SC - Allergy Discussion Conclusions to date

[Kornelis Sietsma]

On Mon, 11 May 1998 11:53:23 -0500, Philip & Susan Troy wrote:

>4. SCAdians outside the U.S.A. probably think we are wusses ;  ) .

My feeling is that Mistress Kiriel has been very lucky, or maybe the
mountain air of Politarchopolis keeps the people healthy. :)  As a (very
minor) cook in Stormhold(1), I have met a fair number of allergies,
especially among members of our College.

As far as I know most of these are true allergies, not dislikes - they are
rarely to do with unpopular foods.  Allergies I have had to deal with
include dairy products, gluten, honey, eggs, rice, and ginger.

Sometimes it can make even mundane living tricky - I have lived in a
household which contained 2 vegetarians (of the strict 'no rennet'
variety), one person with gluten and dairy problems, one with a rice
allergy, and one person who was being tested for allergies and so had to
periodically avoid whole ranges of foods.  Also most of the house were
living on the dole(2) at the time.  Needless to say, mass cooking was
tricky, if rather fun.

My point, I think, is that some areas in Australia may be low on allergy
sufferers, but not all.  This also may be a generational thing - it appears
to me that more people under 30 that I know suffer from allergies, asthma,
and immune-system related illnesses than those over 30.  I don't know if it
is greater exposure to pollution and processed food, or just more
recognition of such things, but it seems to be a growing trend.

For our recent feast, we felt it necessary to post a menu with an
ingredients list.  We had a copy printed for each table - not only for
allergy sufferers, but so the diners had some forewarning of the dishes
ahead.  We wanted to let people know what the sequence of dishes was, so
that they could avoid dishes they didn't like if later dishes looked more
to their tastes.  (At least one gentle who had fond memories of a pet duck
was thankful for this :)

- -Korny

(1) Victoria - the cold, wet, south-eastern coast of mainland Australia.
Not as cold and wet as Ynys Fawr (Tasmania) though :)
(2) The Dole - an obscure Australian anachronism, wherein some of our taxes
are given to unemployed people in order to prevent them starving.
Increasingly small and hard to get.
- -- 
William Bekwith MKA Kornelis Sietsma | http://zikzak.net/~korny
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