venta

Or possibly any country :)

On the no-meat front, I've also heard tales from travelling vegans about (in some countries) having to specify that "no meat" also includes "no minced meat" as that's considered to be different. So I guess the signs need to be culturally-aware as well as translated. (Hence the inclusion on the no-fish Japanese one that yes, this means dashi as well.)

I think Travelling Vegans sounds a bit like some sort of frightfully left-wing bang-on circus.

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"No really, I'm prepared to take the risk of eating something that's been prepared in a kitchen with wheat present - I won't die" would be handy in this country too.

A large number of restaurant staff don't seem to understand that there are health-related food restrictions that *don't* cause you to drop down dead instantly. Either you've got a fatal allergy or you're just being fussy - there's no in between.

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I have encountered this one too! Though probably much less frequently than you have.

My boyfriend doesn't eat nuts - he won't explode on contact, or anything exciting, he just violently dislikes them. Trying to find out whether something like a cake actually has nuts deliberately put in it is really quite difficult.

Tangentially, since we moved offices, the wife of one of my colleagues has started joining us for our Friday pub lunch trip (since they live very nearby). She's coeliac, and I've been slightly surprised at the extent to which fairly average pubs have been reasonably clued-up and very obliging. By 'average', I mean a small pub with a limited menu, not a gastropub or a particularly foody place. None of them have had specific gf options on the menu, but thus far they've been most willing to adapt food, and fairly aware of potential problems with pre-prepared sauces and so on.

Is this your experience in general? I know you've written about some really bad cases on your LJ, but I don't know if they're representative or exceptional. I guess it might be relevant that the pubs in question have all been non-chainy places, that weren't particularly busy, where the person who was doing the cooking could pop out for a chat.

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pseudomonas.livejournal.com

I used not to eat nuts in a similar way (in my case I thought at the time they were causing stomach problems). I used the formulation "I don't eat large quantities of nuts" with a reasonable amount of success.

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Lots of places which are fine with people having one dietary requirement simply can't get their heads round people having two. This happened a couple of months ago, in a hotel where I was staying for work - and I'm really not exaggerating:

ME: Hello, do you have anything vegetarian and gluten free?
HIM: Yes, there's pasta or pizza.
ME: Oh, do you do gluten free pasta and pizza bases?
HIM: Oh, gluten free. I'll just go and check with the chef.

[Goes away and returns after about five minutes]

HIM: The chef can do you steak and chips.
ME: Steak isn't vegetarian, is it?
HIM: But I thought you wanted gluten free!
ME: Yes, I need food that's both gluten free and vegetarian. I phoned the hotel three days ago, at ten o'clock on Friday morning, and spoke to a manager who said he would inform the chef, and guaranteed you would be able to cook something for me.
HIM: I'll just go and check.

[Goes away and returns after about five minutes]

HIM [with huge grin on his face, as though he's doing me the biggest favour in the world by deigning to find out the answer]: We can't cook anything for you.

*****

So while I'm not surprised that it isn't difficult for coeliacs with no extra requirements to eat out, it is difficult for me.

If I can see some things on the menu that would or may make an adequate meal I'll give it a go (e.g. if there's omlette and chips, and the chips have gluten on them, but something else is available with new potatoes, I'll ask for an omlette and new potatoes; if there's mushroom stroganoff and rice, I'll ask about the sauce, and if I think they're telling me it's got gluten in it because they can't be bothered to check, or they think cream has gluten, I'll keep pressing until I get a proper answer.)

But if I can't see anything, I don't generally try, because people make me feel awful and fussy even when I've done everything I can, like ringing in advance, so I can't imagine how awful I'd feel if I really were making difficult demands.

Lots of places do jacket potatoes, though, and I seldom find I'm far from something like a Wetherspoons, a Wagamama's an Indian restaurant or somewhere else I know will be safe, so it's not as huge a problem as it might be.

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Ah, yes, I had forgotten that it was a bit more complicated than "just" gluten-free for you. I imagine that training courses don't cover "what to do if a customer has two distinct requirements" :( Failing to cater for you when it's been arranged in advance is particularly poor, though.

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I fully believe you aren't exaggerating.

Mostly because I've had almost exactly that conversation so many times getting non-dairy vegetarian food. People ALWAYS end up offering me something with dairy in but no meat, followed by meat with no dairy.

