Want to know the No. 1 trick for being a great host? It’s simple: Make sure your guests are safe and feel included. But when your guests have food allergies, this simple rule can be a little tricky to follow.
That’s why we asked catering chef Emily Baird about her best tips for serving meals that include everyone you love and using certain foods to create a welcoming environment for all. By properly educating yourself and making little tweaks to kitchen practices, you can bring all your friends and loved ones to the table (or couch!)
Inclusivity and Discretion
The best place to start is by learning some basics about food allergies. For those who aren’t familiar with food allergies, it can sometimes be tough to understand why living with them can feel embarrassing or lonely.
With the right tools and information, everyone can be better equipped to support and accommodate the people in their lives with food allergies. Hosting folks with allergies for dinner, birthday parties, barbecues, or tea is totally possible — and a great opportunity for creativity in the kitchen
The Basics
Any food can cause an allergic reaction, but the nine most common allergens to avoid are:
- Milk and dairy
- Eggs
- Peanuts
- Soy
- Wheat
- Tree nuts
- Shellfish
- Fish
- Sesame
It’s essential to know exactly what ingredients your guest is allergic to in order to help them feel safe and welcome.
Not everyone with food allergies has the same experience or feelings about it, so discretion is important in helping everyone feel welcome. Having conversations privately and ahead of time allows you to ask questions, run your food preparation plan by the individual or their parent, and is a great way to ensure a lovely gathering.
More, Not Less!
Labeling certain dishes as potentially containing allergens might be a great method for some folks with allergies, but for others, that may be an ostracizing experience. Instead, cooking the same allergen-free meal for everyone is an awesome way to establish inclusivity.
Chef Emily Baird works as a private chef, caterer, and retreat chef, so she’s used to cooking for large groups of people with different diets. Her number one tip for preparing meals free of food allergens?
“Think paleo! Paleo recipes tend to have the least amount (and often zero) allergens in them,” she says. Paleo dishes highlight whole, simple ingredients like fruits, vegetables, seeds and lean meats.
Grains, dairy and highly processed foods are excluded in a paleo diet so recipes in that category are a great jumping off point! Just be sure to keep an eye out for nuts and swap them out for an allergen-free alternative.
Chef Baird’s go-to allergen-free meal is grilled steak or chicken, roasted potatoes with herbs, and any vegetables or fruit. “That will almost always work well!”
Safety
Food allergies, unlike intolerances or preferences, are serious medical concerns, which means it’s critical to be attentive and take extra care when preparing food for your guests.
Start with a kitchen reset. Different allergens call for different cleaning procedures, so be sure you’re clear on how the allergen can be ingested or transferred.
- Any allergen that is powdered or pulverized becomes small enough to be spread across surfaces (think: running walnuts through a food processor then placing the lid on the countertop).
- These allergens can become airborne during the cooking process:
- Wheat, soy, or nut flour
- Powdered milk and powdered eggs
- Fish and shellfish if cooked, steamed, or boiled stovetop
- Peanuts when pulverized or ground (Though research doesn’t show that peanut proteins become aerosolized like other allergens.)
In the case of airborne allergens, a thorough clean and sanitization of work surfaces (like countertops and cutting boards) as well as kitchen equipment could make all the difference in keeping your guests comfortable. If applicable, designate allergy-free materials for the night.
Preparing food from scratch wherever possible also ensures that you know what ingredients are included in each component of the meal. Pre-packaged foods like store-bought salad dressings or desserts may contain potential allergens that can sneak by if not carefully vetted.
When it comes to grocery shopping, try to avoid the bulk section because that area has high risk for cross-contamination. Because food allergies are a matter of safety, not dislike, certain measures need to be taken.
Understanding and Supporting Loved Ones with Food Allergies
For some, it can feel vulnerable to talk about food allergies or manage them as a guest in someone else’s home. Here are some ideas and starting points for how best to support your loved ones who live with food allergies.
Do
Frame this as a creative exercise, both for yourself and your guests. Instead of entertaining feelings of restriction, lean into the abundance of allergy-free foods. Becky Selengut is a cookbook author and private chef who actually appreciates cooking allergen-free. “It spurs on my creativity—I look forward to it because I like the challenge.”
Use plenty of color in your cooking to keep it feeling celebratory and joyful. Vibrant veggies, fresh herbs, and “even some bright slices of lemon or orange on the plate and platters will make everything look happy and delicious,” says Chef Emily Baird. That bright energy is especially important in combating the common rhetoric of restriction that surrounds food allergies.
It’s also helpful and reassuring to guests with food allergies to be prepared. In coordination with your guest, put together a plan of action in the event they do have an allergic reaction despite your very best efforts. Is there an EpiPen involved in their care? Who should be notified? What are next steps?
Communicate and check in to see if their comfort level has changed throughout the meal. Carve out opportunities so that your guest can express any modifications that may be necessary.
Seek allergen-free alternatives for staples that may cause a reaction. For example, many dressings and sauces include peanut butter. What about swapping that out for a pumpkin seed butter instead?
If serving a mix of allergy-friendly dishes and foods to avoid, play with different ways to signal a food is safe. Maybe that’s color-coding serveware, using handmade toothpick tags, or placing allergen-free dishes on something like a serving tray tower.
Don’t
Make sure not to shame or alienate your guests with food allergies. The experience can feel isolating for some, so it’s important to create closeness instead of distance between your diners.
Avoid any prodding or judgemental questions and commentary like:
- What do you even eat?
- Can’t you just try a tiny bit?
- This seems a little extreme.
Don’t throw away packaging with ingredients lists! Hang on to all packing labels from items that you may have purchased pre-prepared—and make a list of ingredients you used in the meal. These sort of archives and documentation are important materials and allow for future revisiting if anything does come up.
Don’t be offended if your guests don’t eat every part of the meal — it’s not personal!
Lastly, don’t shy away from hosting people with food allergies! These are important and adaptable skills that could also help a friend in a pinch.
Delicious Food Enjoyable for All
A fun way to keep things simple and fun is to serve everything family-style. That way your guests can avoid what they don’t want to eat without needing to have a conversation about it.
Instead of fearing food and your guest’s allergies, remember that they’re there to celebrate. Properly educate yourself on their particular allergy, make a clear and safe plan for food prep, run it by them, ask questions, and have fun!
Food reminds us of all the abundance in nature and in our own lives, so keep the theme of plenty at the forefront, and say goodbye to food fears.
Diligence, open communication, and an open mind will have you experimenting in the kitchen and creating your next favorite recipe!