Within the bread, rolls and baked goods on many tables this holiday season is an extraordinary substance – gluten. Gluten’s unique chemistry makes foods airy and stretchy. I’m a chemist who teaches a chemistry of cooking class, and every year I ask my students, “What is gluten?” Common answers are “a sugar” or “a carbohydrate.” But rarely does anyone get it right. Gluten is a complex mixture of proteins. It makes up 85%-90% of the protein in flour. Proteins are natural biological macromolecules composed of chains of amino acids that fold upon themselves to adopt a variety of shapes. Gluten...…Within the bread, rolls and baked goods on many tables this holiday season is an extraordinary substance – gluten. Gluten’s unique chemistry makes foods airy and stretchy. I’m a chemist who teaches a chemistry of cooking class, and every year I ask my students, “What is gluten?” Common answers are “a sugar” or “a carbohydrate.” But rarely does anyone get it right. Gluten is a complex mixture of proteins. It makes up 85%-90% of the protein in flour. Proteins are natural biological macromolecules composed of chains of amino acids that fold upon themselves to adopt a variety of shapes. Gluten...WW…