And then, they start getting really confused and going "Well, such and such has got gluten in so you can't have that..."- ummmm, huh?

I have started just asking if food is vegan, which you would *think* would be harder because of how it's more restrictive, but usually works out easier and more likely to get food. Because otherwise you get the "May contain traces of blah blah blah" and not an actual straight answer. My local pub have started a deeply, deeply annoying policy which says that the serving staff have to say "Yes" to all questions about "does it contain...?" even if it doesn't, on the grounds that keeping an allergy list is too hard.

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lanfykins.livejournal.com

I am now curious as to whether you actually got fed that evening.

How is it possible for places to be unable to cater to your combination in a world where jacket potatoes exist?

(Though when my boss - a soy-intolerant, gf vegetarian - came over to visit the UK, she did end up basically living on the things for a week. Which was not as interesting for her as it might have been.)

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My new favourite recipe is Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's "vegeree", which is basically kedgeree but with roasted aubergine, courgette and onion in place of the fish. Which is almost everything-free, assuming your dinner guest can eat eggs.

Which isn't really relevant to the conversation at all, except it's rather nice and people might like to try it.

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Yum! Do you have a link?

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I do not, because it came out of a Real Live Book.

However, I have some hands and a keyboard, and it's quite a short recipe, so when the opportunity next presents itself I shall post it :)

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Oh super, thanks

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Yes. I firmly said that wasn't good enough, and the chap went back into the kitchen. When he came back, he could offer me a goat's cheese salad.

I asked what was in it, and he said goat's cheese. And salad.

I said that wasn't enough, because I needed something with starch / complex carbohydrates, like rice or potatoes. Could I perhaps have a side dish of rice or potatoes with the salad? I could pay extra for it. No. Well, perhaps I could have the mushroom risotto that was on the menu, and the goats cheese as a starter. No, this wasn't possible, the goats cheese was a main course. But I could have the mushroom risotto as a starter.

Which I did, and it was quite nice. I don't really understand salad in more than small doses and munching my way through it was a bit of a chore, but the goat's cheese and the risotto were both nice, even though the latter was made without stock.

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feanelwa.livejournal.com

I sometimes wonder if a picture along with the words might work better in this country, since many people seem to give up 3 words into the sentence :/ thank you Murdoch.

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You could make your own, y'know... I hear you've more or less got the hang of the lingo despite being Scots ;)

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pseudomonas.livejournal.com

Useful; I think I've seen such things before though. I resorted to drawing pictures to explain in a restaurant in Armenia once.

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Yes, I don't think it's a new idea. Pictures probably work for most things if you have a waiter who is willing to pay attention... though drawing "I will have an anaphyllactic reaction to shellfish" might be messy and complicated :)

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sea-of-flame.livejournal.com

I have resorted to using the explanation 'shellfish that have/used to have legs and eyes are fine, those without are a problem', since bivalves have declared war on me.

This usually (a) gets a laugh rather than people assuming I'm being fussy, since I'm giving a thumbs up to the bits that classically weird 'fussy' people out, (b) doesn't involve people understanding more than minimal biology, (c) avoids the linguistically nasty 'shellfish with shells are a problem', and (d) only offends those who would be too squeamish to serve shellfish to start with.

I have yet to determine whether 'temperature goes through the roof, and I get physical stomach cramps - no, not an ouchy ache, actual uncontolled muscle knots like you get in your leg *but in my stomach*' counts as an intolerance or an allergy, since I don't get a rash/difficulty breathing, etc - but I'm disinclined to continue exposing my immune system in case I find out the empirical way! It's certainly not food poisoning, since it's a repeat symptom, and it's only me that's had it even when food has been shared.

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Nice description!

It reminds me of a friend who often calls herself vegetarian (she isn't, it's just the simplest way to summarise and make sure she gets something she can eat). She actually eats quite a lot of meat (chicken, fish, shellfish, etc). The slightly longer version is that she doesn't eat mammals - but apparently this requires too much biology knowledge to be a useful thing to say :)

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'temperature goes through the roof, and I get physical stomach cramps - no, not an ouchy ache, actual uncontolled muscle knots like you get in your leg *but in my stomach*' counts as an intolerance or an allergy, since I don't get a rash/difficulty breathing, etc - but I'm disinclined to continue exposing my immune system in case I find out the empirical way!

