Special diets for visitors

I read this on another forum. My reaction is "That is completely bonkers!! If people are so particular, they should stay home!!"

But maybe I am a nasty uncaring beast …

On the rare occasions we have people over (like for our son's birthday,) I usually have a large spread of food; most of it is vegetarian (and of that, half is vegan and half is lacto-ovo) and then only one or two non-vegetarian dishes (and those will be made of organic, free-range poultry or fish.) I offer a vegan dessert on top of the cake (which isn't vegan :P) and have ingredient lists handy for each dish I've prepared in case anyone failed to mention they suffer from a food allergy/aversion. There's always also a large beverage selection- from bottled water, fresh-pressed juice, wine, etc.. everyone has something they can drink 🙂

I also am one of those odd people that keep separate pots, pans and cooking utensils for meat, dairy and vegetarian dishes, so if anyone who's Jewish or Muslim should come to my house, they can eat without worrying about violating their food laws (I also keep separate plates, glasses and silverware specifically for such individuals.)

I'm ashamed to say that my social circle contains no lacto-ovo jews at all. 😳

One of my mates tends to drink cider, so I keep some in. That's about as far as it goes at mine. 🙂

I have sympathy for allergies.

Other than that, if people want to self-restrict what they will eat I'll let them sort it out themselves. They can eat or not eat what I put in front of them.

A bit OTT for sure. MrsPP is veggie (20+ years now) and although I wouldn't touch her food with something I'd just flipped my bacon with (for instance) it's otherwise very easy to get along just fine. 🙂

i'm a vegetarian.

after a big night out recently my friend got up made everyone cheese, bacon and egg baked sarnies and forgot to do mine without bacon.

when she served them i could have made a big deal out of it, or even just pulled the bacon out. i just ate it. saw it as good manners.

On the rare occasions we have people over

I can understand having a set of halal sauce-pans if you often have people over, but if it's a rare occurence then that really is very, very sweet of her. I'm assuming it's a she. Which is a bit racist of me..

TBH Vegetarians really annoy me!

I mean, you go round their houses and they make you eat some god awful attempt at good food no meat in there whatsover. Then they come round to your house and you're expected to cater to their vegetarian requirements!!

Psffhhh.

I'd pay attention to food allergies etc, and would meet the religious needs of people, the only time I can recall cooking spcific veggie was when we had a teacher staying with us on a school exchange, we went veggie for the time he was with us to make life easier, but all utensils etc were the same ones that days earlier had been used for bacon, beef, pork etc.

To be fair, Thom, if you eat bacon you're not a vegetarian.

I only have one veggie friend/family member, the rest are normal 🙂 . We accommodate that person perfectly happily, but they are fairly care-free about it.

Seriously though, who has such massively varying friends – that's really odd to me, I've loads of friends from other countries, but none with lacto-ovo-veganistic oddness, that person must be pretty unlucky to have such varying friends lol.

I cannot see the problem, friendship is all about give and take, I have veggie and vegan mates, I am always happy to scrub the pans vigorously before I cook for them.

I used to put beef stock in veggie bolognese for food hating vegetarian guests

I cannot see the problem, friendship is all about give and take, I have veggie and vegan mates, I am always happy to scrub the pans vigorously before I cook for them.

Totally agree, but I'm fairly sure I'd just not invite large numbers of people with differing needs, and there's no way in hell I'd have different pans and plates set aside for people with specific religious requirements. Sure, the food wouldn't mix, but it's taking it a little far to have different utensils. I just wouldn't invite them if they were that difficult to accommodate, I'd suggest going out for a meal to somewhere they chose.

I'd pay attention to food allergies and would probably provide a vegetarian option. Someone who's Muslim or Jewish wouldn't be handed a bacon sandwich. Effort stops there, and there's absolutely no way I'd buy Halal meat.

Come to think of it, I doubt I'd be friendly enough with someone who considers Halal acceptable to invite them over for dinner anyway.

Always put out some chicken for the veggies…

There's a story of a friend of mine that always makes me chuckle.
Got an invite to fort bill one year for the world cup from a mutual friend of ours. Now obviously he jumped at the chance. Chipped in for petrol and fir the b&b, which was already booked.
When he got there, they drove miles away from the venue, to this b&b, claiming it was the only one that had vacancies.
What hed forgotton was that our other friend is a strict vegan, and this b&b turned out to be a strict vegan establishment.
Didn't find this out until the first morning, when nursing a monster hangover, rolled up for breakfast wanting a nice greasy fry up, but was offered 'tasty' vegan alternatives.
3 nights with evening meals included he had in there, lol.

