[Sca-cooks] Food allergies
Drucilla Meany-Herbert
bookshop at charter.net
Tue May 8 07:57:11 PDT 2012
Sigh, I have run into that too on a smaller scale and less formal. I can't
accommodate everyone so with each dish, I put a recipe card and they can
decide what they can or can't eat. I also make what I wish to make not what
dietary restrictions may be. I encourage those with dietary restrictions to
make a dish that others with similar restrictions may eat. But since there
are more and more folks being diagnosed with some kind of allergy or
sensitivity, this should be an option more carefully looked at. This may not
however be possible with more formal and structured meals unless you know
the individuals and know how responsible they are.
Gwyneth
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Today's Topics:
1. Minor rant - allergies and following directions (Tre)
2. Re: American Substitution and Translation- this is probably
OT (Tre)
3. Stefan's Florilegium article for May (Stefan li Rous)
4. Re: Minor rant - allergies and following directions
(Antonia di Benedetto Calvo)
5. Re: Minor rant - allergies and following directions
(Kathleen Gormanshaw)
6. Re: Minor rant - allergies and following directions (Saint Phlip)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 7 May 2012 22:25:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tre <trekatz at yahoo.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Minor rant - allergies and following directions
Message-ID:
<1336454706.72019.YahooMailNeo at web120405.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
I copied this from my blog, because the final question is relevant here, and
something I'm interested in some input on. When do I finally say "it's not
my problem"?
-------------------------------------------------------------
I'm the head cook for the upcoming Insulae Draconis Coronet Tournament this
weekend. For those of you who may not know, at most SCA events in the UK
(and generally mainland Europe as well, from what I can tell), food for the
weekend is included in your site fee.
I am very concerned with making sure everyone gets enough to eat, and that
the balance of nutrition available for each person is appropriate (i.e.
making sure there is a reasonable protein option for vegetarians, not just a
bunch of side dishes.) In order to accommodate this, I need to know ahead of
time what allergies and other dietary restrictions I'm dealing with.
In the past, I've cooked for events where someone came up to me on the day
and said, for example, "I'm allergic to onions; what's safe to eat?" Ack!
Onions go in almost EVERYTHING! I then scramble to make an extra dish or two
without onions (or try to find something that the onions haven't gone into
yet to pull a portion out that is then safe for the allergy). This was
someone who apparently had told the reservation steward for the event, and
the information got lost along the way so I never received it.
Likewise,
I've gotten vague information from the reservation steward such as "Lady
Gretel says she's allergic to Fructose". Fructose? What exactly does that
entail? I know it's in fruit...so anything with any fruit, fruit juice,
dried fruit...is it used as an additive...Ack! When I then go back to the
reservation steward who then goes back to Lady Gretel and asks about it, I
get an answer such as "I'm not really sure what all I'm allergic to, and
it's not that bad anyway, so don't worry about it."
Really? REALLY? So even if I "don't worry about it" and don't do anything
different, I still worry a bit that something she eats will make her sick.
So in order to avoid some of this
confusion and frustration, I've come up with a new method for getting the
information I need all consolidated into one spot. I made a form through
Google Docs, have it posted on the website (or e-mailed out on the group
list or individually to people who have made reservations) with a plea to
PLEASE fill out the form - because the cool thing about the Google Docs Form
is that it consolidates all the answers for me onto ONE spreadsheet. I don't
have to worry that I've forgotten to put someone's information in, or that
the reservation steward missed someone. ALL the information for the specific
event is on one sheet.
Since I write the questions for the form, I can even make sure that they are
worded in a (hopefully) fool-proof manner to get the information I actually
need. For example, one of the questions I have on the form is "Do you have
any plant-based allergies?" With the explanation that "I sometimes cook with
items which are not always thought of when listing food allergies, such as
nettles and hedgerow berries." This means that I find out ahead of time if I
have people allergic to nettles before mixing them into the cooked greens or
making a nettle soup. (Honestly - if it's not listed in the name of the
dish, how many people are going to look at an ingredient list for Nettles if
they don't have any food
allergies?) I can also ask, on the form, for the person's name and e-mail in
case I have further questions regarding their dietary needs.
I don't know if people realize that this form is as much for my peace of
mind as it is for their health and safety. Now, the reason for this rant is
that - even after having a link to the form on the event website, and
sending several e-mails to the group e-mail list and posting it on the
Principality's facebook group, when I got the list of event reservations
from the reservation steward, there are STILL people listed on there, with
allergies listed that they sent on their reservation NOT on a form, who have
not filled out the form so I have the information ALL IN ONE PLACE.
Granted, this is only the second
event I've done the form for, but I don't think I could have been any more
clear. I have people even in my local group who have said "you know my
allergies, right?" and even though I've asked them to please fill out the
form anyway, so it's on the combined information list, here we are four days
before the event, and they still haven't done it.