Oh, goodness, yes, I know that one! Mostly I figure it is a moot point whether it's an allergen or intolerance, since a)it's unpleasant enough regardless of what's causing it and b)anti-allergy treatments don't work (on me anyway) on stomach symptoms, even for known allergens.

Does your doc recommend interleaving doses of buscopan and mebeverine too for really severe bouts? Utter magic! (But presumably only something to be done on the instructions of a doc!)

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sea-of-flame.livejournal.com

Do you know, I never considered bothering a doctor with it - so I've no idea!

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ringbark.livejournal.com

A friend has the misfortune to have an intolerance to any and all egg products. She found out (the hard way) that many people think "intolerance" means "I can't have very much of it" and switched to saying "allergy" even though this is technically incorrect.
Also, she found out that apparently "any part of the egg at all" does not seem to include the white: "oh, there wasn't any yolk in it so I thought you'd be ok" - well, you thought wrong...
And so forth.

As for me, I can't eat blackcurrants without being very unwell. It's not a big issue, but I feel for thouse with more major issues:
Q. What fruit is on today's fruit cheesecake?
A. I don't know. Does it matter?
Q. Is there any bleackcurrant in this?
A. I don't know. Does it matter?
(nb - to stand a chance of a correct answer, ask an open question without giving them a clue what answer is better.)
Q. So, Ian, is it the flesh of the fruit that causes you to be unwell or the juice?
A. I have no idea, and I don't wish to be violently ill while I experiment on this one. Omitting all blackcurrant from my diet is just fine.
Q. Are you sure you can't eat blackcurrants?
A. Yes, quite sure, thank you.
et cetera, ad nauseam, literally sometimes...

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A friend of my mother's is violently allergic to - of all things - potato. (Given that she's of my mum's generation, I'm surprised she's survived, because I suspect she had the allergy before anaphyllaxis was a word anyone knew).

Given that restaurants often use potato starch as a cheap way of thickening sauces - but deny it because it's not the classical way to thicken some sauces - this one can be a minefield. Potato also seems such a hugely improbably thing to be allergic to that I suspect she might have difficulty convincing people.

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That's interesting - I get the opposite thing. People claim there's wheat flour in sauces because they can't be bothered to check, and when I make them check, it turns out to be cornflour.

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In fairness, I am half-remembering this from being told ages ago, so I may be getting it wrong! It may have been one particularly up-itself French restaurant that had that problem or something :)

(However, you have accidentally answered something I've been wondering about for ages, which is "is cornflour gluten-free". I thought it was, but only because I couldn't find anything saying it did have gluten in (as opposed to something definitely saying it didn't). It's nice to have someone informed make an authoritative statement on it :) )

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leathellin.livejournal.com

Personally I think cornflour is a better thickener anyway.
Also buckwheat - really quite misnamed.

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Buckwheat isn't wheaty? I had no idea.

(I don't currently cook for anyone who's gf, but I try to consider occasionally what I might do in case a friend suddenly springs a gf gf on me, or something :)

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leathellin.livejournal.com

Buckwheat - not even a grass.
Used to make galettes (the second kind in the Wikipedia article), and galettes are served in a french restaurant in Richmond where it is possible to have some form of pancake for all three courses :-)

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Yes, I'm familiar with the eating of buckwheat, just not its antecendents :)

Mmm... galettes.

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phlebas.livejournal.com

gf gf
Gah!

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Sorry!

I persistently read "gf" as girlfriend, despite any context. I spent a long time once wondering why on earth

the_alchemist was making a fuss about wanting "girlfriend pizza" before common sense kicked in.

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exspelunca.livejournal.com

Try being violently allergic to alcohol, which I was for 30 years. No-one believes you. "just a little one..." No, not even a sip. And the very real fear that some clown would spike your tonic with vodka.

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Er, no, thanks, I don't think I will try that :)

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fractalgeek.livejournal.com

The cards are pretty good, but it would be nice if they made the distinction between fish and veggie dashi.

I also used to find "I can't eat X" (even for religious reasons) seemed to work better than "I don't eat X"

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I don't know if you read the comments, but someone commented about the distinction between fish and veggie dashi. Maki's answer was:

The reasoning here is that most of the time, especially at restaurants, dashi is made with some kind of dried fish. That is the norm. If by chance the establishment you are at makes their dashi from vegetable ingredients only (which would be unusual) they should be able to tell you that once you've said you can't have dashi.

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fractalgeek.livejournal.com

Me!

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