All of the people I socialise with would make an effort to accommodate my random dietary requests, so being the good host and equally good friend I would also make the effort to accommodate any of my friends/visitors dietary needs.

veggie breakfast sets you up better for the day.

Always put out some chicken for the veggies…

And din't forget that, in Greece, ham is a vegetable.

veggie breakfast sets you up better for the day.

I wouldn't go to those lengths. What does suprise me is how loads of places mess stuff up – the uni cafes sometimes do chicken floating in mayo type sandwich fillings. Which would in theory be edible for less strict Muslims, Jews & the occasional Hindu that only eats chicken.

But of course, being a uni with a load of international students, they mix ham or bacon in too 🙄

It always strikes me as strange that some people don't consider a meal to be a meal unless it involves meat. If we have friends round and one is a veggie, then generally I would cook a veggie dish rather than making something different especially for them. If I go out for a meal, the veggie section of the menu will get an equal chance with the rest.

As an example, vegetable lasagne is just as nice as beef…

As an example, vegetable lasagne is just as nice as beef…

Floor. Roll about on. Laughing it off…

I'm a meat eater and always have been but if you can't frequently put a satisfying meal on a plate for yourself without any meat on it then that seems a bit pathetic. And if you'd need to make special effort to cater for someone who doesn't eat meat then what kind of boring diet do you have. You don't need to make 'veggie versions' of things, just eat food.

As an example, vegetable lasagne is just as nice as beef…

There is plenty of good non-meat food out there but, I'm with Mr Woppit on this, veggie lasagne is not good. In fact (as a sweeping generalisation) a veggie 'version' of a meat dish is nearly always poor. Don't get me going on spinach and ricotta cannelloni.

Spinach and ricotta cannelloni is great with a meaty bolognaise sauce on it.

I can see making food to cater for veggies, or people who don't like fish, or whatever, but when people who require that food be cooked with special separate pans etc. go out to eat, what do they themselves expect, or consider polite?

Don't get me going on spinach and ricotta cannelloni.

my mouth is watering 🙂

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here's an idea? bit of a hijack.

my mouth is watering

Is there a lady around?

I'm on my 3rd MFD (meat free decade)

I had a BBQ over the weekend and had a side salad for veggies. I never cater for other people. If others are coming and they have a special diet then bring your own food!

If there is an issue, why not just send the proposed menu to people and they can either discuss it with you or just not attend that particular meal?

Please tell me that the quote in the OP is from either an OCD forum or written by an American (probably a Californian).

At a dinner party you need:

A meat-based dish
A non-meat-based dish

There should be enough of the veggie one that us meat-eaters can have some of that too. I can't stand veggies who complain that the meateaters are eating 'their food' – hey, we're not the ones who are voluntarily limiting our dietary range!

I can't stand veggies who complain that the meateaters are eating 'their food'

what's on my plate is mine!!

WRT the OP, that is most definitely going too far.

WRT some of the other comments here, my what a broad-minded and tolerant bunch some of you are. *slow hand clap*

It's not hard really, is it, for the veggies to let the carnivores eat meat without derision, and for the meat-eaters to let the veggies enjoy a meal that's not covered in dead flesh?

I can't stand veggies who complain that the meateaters are eating 'their food'

Speaking as a veggie, nor can I. If an omnivore is choosing the veggie dish over the meaty one, that's a complement for the meal IMO. I'd be quietly proud.

what's on my plate is mine!!

But in your vegetable-enfeebled state are you going to have the strength to defend it from a circling pack of hungry eyed ferocious meat-eaters? 🙂

I can't stand veggies who complain that the meateaters are eating 'their food'

Contradicting my sweeping generalisation about veggie 'versions' previously, the veggie burgers at my old local were really quite tasty, a nice change from their similarly tasty beefburgers. Both were home-made, cooked to order and in limited supply. A mate of mine had a real go at me for ordering the last veggie burger one night in case a vegetarian turned up and couldn't have one.

To this day I can't see why I was at fault.
~ the pub could have made more
~ the veggie, knowing his limited choice was in limited supply, could have got there in good time
~ the veggie (like ThomThumb above) could, I suppose, have had the beefburger out of politeness (or a bag of nuts).

for the veggies to let the carnivores eat meat without derision, and for the meat-eaters to let the veggies enjoy a meal that's not covered in dead flesh?

🙄