[Sca-cooks] Handling special diet needs at feasts

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

> I don't think it's used "incorrectly" so much as people get sick of
> having to explain in detail what they do and don't eat over and over
> again.  If you're trying to explain that you're unlikely to find
> anything you'll eat on a menu, and therefore will skip the feast, does
> the full explaination really make a difference?

No. But it does matter when you're NOT skipping the food.

>"Vegetarian" is close
> enough, and if it misleads a few people to believe that you don't eat
> fish or poultry as well as red meat, well, no harm done.

Actually, it can be a major pain if you are the only 'vegetarian' in a
group and someone is trying to cook for you. If they have to prepare a
different dish because they think you won't eat what everyone else is
eating... I don't cook barley in my local group any more, though people
like it, because my standard recipe is barley, mushrooms, onions, meat
stock. Which means one version standard, one version with meat stock but
no mushrooms for the people who won't eat mushrooms, and one version with
mushroom stock for the vegetarians. Argh....

I've cooked for a group with:
- one person who wouldn't eat any meat but hamburger or chicken, wouldn't
eat fish, mushrooms, spaghetti sauce with noticeable vegetables,
non-tomato fruit with meat, or anything spicy
- three people who only ate large amounts of meat (pork or beef, not
poultry) but would tolerate veggies and starch on the side (one wouldn't
eat green veggies, one was allergic to rosemary)
- 2 vegetarians
- one low-fat, wouldn't-eat-most-red-meat-because-of-mad-cow-disease,
wouldn't-eat-pork-or-shelfish
-- one wouldn't eat food with wierd spicing (??)
- and a bunch of omnivores.

I'm still proud that no-one got murdered that year. *grin*

>Such people
> will explain it more fully to the people who influence their diets more
> often.  I have often described my diet as "vegetarian" to strangers
> rather than the more complicated description, though anybody who knows
> me even vaguely well understands what I do and don't in fact eat.

Actually, not strictly true. Most people, including those who have known
you for a long time, will assume they can feed you vegetables but have no
idea what else. (Ok, most of us know shellfish is good.)

-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net OR jenne at tulgey.browser.net OR jahb at lehigh.edu
"Are you finished? If you're finished, you'll have to put down the spoon."