I do have to say, though, that there is one lovely lady who has several
allergies that I have gotten used to working with. She asked if she needed
to fill out the form even though I have her information, and was quite
understanding when I explained that yes, I did need it separately for each
event, but that a "short list" instead of full explanations would be fine
now. So basically now she can just write "no alcohol"
instead of having to list "no alcohol, including wine vinegars, but cider
vinegar is fine". We've worked out the specifics of her allergies, I just
need the note so I remember that yes, she'll be there and if I'm making
things ahead of time I know which vinegars went into which dishes, or I
remember to cook the stew with broth instead of beer as a base.
So, with it being four days before the event, and people still not filling
out the form as requested...when do I just say "It's not my problem", even
though they gave the information someplace else?
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Mon, 7 May 2012 22:30:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tre <trekatz at yahoo.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] American Substitution and Translation- this
is probably OT
Message-ID:
<1336455008.9962.YahooMailNeo at web120401.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
On a side-note...(and many of you may know this already) - I recently
learned that hops weren't the only thing used for flavoring beer. In fact,
earlier period beers didn't use hops, they used a combination of other
herbs. I was looking for a beer (or Ale, actually) to use for a recipe at an
upcoming event and found a place that sells some beers flavored with gruit
instead of, or along with, the hops. They definitely give a different
flavor. (The guy at the store was even nice enough to look up the
combinations of herbs generally used in the gruit so I could see if it was
something I may need to worry about as far as some of the allergies that our
group has.)
________________________________
From: Betsy Marshall <betsy at softwareinnovation.com>
To: 'Cooks within the SCA' <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 12:44 AM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] American Substitution and Translation- this is
probably OT
I had some imported Russian Kvass at a local restaurant- it was an
interesting taste; that seemed like beer, but there were no hops(ie not
bitter) so, looked it up online; turned out it was for many years the
equivalent of soda-pop in Russia, until coke finally built some factories
there and started getting in on their market share..
Not helpful; but another factoid to use, I hope. KM
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Tue, 8 May 2012 00:23:24 -0500
From: Stefan li Rous <stefanlirous at austin.rr.com>
To: SCA-Cooks maillist SCA-Cooks <SCA-Cooks at Ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Stefan's Florilegium article for May
Message-ID: <599F9FA4-3A18-4BCE-A0C8-B260690118D5 at austin.rr.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed; delsp=yes
Greetings to the Gentlefolk of the SCA,
Happy 46th Birthday to the SCA!
It's hard to believe I've been playing this game for half that time!
Here is a copy of my Florilegium article for May detailing what is new in
the Florilegium this month.
I am always looking for good articles for the Florilegium. If you have
researched something in our period or you practice a little known art or
craft, writing an article is an excellent way to introduce others to the
work you've done. I'm especially interested in academic papers written for
A&S contests because, unfortunately, few have time at such an event to read
them. Even the judges. Getting them published in the Florilegium lets your
hard word benefit the entire Known World. Word format is the easiest for me
to handle, but others are possible.
If you, your household or your local group run a website, please consider
adding a link there to the Florilegium. Not only does this help people who
might be interested in what the Florilegium offers find the site, but it
raises the site in the Google ratings and thus might bring in more ad money
to keep the site going.
Thanks,
Stefan
--------
A Blending of the Past and Present
Over the past twenty-two years in an ongoing effort, I have been
collecting bits of useful information from various newsgroups, mail
lists and articles submitted to me by their authors. In order to make
this information available to others, I have placed this information
in a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium.
The Florilegium is on the web at: http://www.florilegium.org
I am always interested in new articles. If you have written an article
that would be of interest to others in the SCA, please send it to me
for possible inclusion in the Florilegium. A&S documentation and class
handouts will also often work well. I am especially interested in
research papers submitted as A&S entries.
Advertisements on the site pay for its upkeep. If you enjoy the
Florilegium, please click on an ad or two whenever you are there.
THLord Stefan li Rous Ansteorra stefan at florilegium.org
Here are the new files for this month:
In the ANIMALS section:
British-Sheep-art "A History of Sheep Breeds in Britain" by
Maistreas Siobhan nic Dhuinnshleibhe, OL
In the CELEBRATIONS AND EVENTS section:
The-Yule-Log-art "The Yule Log" by Lady Katharine of Caithness.
In the CRAFTS section:
Mk-Pole-Lathe-art "Making and Using a Pole Lathe" by Lowrens
Wilyamson.
In the ENTERTAINMENT section:
Cards-a-Dice-art "Some Cards and Dice Games" by mistress
katherine kerr.
In the HOME, SWEET HOME section:
Trestle-Table-art "A Trestle Table for Under $35"
by Lady Genoveva von L?beck.
