pie together with her son for the primary time in 20 years; or the client who acquired to have cake for the primary time on their twenty ninth birthday. Askatu ready allergen-free lunches for celiac nurses who vaccinated folks in the course of the pandemic. At a latest cake tasting, the grooms requested a lemon and lavender wedding ceremony cake, adorned with hibiscus and cherry blossoms in a nod to their Korean and Japanese heritage. “That’s why I did this,” Martinez says. “My youngster has to have the ability to have some cake on their birthday.”