I have to agree with you. My daughter’s gluten intolerant - which is NOT the same thing as an allergy, and the reason we can still go out to eat. She *can *tolerate the small bit of cross-contamination present in non dedicated gluten free kitchens, and she won’t go into shock if she gets a crouton on her salad. She may have a tummy ache if she actually eats it, but that’s not the end of the world.
Even so, I find it best to be a bit more specific than “gluten”, and I’ve found that if I’m friendly and helpful, most chefs/managers are friendly and helpful in return. Rule number one is…don’t call it gluten without explaining where gluten is found. “A wheat allergen” isn’t all that useful, 'cause it may get you a bowl of beef barley soup. “She can’t have gluten - that means no wheat, rye or barley. Do you use flour to thicken your gravy?” is a lot easier question to answer than, “What’s gluten free?” Once they see the pattern of my questions, quite a few chefs have been actually excited to come up with a tasty gluten free meal for her, even if it’s not on the menu. Of course, we don’t tend to take her out on a busy Saturday night, either. A bored chef at 4 on a Wednesday is much more amenable to customizing food!
Because we don’t have to avoid cross-contamination, we can feed her pretty much anywhere, including places like IHOP. Eggs, bacon and a side of fruit are just fine. Pizza joints, carnivals and street fairs are really the only places we HAVE to bring along a meal for her anymore. (Tortilla chips are fine…nacho cheese from a can often has wheat. Seasoned curly fries? Wheat. Cheap hot dogs? Wheat. Cheap hamburgers? Wheat. It’s an exercise in frustration.)
If she was *truly *allergic, we’d only go out to eat at gluten free restaurants, or bring her meal with us. It’s my job to keep her safe, not the restaurant’s.
I agree with you in principle, but that isn’t the case here: one of the hosts (the daughter) is asking another of the hosts (her father) to prepare these foods for her guests. It’s not obligatory for the hosts to provide these foods, but it’s certainly not forbidden for them to, and there’s no indication that the friends in question wouldn’t be perfectly happy to just eat off the vegetable tray if that’s all that they were willing to eat.
It’s just a bit strident to basically assume that because the friends have strong food taboos they must be imposing those taboos on their friends. It’s quite possible that they are really very cool about it all, and that the daughter is simply being generous.
Really - you think it’s appropriate to invite someone to your home for a meal, knowing that they have certain food intolerances and preferences and NOT try to accommodate them?
I’m not vegan or gluten intolerant; however, I regularly cook vegan meals and they’re no more difficult than a non vegan meal.
Where do you draw the line? If you invite someone over who has a known peanut allergy do you just go ahead with your thai peanut satay and screw them, they can starve?
'Cus really, if that’s the case you’re not much of a host.
I’m gluten intolerant, and since I can tolerate small amounts of gluten, and am pretty lax about the whole thing, I’m pretty easy.
But being newly diagnosed is tough, because of all the places wheat crops up. And because MANY people over react when first diagnosed (clue, you’ve been eating it for years, getting a little gluten probably isn’t going to make you drop over dead. But it ISN’T good for you if you can’t tolerate it and for some people can create quite a bit of misery in small amounts).
There have been a few diners in the Midwest where its a struggle - Burger, no bun works in most dives. It isn’t a pleathora of choices. But it takes some self education over time - it doesn’t happen overnight. And it helps to have a native guide.
But yes, I expect a chef - even a fry cook - when presented with an allergy to be familiar with ingrediants - or willing to look at packaging. Its a food safety thing - like leaving the milk out on the counter. And its a liability thing - if you say something doesn’t have peanuts in it, and one of your customers goes into shock, the resulting lawsuit can be enough to close that midwest diner down.
Mmm. I think if I’m going to someone’s engagement party which is NOT ABOUT ME and I am gluten-free, I can make do with fruit and cheese. If I’m vegan, I can eat fruit and bread.
Again, that’s not what is happening here. If you went to someone’s party, totally prepared to eat fruit alone, and they had, without any pressure on your end, prepared a few dishes you could eat, would you be upset? Because that’s what the OP is doing.
in this case, the person inviting people is not the person tasked with cooking for them. If I was Rick I’d already be past the point where I throw my hands up and say “the hell with cooking, everybody bring their own food.”
it is when you have limited time and limited grill space and you have to accommodate a bunch of different “menus.”
I think anaphylaxis is just a tiny bit different than what we’re discussing here.
But Rick is clearly not at that point. Presumably he could have said “no” to his daughter if he wanted to–family asking for a favor is nothing like a guest making demands of a host. So why does it bother you?
Wow.
Let’s get a few things straight here. Let me give you some back story.
About 10 years ago my daughter (same on that is getting engaged) had a slumber party. She wanted ribs for dinner. Fine, no problem. I asked if any any of her guests were keeping kosher or were vegetarian. No she replied.