In the NEWCOMERS section:
SCA-Feasts-art "Orts It All About, Alfred? - (Attending your
first year or two of SCA Feasts)" by Lady
Caterina della Pieri.
In the PEOPLE AND PLACES section:
Braveheart-art "The Real Braveheart" by Lady Marion of
Heatherdale.
In the PERSONAL CARE section:
M-Aprodisiacs-art "Medieval Aphrodisiacs" by Baroness Anastasia
Alexandrovna Andreeva, OL
In the SCRIBAL ARTS section:
Beg-C-Pntng-art "Getting Started - A $25 Materials Guide For
Beginning Charter Painters" by Rose the
Obnoxious.
In the STRUCTURES section:
On-Pavilions-art "Things I've Learned the Hard Way" by Lady
Isabelle LaFar.
In the WEDDINGS section:
Mdvl-Weddngs-art "Weddings in Medieval Times" by Lady Katharine
of Caithness.
Here are the updated files for this month.
liver-msg Medieval cooking of liver. Recipes.
nuts-msg Nuts, acorns, nut flours in medieval foods.
Poland-msg Medieval Poland. References.
rattan-msg Working with rattan. Rattan sources.
rabbit-dishes-msg Period rabbit and hare recipes.
shields-msg SCA and period shields.
shoemaking-msg Making shoes. More detailed than shoes-msg.
tent-care-msg Care of tents. waterproofing, washing.
vinegar-msg Vinegar in period. Making vinegar.
---
Copyright 2012, Mark S. Harris. Permission to reprint in SCA-related
publications is hereby granted if the file descriptions are left
unchanged. Unless you are an editor in the Kingdom of Ansteorra, where
the kingdom chronicler has declared it can not be used unless it comes
with a copy of the kingdom's release, which happens to be impossible
to include in an email to the lists. Email me if you need a more
explicit release and we will work something out. Removing any of the
updated files listed in order to fit the article into limited
publication space is allowed. The article introduction may also be
edited, provided the web address and contact info are retained.
<end>
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris Austin, Texas
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at: http://www.florilegium.org ****
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 08 May 2012 19:05:07 +1200
From: Antonia di Benedetto Calvo <dama.antonia at gmail.com>
To: Tre <trekatz at yahoo.com>, Cooks within the SCA
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Minor rant - allergies and following
directions
Message-ID: <4FA8C5A3.80606 at gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
On 8/05/2012 5:25 p.m., Tre wrote:
>
> So, with it being four days before the event, and people still not filling
out the form as requested...when do I just say "It's not my problem", even
though they gave the information someplace
> else?
>
Heck, we normally close bookings a week or more out from the event and
you either pass on your dietary requirements when you book or you take
your chances.
This is *so* not your problem.
--
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo
-------------------------------------
Saccharum pergratum. Villum lubricum.
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Tue, 8 May 2012 09:31:00 -0400
From: Kathleen Gormanshaw <kgormanshaw at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Minor rant - allergies and following
directions
Message-ID:
<CAGpjMy2tf3LwRS8ePFSLGZhDryi9LWBKT4ZUc4VWem-=JroZAg at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
I'd give people with significant food restrictions until 2 weeks
before the event, otherwise they get the ingredients list and can pick
and choose for themselves.
I think you have a bigger problem with your reservations steward not
understanding your needs or the importance of communicating them on
time. Tell him a horror story of some sort, even a hypothetical one:
"If I don't know about so & so with X allergy then she could eat the
____ and DIE if we don't get her to the hospital on time!"
Eyrny
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Tue, 8 May 2012 10:40:02 -0400
From: Saint Phlip <phlip at 99main.com>
To: Tre <trekatz at yahoo.com>, Cooks within the SCA
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Minor rant - allergies and following
directions
Message-ID:
<CAA3uHKzdnOyz6xnsiC-ZdomYQGvK1VOdJdDcys4-m0LzQNr5Ew at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Seems to me that you need to get people's attention, starting with the
event steward.
One thing that has worked well in another venue has been an excess of
gory details. For example, if you have fighters who refuse to properly
hydrate, a group of Chirurgeons chitchatting nearby, discussing
methods of cooling over heated people down, have seldom had problems
getting people to drink after the mention of the ice cube enemas ;-)
Now, if a friendly Chirurgeon who happens to cook, might possible be
having a chit chat with others of that ilk, involving horror stories
about projectile vomiting and EMTs in the middle of the feast hall,
possibly THAT might get someone's attention.
The thing is, people are not deliberately obtuse, but for many of
them, the word allergy conjures up an image of someone sneezing and
sniffling because of an excess of pollen- and face it- who is going to
get motivated by a runny nose? So, my suggestion is to make the
situation a bit more real to them, beyond the sniffles.
