[Sca-cooks] Non-dairy white sauce

[wheezul at canby.com]

>> Otherwise, it's figuring out how to make a halfway
>> tolerable dairy-free
>> white sauce.
>
>> What's the problem with the white sauce - replacing the
>> butter, or replacing
>> the milk? I would have thought there were fairly simple and
>> not too vile
>> substitutions for both?
>>
>> Angharad
> The problem is that I must replace _both_ -- actually, all three, since I
> also can't have the wheat flour my family always used for the starch
> component. In addition, I can't have artificially flavored or colored
> anything.
> If it were just the butter, I could use organic margarine; the flavor
> would be worse, but tolerable. If it were just the milk, some soymilks are
> not actively appalling. If it were just the wheat, somebody somewhere has
> probably figured out a non-gluten substitute. All three? So far, the front
> runner is library paste.
>
> Yours in service to both the Societies of which I am a member-
> (Friend) Honour Horne-Jaruk, R.S.F.
> Alizaundre de Brebeuf, C.O.L. S.C.A.- AKA Una the wisewoman, or That Pict
>
> FORTE EST VINUM, FORTIOR EST REX, FORTIORES SUNT MULIERES: SUPER OMNIA
> VINCIT VERITAS
> Sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-cooks-ansteorra.org
>
What about arrowroot flour as a thickener?  It's reported to be gluten
free and a couple of my cookbooks recommend it over wheat based flour for
thickening gravies.  I always thought margarine had whey in it, but maybe
not all brands do?  What about a really thick and creamy homemade almond
milk, arrowroot and some additional fat from some fine nut oil (presuming
that it isn't an allergen either)?

Katherine