SC - Allergies - again..

[Melissa Hicks]

Greetings all,

As a frequent feast-goer and occassional feast-cook I can make the followng
comments:

Note:  I have a number of intolerances (including lactose, tomato, tuna,
cod, broccoli, avocado and some artificial colours).  My mother who is also
a member of the SCA has Coeliac's Disease (cannot ingest gluten).  Mine is a
digestive "inconvenience", my mother's is life-threatening.

Food allergies/intolerances are the problems of the boths diners and cooks.

Diners:  In Lochac, it is "the norm" to inform the bookings officer of any
food intolerances/allergies.  If you are the one with the unusual diet it is
up to YOU to notify people (in plenty of time - ie before all of the food is
bought preferably).  Cooks are not telepathic and should not be treated so.
Cooks also do not have photographic memories.  You may have told them last
time they cooked a feast, but this doesn't mean they will remember this time.

Cooks: I have never been to a feast which has "off the board" as an option.
The whole concept was unknown to me until I started reading this list.  Due
to the nature of my intolerances, I can generally tell from a list of
ingredients what will/will not affect me.  My mother has a bigger problem.
Many cooks are simply not aware of the myriad of foods/substances that
contain gluten... (try some forms aspirin or panadol...)

We ALWAYS notify the cooks when mum is attending.  Generally she only eats
foods that are freshly made (ie do not contain any commercial sauces).  Due
to ample notification and the goodwill of the cooks, my mother has never
left a feast hungry.  Some (VERY kindly) prepare for her a small
"personalised version" of a larger general dish, while others give their
servers explicit instructions "Lady so-so cannot have this dish, while Lord
such-such can". While other more knowedgable cooks will often alter a minor
ingredient to make a dish edible for her (such as thickening with cornflour
instead of wheat flour).

Courtesy and information flowing both ways can make these problems very
discreet and manageable.  Niether myself, my mother or any other gentle with
food restrictions that I know, have been able to eat EVERY dish at every
event.  I have never stormed into a kitchen because there was a dish I could
not eat. On the other hand, I have very little tolerance for people who do
not inform me before hand.  The only person I have ever had a "discussion"
regarding this in MY kitchen, has always informed me since.

Vegetarians: As a cook I try to make my savory dishes a ratio of 1/3
vegetarian, 1/3 white meat and 1/3 red meat (with one specifically vegan
dish JIC).  I have only managed a few feasts, but this appears to work.
This or a higher ratio of vegetarian meals seems to be the norm in my
Barony.  We do not have a large percentage of vegetarians, but in my limited
experience they are also the ones who are least likely to inform you before
hand, so I work on the "safe not sorry" principle.  Much easier with
vegetarians as it is a well-known diet.

What I have written here is not awe-inspiring, nor is it even special.  It
just illustrates that these problems can be sorted out as long as courtesy
and chivalry are included.
Regards
Meliora de Curci

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
SCA-Cooks-Request with the message body of unsubscribe.

============================================================================