Guess what? She had not asked. Two of her guests were Jewish and didn’t eat pork. :smack: They were quite nice about it, but both she and I felt bad that we did not have food that met their dietary restrictions.
Fast forward to now. Darling daughter is having her engagement party. She learned from that other party and has found out who has what dietary restrictions. Since I don’t eat vegan or gluten free, I posted this thread.
IMHO if I know in advance that someone has a dietary restriction and I don’t cater to it, I am a real asshole of a cook.
I don’t care if I have to start cooking the night before and wind up cooking 5 different types of meals, the guests at a party I am cooking for will find food that meets their dietary restrictions. The only restriction I place on this is I have to know in advance. Don’t surprise me when I am serving with I can’t eat X. M’kay? Are we clear on this?
I am thinking I will do veggie kabobs as the main course and for desert either grilled pineapple or grilled peaches (if they are available in the market by then)
I will clean one grill to uses just for the veggie stuff, and cook the meat on another grill. Although that Thai green curry does sound real good.
Question. I can oil the grill with coconut oil, that’s vegan, right?
That’s something I don’t really understand about my brother’s descriptions of dinners which include someone with celiac disease. They’ll have wheat pasta, rice noodles, two pasta sauces (both gluten-free), two homemade wheat-flour cakes and an also-homemade gluten-free cake.
Why not make all cakes with certified-gluten-free corn flour, instead of wheat flour? Why not make rice for everybody instead of two pots of pasta? All the cakes I’ve ever baked were made with corn flour (in Spain it’s cheaper); I know several bars which are “celiac friendly” and the first thing they do is make sure all their flour is corn. OK, no beer-basting either but… dunnow, isn’t it a lot simpler to make gluten-free dishes for everybody than two versions of everything? At least when it’s for a special occasion and not everyday fare, and many of the families I know which have celiacs have discovered that it’s just easier to cook gluten-free at home and those with healthy digestive systems can indulge their wheat cravings when they eat out.
I realize it’s more complicated for a BBQ, but again I think it’s easier to get GF buns for everybody than try to keep everything separate and keep track of every little bit.
This sounds very tasty and coconut oil is fine. Maybe throw some extra firm tofu on the kabobs too, just for protein. You could marinate it ahead of time for a bit of flavor.
Two reasons: one, gluten free stuff is pretty good these days (bread products are only mostly good, except for one particular brand which is good good), but most wheat eaters find the texture a little “off”. I’m a proud cook, and I don’t want the gluten free noodles to detract from my dish unless dietary requirements compel it.
But more importantly, gluten free items are expensive. Like, really expensive. I can buy a package of wheat hot dog buns for 89c, if I coupon it right. A pack of gluten free buns is $7. :eek: I can’t afford to septuple my budget for a party. Or even, really for everyday. So we buy gluten free stuff for the wee one, and the rest of us eat wheat. We do tend to do a lot more default gluten free menus (rice and potatoes) for family meals, but that was a gradual transition.
I’ve never tried GF buns/bread, but unless its just way off it probably wouldn’t be too much different than the textures of different breads anyhow. On the occasion I buy them, the whole grain ones I get are as different as can be from the Wonder sponge that many people associate with hamburger buns.
They are, trust me. With the exception of Udi’s brand and one bakery in Evanston, all the gluten free breads available around here are horrible. Dense, crumbly…most of them you can’t eat without toasting them first. They’re like bricks. Gluten is the very thing that makes bread breadlike, instead of cakelike.
We do wholegrain bread, too. It’s absolutely unlike gluten free bread.
Hi
First post on here, due to my daughter developing an intolerance to wheat, and having to throw her a party also, with a handful of vegan teenagers coming along! Not for me to judge but just don’t get it myself!
Anyway there are some great suggestions on this site but a cool little site I found is http://theideaskitchen.co.uk/
Recently found some recipes for gluten free bread which always goes down well, as according to the kids, they get fed up of not being able to eat nice gluten free bread at parties and their mates houses.
Thanks
P
And while Udi’s is wonderful - it brought tears to my eyes when I found it - it is really only wonderful in comparison to other GF bread. It doesn’t hold up well as a hamburger bun (its still too crumbly - gluten - as I know WhyNot knows - provides elasticity to baked goods). It doesn’t taste like much (i.e. compared to a great sourdough or a bagette or a challah or a seven grain or rye - it tastes like dried out wonderbread). (WhyNot, I’ve had fair success with Breads from Anna mixes. I like her pumpkin bread and her basic bread mix - haven’t tried anything else https://breadsfromanna.com/ To drive home the pricing - this is a $7 bread mix - you are still adding ingrediants and making it yourself. They are still lousy compared to real bread though).
GF flours are almost all nutrition free as well. Empty carbs. Little fiber. A GF friend of mine doctors the recipes to get some nutrition.