On Tue, May 8, 2012 at 1:25 AM, Tre <trekatz at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I copied this from my blog, because the final question is relevant here,
and something I'm interested in some input on. When do I finally say "it's
not my problem"?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> I'm the head cook for the upcoming Insulae Draconis Coronet
> Tournament this weekend. For those of you who may not know, at most SCA
> events in the UK (and generally mainland Europe as well, from what I can
tell), food for the weekend is included in your site fee.
>
> I am very concerned with making sure everyone gets enough to eat, and
> that the balance of nutrition available for each person is appropriate
> (i.e. making sure there is a reasonable protein option for vegetarians,
> not just a bunch of side dishes.) In order to accommodate this, I need
> to know ahead of time what allergies and other dietary restrictions I'm
> dealing with.
>
> In the past, I've cooked for events where someone came up to me on the day
and said, for example, "I'm allergic
> to onions; what's safe to eat?" Ack! Onions go in almost EVERYTHING! I
> then scramble to make an extra dish or two without onions (or try to
> find something that the onions haven't gone into yet to pull a portion
> out that is then safe for the allergy). This was someone who apparently
> had told the reservation steward for the event, and the information got
> lost along the way so I never received it.
>
> Likewise,
> I've gotten vague information from the reservation steward such as "Lady
Gretel says she's allergic to Fructose". Fructose? What exactly does
> that entail? I know it's in fruit...so anything with any fruit, fruit
> juice, dried fruit...is it used as an additive...Ack! When I then go
> back to the reservation steward who then goes back to Lady Gretel and
> asks about it, I get an answer such as "I'm not really sure what all I'm
allergic to, and it's not that bad anyway, so don't worry about it."
> Really? REALLY? So even if I "don't worry about it" and don't do
> anything different, I still worry a bit that something she eats will
> make her sick.
>
> So in order to avoid some of this
> confusion and frustration, I've come up with a new method for getting
> the information I need all consolidated into one spot. I made a form
> through Google Docs, have it posted on the website (or e-mailed out on
> the group list or individually to people who have made reservations)
> with a plea to PLEASE fill out the form - because the cool thing about
> the Google Docs Form is that it consolidates all the answers for me onto
ONE spreadsheet. I don't have to worry that I've forgotten to put
> someone's information in, or that the reservation steward missed
> someone. ALL the information for the specific event is on one sheet.
>
> Since I write the questions for the form, I can even make sure that they
are
> worded in a (hopefully) fool-proof manner to get the information I
> actually need. For example, one of the questions I have on the form is
> "Do you have any plant-based allergies?" With the explanation that "I
> sometimes cook with items which are not always thought of when listing
> food allergies, such as nettles and hedgerow berries." This means that I
find out ahead of time if I have people allergic to nettles before
> mixing them into the cooked greens or making a nettle soup. (Honestly -
> if it's not listed in the name of the dish, how many people are going to
look at an ingredient list for Nettles if they don't have any food
> allergies?) I can also ask, on the form, for the person's name and
> e-mail in case I have further questions regarding their dietary needs.
>
> I don't know if people realize that this form is as much for my peace of
> mind as it is for their health and safety. Now, the reason for this rant
is that - even after having a link to the form on the event website,
> and sending several e-mails to the group e-mail list and posting it on
> the Principality's facebook group, when I got the list of event
> reservations from the reservation steward, there are STILL people listed
on there, with allergies listed that they sent on their reservation NOT on a
form, who have not filled out the form so I have the information
> ALL IN ONE PLACE.
>
> Granted, this is only the second
> event I've done the form for, but I don't think I could have been any
> more clear. I have people even in my local group who have said "you know
my allergies, right?" and even though I've asked them to please fill
> out the form anyway, so it's on the combined information list, here we
> are four days before the event, and they still haven't done it.
>
> I do have to say, though, that there is one lovely lady who has several
> allergies that I have gotten used to working with. She asked if she
> needed to fill out the form even though I have her information, and was
> quite understanding when I explained that yes, I did need it separately
> for each event, but that a "short list" instead of full explanations
> would be fine now. So basically now she can just write "no alcohol"
> instead of having to list "no alcohol, including wine vinegars, but
> cider vinegar is fine". We've worked out the specifics of her allergies, I
just need the note so I remember that yes, she'll be there and if I'm making
things ahead of time I know which vinegars went into which
> dishes, or I remember to cook the stew with broth instead of beer as a
> base.
>
> So, with it being four days before the event, and people still not filling
out the form as requested...when do I just say "It's not my problem", even
though they gave the information someplace
> else?
> _______________________________________________
> Sca-cooks mailing list
> Sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-cooks-ansteorra.org
--
Saint Phlip
So, you think your data is safe?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/23/schneier.google.hacking/index.html?hpt
=T2
Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.
Priorities:
It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.
.I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary
notices I have read with pleasure. -Clarence Darrow
------------------------------
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