[Sca-cooks] What would you advise?

[Laura C. Minnick]

Rosine wrote:

>    Are there any kind of substitutions for onions? Is this actually an easy
> fix? Are we going over-board in catering to this sigular sensitivity? (I
> must add that at our last event, the feast cook was not informed of the
> girl's allergy and was considerably taken aback when on the day of the event
> she was treated to stunned disbelief that she'd planned a menu that involved
> onions - and the girl made a quietly public scene by breaking into tears in
> her husband's arms in the main hall when he left the kitchen to tell her
> what the menu was... but that could have been merely stress and dismay, and
> not artifice.) I'm at a loss as to how to address this, and at some point,
> as the baroness, I'm going to have to. So does anyone have any suggestions?

Is is because I'm a mom, or I'm getting old and cranky, or because I
have not patience for people like this?... or all of the above?

I spent four years with a knight who is also lethally allergic to onion.
However, he has excellent manners, and does not impose his problems on
everyone else around him. I was careful to leave onions away from his
food at home, which was reasonable accomodation, but at events, he
brought his own, or would quietly step out for a safe meal at L'Arch
d'Or. My best suggestion is to take this girl and her husband aside,
semi-privately (but it would be a good thing for others to hear) and
tell them something like:

"I understand that you have a serious potential medical problem with a
very common ingredient. However, you cannot reasonably expect that a
feast menu be adapted to one person's condition, most particularly if
you say nothing of the matter until you arrive. I would strongly suggest
that you learn to contact the cook sometime before the feast, and find
out what is on the menu- not so that he can amend the menu, but so _you_
can make other plans according to your particular needs, be it to simply
avoid a couple of dishes, or to bring a food from home that you can
safely eat, and discreetly do so. Your allergies are your
responsibility, not the cook's. And my dear, you are young, but you must
learn that when the duck builds its nest in the middle of the road, we
do not re-build the road to go around it. We simply move the duck."

If soemone gives you flack, point out that you are Baroness for _all_ of
the Barony, not just one or two, and that it is not courteous or kind of
this couple to come to an already prepared meal and want it to be
amended. It highly unlikely that one could leave onions out of all the
dishes, but there are usually dishes without onions, and it is quite
possible that she can make a nice meal without having histrionics in the
hall. I'm sure she is a nice girl, but it my book, nice people don't
behave like that.

Aunty 'Lainie