Do you ever just think about what you’d do if you couldn’t eat the basic rice, bread, pasta, or even beef? I mean, those are foods most people eat every single day. Now imagine, just for a minute that you’re allergic to them. It’s wild to think of, right?
Well, that’s actually what happened to someone’s girlfriend in a post I came across. She’s allergic to wheat, oats, rice, rye, black pepper, and even beef. That’s not all, she’s also a little allergic to corn.
For a long time, she had stomach problems, and they couldn’t figure out why. Now that they know why she had all those stomach problems, get boyfriend is trying to find new foods so she can eat well without feeling sick of eating whatever options are available to her.
It’s a sad reality, to be honest. But the good news is that there are tons of other foods people around the world eat that don’t rely on the popular wheat, rice, or beef. Let’s look at some of the other alternatives from other cultures.
West African Staples
In West Africa, we eat a lot of rice. However, that’s not the only staples we have. We’ve built our basic food menu to consist of a variety of things to pick from. Aside from rice, West Africans eat a lot of yams, cassava, and plantains, which are mainly carbohydrates.
Yams: Yams are highly starchy, and just like potatoes, they can be boiled, fried, or mashed. One popular dish made with yam is pounded yam. It’s a stretchy dough made from pounding softly boiled yam in a mortar or food processor. This dough can be eaten with different soups like melon seed soup, popularly known as Egusi in Nigeria, or okra soup.
Cassava: Cassava is a root vegetable used to make garri, a name for cassava flour. This garri can be mixed with boiled water to make a slightly rough textured dough, which you can eat with spicy soups or stews.
Plantains: Plaintains are bigger versions of bananas but are less sweet when eaten raw. Plaintains are usually fried to make oily and chewy slices, if fried unripe, they can be eaten as plantain chips. They can be boiled, baked, or even roasted. Plaintains can be eaten with things like fried eggs, grilled fish, roasted groundnuts, custard or pap, and spicy stews.
Latin American Foods
Latin America is another place where you’ll find a variety of meals that are equally tasty, even without adding rice or wheat.
Potatoes: Peru has over 4,000 kinds of potatoes, which is actually insane (in a good way). Potatoes are filling and you can cook them whichever way you want. You can mash, roast , or even turn them into soups like ajiaco, which is a Colombian potato soup.
Beans: Beans like black or red beans are also staples in Latin America. They’re highly proteinaceous and go well with potatoes or plantains.
Corn: If you can still stand a little amount of corn, you should try arepas. Arepas are crispy corn cakes from Colombia and Venezuela. You can stuff the corn cakes with chicken or pork.
Pacific Island Staples
Pacific Island cultures have mostly starchy foods that you can make different meals out of.
Sweet potatoes: Just like you’d do with regular potatoes, you can mash, roast, or even bake them into fries.
Taro: Taro is another root vegetable, that can be boiled, mashed, or turned into poi, a smooth paste that is nicely paired with meat or vegetables.
Breadfruit: Breadfruit is a fruit, but when it’s cooked, it tastes so much like potatoes. You can equally fry, roast, or bake it.
Middle Eastern and Mediterranean
Chickpeas: Chickpeas can be used to make hummus, a creamy dip for chips and falafel, crispy chickpea balls, or with them.
Lentils: Lentils are filled with protein and great for soups or stews. You can even use blended lentils and some seasonings to create a burger patty for your burgers. Lentils can also be turned into a soup bowl, during the cozy season.
Proteins and Flavor Without Allergens
Beef, black pepper, and onions are off the table, you can try chicken and pork. They both go well with all the foods I mentioned earlier, like yams or potatoes. Instead, of black pepper or onions, you can use turmeric, ginger, thyme, or basil to add flavor without causing any allergies.
Conclusion
So, even if you can’t eat rice, wheat, oats, or beef, it doesn’t have to make your meals boring. You can explore other options like yams, plantains, cassava, chickpeas, lentils, and potatoes. There are so many options to pick from.
