Unexpected Food Situations- Volume 1

Hello Everyone!

I hope everybody enjoyed the last two posts, and if you haven't seen them yet then check them out!

Today I wanted to talk about one type of Unexpected Food Situations, a time where you didn't expect to be catered for, or someone surprises you with an allergy friendly meal from two different perspectives.


Perspective One: The Cook

You are probably feeling extremely sorry for your allergy friend or that they should be entitled to a bit of a surprise themselves! You saw a cool recipe online or on TV and you think it would be totally awesome to surprise your friend with something they can eat that they didn't have to cook themselves. Its super easy to just follow an allergy friendly recipe, so you go to the store and pickup all the right products and then get cooking.

As an allergy person, I totally appreciate that you took time and effort to make something safe for me to eat! However we would love for you to see this situation from our point of view.

Perspective Two: The Allergy Friend

A million questions and worries go through our mind when we are presented with an unexpected food situation.

"Did they check the label? Do they know about traces and may contain labels? What about cross contamination? Did they thoroughly clean their pots pans and utensils before cooking my meal? What about if they made a mistake? Are they sure this is fine for me to eat? I'm so nervous but I don't want to be rude!"

See we seriously appreciate when other people cook for us, but because there are so many little details that go into cooking allergy friendly, what might seem a nice surprise isn't always how we can perceive it. Don't get me wrong, we know you won't do anything to make us sick or put us in hospital, but for us its an autopilot thing to cook without allergens, but it can be difficult for those who don't do it often or have never done it before.

So here are a few tips for if you want to cook for an allergy friend or if your friend turns up with an allergy friendly dish.

For the Cook:

• Talk to your allergy friend first and establish their concerns (if any) about you cooking for them
• Maybe cook a dish together first so that you get comfortable cooking allergy friendly and your friend can help you out.
• Ask them about recipes they might like you to cook that may be simpler or easier to make allergy friendly
• Talk to your friend about what brands they can or cannot eat and whether they consume may contain and traces products
• Understand that at the end of the day, they may not feel comfortable eating what you have surprised them with and it is nothing against you or your cooking abilities!

For the Allergy Friend

• Be open minded, your friend wouldn't want to hurt you!
• Help them out by offering a cooking day/night so you can help them to learn the ins and outs of allergies
• Offer tips about cross contamination and any other cooking issues you may have.
• Talk to them about your preferred brands and ingredients
• At the end of the day it is okay to say no to the dish, as long as you are kind about it and ensure they understand it is not an insult to them.
• Your friend may be really upset when you turn down their dish, so don't be too harsh!

It is not easy for those of us with allergies to accept food from outside sources when we are unsure of its contents. However we do appreciate people making an effort to include us and are always available to answer questions about cooking allergy friendly.