The potlucks I’ve been to, there is more than enough food for everybody. At the parish and at friends’ houses, usually people trade for leftovers. In the one we had in graduate school, each person brought one or two dishes from his home country, with the ingredients clearly labeled so people would be able to decide what to eat based on their own dietary restrictions, and again everybody brought enough that all dishes but two had leftovers (and again we traded them around, and the reasons those two didn’t have leftovers is that people fell onto them like hungry wolves, not a lack of foresight).
Do people in other potlucks bring only one portion per expected person, or even less? I mean, I’ve seen mention of “lines”… I’m more used to a melee approach… Skald, in that scenario my family would make enough of both kinds of fudge for everybody. If the non-diabetics try the lo-carb fudge and like it, next time you get to make only that one: win-win!
Quite simply, I like food-- vegetative, alive, or once living. I eat it all, entirely debased of empericism, imperialism, and prejudice. All of it is is part of the palette, taste, and spice of life.
I went for option 2, but with the unstated corollary “until it’s seconds time - then anything goes.” But I also prefer to take from the fuller dishes than the emptier ones anyway for similar reasons that LHoD mentioned - people want their stuff to get eaten and I’d hate for anyone to go home with that “Nobody liked my food! WAAAH!” feeling if I can help out. All bets off if it looks really foul, but I have fairly accomodating tastebuds
I also voted for option 2, but option 2 with a vague awareness of what is going on … is it the ONLY smallish vegan dish at an crowded potluck? Then I will pass … but more often I have been at potlucks were the person who made the specialty dish is more than happy for anyone to try it.
I’ve been to some potlucks where the stuff is definitely veggie-friendly. For example, this summer my major professor had a big BBQ potluck at her house. Even though the main dish was pulled pork, BBQ sauces, and hot dogs… Well, everything else was vegetarian. Hummus, different types of pasta salads, tomato salads, salsas, chips, dips, breads, even some of the desserts. So there was plenty to eat.
I wouldn’t eat something labeled gluten-free, unless the person who made them specifically said they were free for all, like at another house party I attended. Someone who didn’t have the restriction prepared gluten-free chocolate cookies. Which were delicious, and devoured by everyone.
But if I bring a full serving of my vegan banana loaf, mark it as such, and everyone shwanks, there’s not likely another vegan dish which means Susie Vegan gets one slice of banana bread while Chuck Eatsalot gets to have 12 helpings of everything.
Obviously you go to a potluck to share food, and I’m not interested in a ‘well if you have a food issue don’ attend’ type attitude 'cus that IS dickish; however if I were at a potluck with someone who I knew had a food issue I would make sure they had their fill of the gluten free spring rolls before I got in there knowing that it may be the ONLY dish they can actually eat, regardless of how much of it they brought.
I would take a helping of whatever looks good. I like veggie food myself and I presume it’s there to be shared. At the potlucks I go to, there is usually at least one giant pot of veggie fare or whatever. I would assume that if someone has made a small amount of very specialized food just for themselves, they would not put it on the potluck table.
My daughter does have dietary needs (severe food allergies), and potlucks are kind of nightmarish for me because I worry about secret ingredients or contamination. My solution is that I move fast; I’m at the head of the line, gathering a plate of things that are obviously suited to her needs–she tends to get a lot of plain bread and plain fruit salad and plain veggies. And I do it before anyone has a chance to mess up the fruit salad with the wrong spoon. Of course, whatever I have brought I have made with her in mind, so I take a piece of that. But if I was late and that particular tray of food was gone, I wouldn’t pine–she’ll survive, and I can make it up to her later with something nice.
I would tend to assume that gluten-intolerant folks would do something similar to avoid contamination. When it comes to potlucks, you snooze, you lose–once everything has been picked over by a crowd, you can’t be sure you’ll be safe, so it’s better not to eat anything iffy and just get something later.
I’ve had the cheese pizza eaten before the vegetarians and people who don’t eat pork could get any while piles of pepperoni and sausage pizza remained. I’ll leave the specialty food for people who need it, perhaps having some after everyone’s had some.
As an aside, “Just pick the meat off” isn’t always a valid option.
I don’t think vegetarian is in the same category as gluten free or sugar free. Plenty of typical potluck foods are vegetarian. Green been casserole, three bean salad, and pasta salad come to mind. I know vegetarians have to watch out for hidden bacon bits.
