[Sca-cooks] Vegetarian & Vegans was Re: lethal drinks

Antonia Calvo ladyadele at paradise.net.nz
Tue Jul 22 14:55:32 PDT 2008


Dragon wrote:

>> I'm in NoCal and we have some vegetarians at feasts. I'm happy to 
>> cook so they can eat. It's easy. I just use a rich flavored vegetable 
>> broth in non-meat dishes that call for meat broth. So they can 
>> generally eat everything except the meat. Simple. I've never had any 
>> expect special treatment, in fact they are often thrilled to find 
>> they can eat the feast!
>
>
> My problem isn't so much with providing for vegetarians, it's in 
> dealing with the sense of entitlement some of them have displayed in 
> some rather rude and unwelcome ways. I perhaps should have made that 
> clear in my original statement.


Yup, I'm with you.  I've had a visiting vegetarian badmouth me behind my 
back for-- well, I'm still not entirely clear on what the problem was.  
About two-thirds of the dishes in the feast were suitable for 
vegetarians, and I did several extra dishes that were served as 
alternates to vegetarians (and to some others-- the dairy free, etc.)  
Apparently, she had some problem with this and went 'round telling 
people that she thought the vegetarians had been somehow rudely 
treated.  The only good thing was that this person was a visitor from 
outside our group, so I haven't had to deal with her since.  (The other 
vegetarians all seemed pretty happy.) I've also had a vegan who went 
into a major flounce when he was told we couldn't cater for him at a 
Viking (think meat) feast.  I've never had any "attitude" from people 
with allergies, etc.-- they're usually completely easy going.


> IF a vegan contacted me before a feast, I might be willing to explore 
> other options, but this has not happened as yet. I try hard to make my 
> menus known quite early on and I do try to include a variety of things 
> both with and without meat but I think I have maybe served a half 
> dozen dishes in the entire time I have been cooking for SCA functions 
> (about 5 years now) that were even possibly vegan.


I don't really do vegans.  Basically, the "big three" food groups from 
my perspective are meat, dairy, and wheat/gluten.  If you must avoid 
_one_ of these groups, I can cater for you.  If you must avoid two, I 
can't promise that you'll get a good and varied meal.  I may suggest 
that you come at half price and eat whatever you can, but there are 
limits to how much adjustment I'm willing to make and these are those 
limits.


> I am going to push for more consistency on this on events I agree to 
> cook for. It would be VERY nice indeed to have reasonably firm 
> commitment before preparing food. We did take reservations for the 
> 12th Night feast I headed this year but even there I was presented 
> with a larger number of diners than I had been informed there would 
> be. Fortunately, I tend to be rather generous with portions and there 
> was enough for all.
>
> We do generally put a firm limit on the number of meals to be sold but 
> having confirmed and paid for reservations in advance would be a good 
> thing. 



You have to push the idea, you have to be firm with people, and you need 
backing from your local group.  But I think it's utterly worth doing.  
It means that I always know how many to expect, and I always know what 
food issues there will be to worry about. 


-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

-----------------------------
Habeo metrum - musicamque,
hominem meam. Expectat alium quid?
-Georgeus Gershwinus
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