SC - alcohol revisited

[lilinah@earthlink.net]

Rosalyn MacGregor wrote:
>To echo what I believe is Balthazar's point, why is the onus on the cook
>rather than on the feaster? Why is it not the feaster's duty to not eat
>feast if he/she has a food allergy? Why does the cook have to go out of
>his/her way?

1. I fail to see how providing an ACCURATE list of ingredients is an 
onerous task or is going out of one's way.

I stress accurate, because, although it didn't happen in my kitchen, 
i've heard of feasts where someone gets creative and adds stuff to 
dishes that wasn't in list - then there can be problems. Suppose 
someone decided to add nuts to a dish to "dress it up" and that 
wasn't on the ingredient list... Some folks are deathly sensitive to 
nuts. So if you alter a dish while cooking it, change the list.

2. I also fail to see how cooking vegetables in vegetable broth so 
vegetarians can eat them is going out of my way. I have to cook the 
danged vegetables in SOME kind of broth. Vegetable broth is not 
particularly harder to make than meat broth. Of course, i live in an 
area that has a number of vegetarians. But if you know there are 
vegetarians likely to show up at your feast, i really don't see how 
it's going out of your way to do so.

3. The feast i just cooked was a Boar Hunt. Pork was the featured 
meat in two of three courses.

There were vegetarians and people who keep somewhat Kosher present. 
So they didn't eat the pork - that was up to them. There is always 
another meat dish at this feast, so i didn't go out of my way, i just 
made one that the Kosher keepers could eat. Two of the Kosher keepers 
were helping me in the kitchen. I just made sure they weren't working 
on a pork dish. Nothing out of my way. Just courtesy.

4. Anyone with allergies? Well, no one told me before the feast. I 
certainly wouldn't bend over backwards and alter my feast for one 
person. But i did provide a list of ingredients so they could take 
care of themselves.

I did have one person request salat with no vinegar and no oil. That 
was easy - we just set aside a handful or two of greens before 
tossing the salat. She was most appreciative. Did i go out of my way? 
I didn't think so. Maybe someone else would feel different.

Sheesh. Where did all this come from, anyway? I don't recall anyone 
here saying they felt compelled to cook their feast so that it 
contains no known allergens and nothing anyone might be sensitive to. 
That would be damned near impossible. People can be allergic or 
sensitive to just about anything.

I certainly wouldn't shape my feast around the needs of one single 
person. On the other hand, i want to make sure that anyone with food 
issues has access to accurate information so they can make their own 
decisions.

Just post the darned list of ingredients. That's easy to compose on a 
computer. And if someone lacks one, have a helper write one out with 
a pen on a sheet of paper. It's easier to direct people to the list 
than to have to answer every question. Obviously, it is courteous to 
answer complex questions in person. I sure didn't let random people 
into the kitchen. Well, except the boar, who ran in to hide during 
the Hunt...

And finally, i would imagine that if someone has a massive number of 
serious food issues, they would probably be eating off board, anyway.

Anahita al-shazhiyya