If there is a large tray of lasagna with meat next to the same size pan of vegetable lasagna I won’t hesitate to take a helping of the vegetable.
If the potluck is open to a controlled number of guests and I’m pretty sure everyone else has had a crack at everything available I would try a small amount of something vegan or gluten free if it was an unfamiliar dish that really called out to me. I wouldn’t take a scoop of the specially prepared (nonfat maybe?)mashed potatoes because I can make my own and often do. If there’s an intriguing vegan roast pumpkin with hazelnut and sage dish I would try that.
I have never heard that you’re supposed to bring enough to a potluck to serve everyone. That seems like an insane amount of food. If everyone brought enough of their dish for everyone, either everyone would take a serving of everything and stomachs would explode, or there would be a ton of leftover food. I’ve always just made enough to serve 4-8. Have I been doing it wrong all of this time?
I was a little confused by that, too. I figure it depends on what kind of potluck event one is attending. At something like an office function, or a church social, there may be lots of people participating, bringing enough to serve everyone would be impractical. At a smaller friends & family thing, each dish may be a major component of the meal, so bringing enough for all may be the thing to do.
Yep, good point Oak. I think it’s likely that a large part of the disagreement between **Skald **and me is that we seem to have very different mental images of a “potluck” and you illuminated the difference pretty well.
I tend to bring not enough to feed everyone on just my contribution, but enough that everyone can have a half to a normal serving of it. That is, if I’m bringing lasagne for a potluck of 20, I’ll bring a 9X12 pan, so everyone can, if they wish, have a serving, along with the salad, bread and other things I hope will be there. Potluck of 40 and I’ll bring two pans, etc.
The “special food”, I generally bring about half that, so I’d bring an 8X8 pan of octo-lavo vegetarian gluten free lasagne with no mushrooms (my community’s special diet needs met in one dish, cause I’m laaaaazy!) along with the bigger pan of “regular” stuff.
When I entertain at home, I do tend to follow the panicked party hostess tactic of imagining everyone eating only one dish and making enough accordingly. I have lots of leftovers when I entertain! But they’re already at my house, so they just get packed up and frozen or eaten over the next week. I consider it a bonus, not a liability.
Of course, there’s always that one jerk who brings a single 2 liter of soda, but whatcha gonna do?
My rule is to bring more than will feed my own family (though actually I don’t usually eat my own dish–that would be boring). Everyone does that, and there are tons of leftovers. Because there are like 40 dishes and everyone takes a bit, and it all works out. You can’t actually take something of every dish.
There is a chain of vegetarian/vegan restaurants here called Fresh. They actually make some damn tasty baked goods! Just vegan stuff isn’t so hard and most people don’t realize it’s vegan because the only thing different is the lack of an egg. The bigger problem is gluten-free vegan baked goods because they are so temperamental to make. Mix something a bit too well, and you end up with a brick suitable for use in a retaining wall.
The option I would have picked is “Yes, if I know who prepared it.” Size of portion wouldn’t be a factor. If the container wasn’t labeled as to who made it, I would leave it alone.
I would try a little bit of it because I love trying new foods and experimenting with odd combinations. To be honest, the scenario postulated in the OP has never come up in any of my work’s potlucks.
The third time you ask him what he’s bringing and he replies, “I don’t think I’ll be participating, I’m not much of a cook,” take the hint instead of replying “I’ll put you down for soda!”
I’m not vegetarian generally prefer veggie food, so when a group is ordering pizzas and the like, I’ll get myself counted as one of the veggies.
At a regular potluck, I won’t hesitate to take some vegetarian food. Generally there is plenty of veggie stuff, so it’s not like the veggies are going to starve because I’m taking their portion of green-beans. In any case, my contribution is almost certainly vegetarian, so I’m overall adding.
If it’s gluten free or whatever, I guess I’d look at the portions. If it’s a small event and I know there is only one person on a gluten-free diet, I’ll assume she meant to share her contribution with the group, and did not intend to make a full meal of a dozen gluten-free cookies. If it’s a large impersonal gathering, I’ll probably leave it be, in part because I’ll have plenty of other options.
People with special diets do have some responsibility to take care of themselves in uncontrolled situations. When I was vegetarian and I knew I was going to a meat-heavy function, I would “pre-load” at home.