[Sca-cooks] listing of ingredients...

[Lisa]

Speaking from the perspective of a feast eater, I'd like to add something.
Personally, I have issues with onions and will not eat a dish that I know
has them in it.  Most of the feasts I've been to there has been a minimum a
list of what dishes are going to be served.  Many of these I am familiar
enough with the types of items being served that I can figure out whether I
can eat the item itself or not.  One event I went to, the feast was being
done by very new individuals and it was very disorganized.  The tentative
menu list was posted less than a week before the event.  Based on this list
I chose to plan on eating feast.  I arrived at the event to hear that the
feast menu had all but completely changed and that they were still deciding
on what exactly to cook.  The morning of the feast, I hunted out the head
cook and asked if there were any menu items containing onions and was told
that most if not all of them (except for the desserts) would contain onions,
although that might change as they were still deciding what to cook.
Because of this, I choose NOT to eat the feast that I had already paid for
and would not be reimbursed for not eating.  (Luckily I had planned ahead
for this likely possibility and brought enough food to cook dinner for
myself and my companions.)   One of the individuals I was with did eat the
feast and later informed me that most of the menu I would have been able to
eat.

Now I realise that most of the problem with this feast was the inexperience
of the cooks, but had they posted a definite list of recipes and not changed
the entire menu the day of the feast, I wouldn't have paid for a feast that
I was told I would be unable to eat, only to later find out I would have
been able to eat it.  I was also very frustrated to be given the attitude
that my inability to eat onions was "not my problem", especially when I was
not the only one trying to find out menu and possible ingredients due to
allergies/dietary problems and they all received the same attitude.

Elizabeta