[Ansteorra] Feasts and Special Diets (was History/Enculturation/Cliquishness....)

[alan kook]

While I think attempting to accommodate someone's dietary needs at a feast
is commendable, it is not always possible.  I am very open to publishing the
ingredients for the feast dishes and let the individual make the decision
themselves. I can' t cook 200 separate dinners to please everyone.
  The main reason:  If the concern is a food allergy, there is always a
chance of cross contamination in the kitchen.. no matter how good one tries
to monitor everyone in the kitchen.. I've seen it happen too many times,
especially when it gets busy.  Also, I have cooked special dishes only to
have them go uneaten because those requesting the food either didn't show or
didn't ask for them at the event.

I am a firm believer in a person taking responsibility for themselves.
There is no way a cook preparing food for 200 + people can individualize the
dishes for each person. Granted that is a stretch but you get the picture.
There is enough to do getting out the feast let alone making additional
dishes for some people.  I am not averse to adjusting existing dishes, for
example. Using vegetable broth for chicken stock to make a dish vegetarian.
This can be eaten by everyone and no one will know the difference.   But,
making 2 separate recipes for the same dish is a lot of extra work.

just my 2 pesos..

Meadhbh


----- Original Message -----
From: "Morgan Cain (Ansteorra)" <morgancain at earthlink.net>
To: <ansteorra at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 9:36 PM
Subject: [Ansteorra] Feasts and Special Diets (was
History/Enculturation/Cliquishness....)


> > > Sir Burke, A lot of times I don't get the feast due to the special
diet
> I'm
> > > on low salt and low carb. I find I can get one or the other but not
> both.
> > > I do camp, I would eat more feasts if I could get a low salt meat
feast.
> > > If who ever is doing a feast could do a feast with meat and cheeses
more
> > > it would be great for a few of us.
> > > Ld Carlos
>
> And I second HL Suzanne's words about talking to the head cook beforehand.
> I actually plan ahead for people with special needs in most of my feasts,
> and rarely add salt when cooking.  (I am not used to cooking with salt, we
> add it at table, and when multiplying up to several hundred it can do
weird
> things.)  I don't think I salted anything in the last two feasts I did in
> Ansteorra except the rice (it cooks better with a bit of salt), and the
> broth cubes had salt but that was just one dish out of two feasts.
>
> Also, if you are on a low-salt diet I would stay away from cheeses, as
most
> of them have a LOT of salt included.  My feasts tend to meat and
vegetables,
> enough carbs to balance but not intermingled so you can easily avoid them.
> For those who avoid meat, it is easily identified and so avoided.
Likewise
> those who think vegetables are EEeee-vil.  <G>
>
> This is something I teach when I do my "How to Cook a Feast" class, and to
a
> lesser extent my "Cooking for Camping" class, which I reprised for the
March
> meeting of Steppes Cooking Guild.  (How's that for a sly commercial
> announcement?)  However, not everybody is cognizant that there are people
> who eat differently from them, or know that you CAN cook period and
> resembles-period food very well while keeping an eye out for people with
> dietary difficulties.
>
>                                                         ---= Morgan
>
> ==============================================================
> Life is something that happens when you can't get to sleep.
>                         ---= Fran Lebowitz
>
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