SC - Allergies! Who is responsible?

[MS MARTHA L WALLENHORST]

I have really tried to stay out of this discussion since my first 
comment that was either never read or was ignored, however, I have to 
jump in one more time for a second.  I am not flaming anyone here, 
this is simply what I do and why.

As a cook who learned to cook for the multitudes at a very early age, 
I learned to cook for different dietary concerns.  My mother was 
diabetic and on Kimo and could not handle allot of foods by the time 
I was in JR. High.  At that point I was making 3 different meals for 
every meal I cooked, one for Mom, for Dad and for me.  Translating 
that at church to 500 was easy by the time I got the High School and 
took over the Church kitchen and the Soup Kitchen from my mother 
completely.  I will always cater to the concerns of others in cooking,
 I feel it is a courtesy I can give them.  I serve one meat dish per 
coarse and the utensils never cross pans so vegetarians always have 
enough to eat as well, this is a courtesy I can give them.  Yes, it 
means that I am not always 1000 percent authentic because I may not 
use lard or sugar in a dish, or I may drop the salt amount, etc.  
When I can not substiute or I am trying to be 1000 percent authentic 
for some reason, I make sure that the heralds announce that with the 
crying of the dish so that people who have concerns will have notice, 
I feel that is a courtesy also.  I also, ALWAYS, 1) fix an alternate 
meat for those who have allergies to fish (they are paying for the 
food why not feed them, 2) fix a large amount of chicken legs, 
cucumbers, apple slices and cheese for the children.

I get allot of flack for my practices, but I would rather people be 
eating and want to come to my feast than have folk who are allergic 
to the world like I am sitting in the corner with kielbasa and cheese 
waiting for the dancing to start.  Believe me the corner is no fun, I 
often give up and just go home.

Annejke
22 years of SCA cooking,
37 years of cooking for the masses,
I like the kitchen better than the corner.