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“This is not a class about what you can’t eat; it is a class about great food and all the options that are out there,” chef Phyllis Morrow said about her upcoming contribution to the CAFE — Culinary Arts Food Experience — series of cooking classes.

The CAFE series, part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Summer Sessions program, puts local chefs in a classroom to offer interactive teaching for a category of cooking. Morrow’s class, Gluten-Free Cooking, will be held from 6-8:30 p.m. tonight at the Hutchison Career Center dining room, and will help open the doors for individuals interested in finding ways to enjoy their gluten-free diets instead of focusing on restrictions.

Gluten, which is found in many foods — especially breads, baked goods, pastas and pizza — is restricted or eliminated from diets generally, Morrow said, for one of three reasons: Celiac disease, wheat allergies and gluten-related reactions that bring a self-diagnosis and restriction of gluten. Morrow was diagnosed with celiac disease eight years ago and made the decision to be proactive.

“I loved to cook, so the day I came home I thought, ‘What do I do now?’ I decided there had to be a world of alternatives, and it turned out there is still plenty of opportunity for great cooking and eating,” she said.

When she first started looking around, Morrow found gluten is in many foods — breads, pizza, nearly all baked goods — as a wheat based substance that acts as a binding agent for many recipes. It is also found in many pre-packaged foods and processed foods, making it more difficult to eat out or eat food not prepared in the home.

While Morrow admits eating out can be a challenge, she said cooking at home makes an almost limitless menu available.

“You have to learn how to handle ingredients differently. You can still have grains, as long as they are the right ones, and once you know what you can have, you’re OK,” she said, adding one of her goals for the class is to “show what fine foods you can make, and how easily you can do it, without giving up what you love (to eat.)”

Cooking without gluten can be more of a benefit than a burden, Morrow added. A diet without gluten is quite healthy, as it eliminates starchy foods such as pastas and processed foods. Also in some cases the lack of gluten makes for a better recipe.

Morrow expects the class to be fun, and not only because of the many samples she plans to bring for students to get a taste of the gluten-free life. She will also demonstrate the making of numerous baked goods and breads, as well as pizza and other entrees.

She’s also done a fair amount of traveling, and has written articles about the challenges of finding gluten-free food while traveling in places like France and Italy, which are known for their cheese, bread and pasta dishes.

“You just have to learn how to travel with these restrictions,” she said.

The gluten-free class is one of four CAFE classes remaining. The next, the Tale of Tapas, will be led by Siri Engstrom and Tim Wilson July 16. On July 30 master chef Haakon Blanken will share his favorites, and June Ulz will share Diabetic Delights Aug. 6. For more information or to register call 474-7021 or visit www.uaf.edu/summer.

Contact staff writer Erica Goff at 459-7523.