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Chapter 17

FOOD ALLERGIES
AND DISLIKES

Everyone has some kind of food they don’t like, kids especially. When you were really little, your mom probably worried you’d never eat anything but Cheerios, chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, French fries, pizza, and grilled cheese sandwiches for the rest of your life.

As you get older, your taste and taste buds mature as well, but there will always be those one or two things that you just can’t abide, that might even make you sick just thinking about them. Maybe it’s beets or Brussels sprouts or peas or peanut butter or tuna. Maybe it’s all of those things.

When you’re eating at home, your mom or dad, or whoever does the cooking for your family, already knows that about you, and their feelings won’t be hurt if you don’t eat those things. When you’re a guest in someone’s home or at a special dinner and lima beans are being passed around the table, it’s a little trickier, but it’s still manageable.

Food allergies are much more serious and your parents have probably taught you never to eat foods you are allergic to, no matter how delicious or harmless they look. If strawberries make you break out in a rash all over your body, shellfish make you vomit, or peanuts send you into shock, you need to share that with your host or hostess. No one wants to be responsible for making someone sick.

YOU DO

Just pass along without comment a dish of something you know you hate.

YOU DON’T

Make a face and say, “I think beets are so gross! How can you eat those things?”

Why

Making faces and blurting disparaging comments about food that is being served to you is a good way to ensure you won’t be invited back.

YOU DO

Let a friend who asks you to dinner know in advance if you have severe food allergies so she can share that with the cook.

YOU DON’T

Wait until everyone is sitting at the table for a shrimp boil, sigh loudly, and tell them the only thing you can eat is the bread.

Why

It’s awkward for everyone else at the table if one person isn’t eating. Letting your host or hostess know in advance allows them to prepare something that won’t send you to the hospital.

YOU DO

Take a little bit of something you’ve never tried.

YOU DON’T

Spit something out of your mouth if it turns out you hate it, hide the rest of it under a piece of bread, or drop it in your napkin.

Why

When you take just a little bit of an unfamiliar food, you might discover something you really love, and asking for more will please the cook. If you find you don’t like it, it’s not rude to leave just that small bit on your plate.

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A lady lets her host or hostess know in advance if her religious beliefs prevent her from eating a particular food, or she is a vegetarian or vegan.

A lady doesn’t need to say how much she hates lima beans if they are offered to her; she simply says, “No, thank you. But I’d love some more salad!”

A lady doesn’t point out how fattening something is, even if it is very fattening.