[Sca-cooks] Dayboard anxieties

[Bronwynmgn at aol.com]

--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
In a message dated 3/27/2003 11:26:52 PM Eastern Standard Time,
johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu writes:

> I guess my point would be that we cater to adults with food allergies
> or to the vegetarians or to any of a number of adult food likes and
> dislikes,
> so why not provide a few things that the children would like and eat?
> Children after all pay site fees and like it or not we seem to have more of
> them around these days than we did decades ago when I started. I
> don't think that it would be too much to ask that we provide some
> activities
> and if we are serving a dayboard for everyone that it have some foods on it
> that
> they will eat and actually like.

I guess, then, that I have a different idea of what kids will eat and like
than you do.  I saw quite a few items on Brighid's menu that kids of my
acquaintance are quite familiar with and are likely to eat.  Most kids, for
example, like chicken.  A number eat sausage for breakfast, or meatballs on
spaghetti.  I haven't met a kid yet that doesn't like cheese or bread and
butter.  Baby-cut carrots are routinely served as part of school lunches
these days.
You seem to have the feeling that there are a number of kids out there who
refuse to eat anything but stereotypical kids foods like chicken nuggets,
hotdogs,hamburgers, etc.  Well, there are certainly adults out there who are
extremely picky about food as well - and they usually bring their own to
events, and complain if there isn't a payment option for site fee only, no
food, as they have no intention of eating any food served.  Why is it so
unusual for me to think that parents will make arrangements for a picky
child?

> One could easily take your premise " if they didn't like or couldn't eat the
> food.  I don't think it's the responsibility of the event staff to make
> sure absolutely everyone has what they like best to eat.  In any case, that
> would be a logistical nightmare if
> not impossible." and extend it to all the adults and all the participants.

I do extend it to all the adults and participants.  I design my menu to be
varied in terms of ingredients, so that those with food dislikes or allergies
have access to most of the meal, minus a few dishes that may include an
ingredient they don't like or can't eat.  I do not, however, make modified
portions of dishes to remove the cinnamon for one person, the alcohol for
another person, and leave the fruit out of the meat for a third person.  I
let them know what's in it, and it's their responsibility to avoid the things
they don't want or can't have.  I'm not staffing a restaurant where each
patron orders their meal exactly the way they want it; I'm providing a
catering service which tries to make as much available as possible for each
person by menu design.

>
> In which case perhaps we should abandon all cookery and all dayboards
> and all feasts and send everyone out to the local burger place.
>

Hardly.  I never suggested such a thing.  I suggested that it would be
appropriate for people who are picky about food or have unusual dietary
requirements to consider providing their own food in one way or another,
rather than expecting an amateur cooking staff to be able to adequately cater
to their exact needs - hardly unusual or unlikely.  I've been doing it all my
life.  I brought my own snacks to kindergarten, for heaven's sake, because
they always gave us either chocolate chip cookies, Oreos, or graham crackers,
all of which I hated.  For catered meals at weddings or professional
conferences, I nearly always have to bypass the dessert, as it's usually
chocolate.  I don't expect the caterer to provide me with a seperate dessert
to suit my tastes; I simply don't eat the items I don't like.

Brangwayna Morgan