Food & wine desperation - what to do?

[SueV14]

Ok, I'm looking for like-minded foodies and wine lover among you ladies who also struggle adjusting to all the food restrictions?? All the things I love and would normally order when eating out I can't have, eg. medium cooked steak, chicken liver pate, beef tartar, sashimi, ceviche, seared scallops, prosciutto, carpaccio, soft stinky cheeses with rind and all the other great stuff...!! And although I don't miss having a drink on its own at all, I do love wine and miss pairing up my food with wines, be it in a restaurant or when I cook at home and enjoy a glass with dinner. I did try de-alcoholized wine from waitrose and it's no good. And I am one of those who decided not to have an odd glass every now and then.

I do consider myself a foodie and a bit of a wine-guru, and now being just under 8 weeks I'm wondering how to survive without all the things I love and (unfortunately) crave. While no morning sickness is actually a good thing I guess it would've been easier to stop thinking of all the foods I miss. :-)

Anyone feeling the same way?

[Mrscog]

I have been eating medium steak (my compromise as I'd normally have rare), and soft stinky cheese in cooked forms (brie pannini etc), and since I hit 20 weeks I've had one small glass of wine a week too. I think some cured meats are ok - think supermarket rather than backstreet deli (although check this). The NHS website is good for guidance.

And remember - HARD BLUE CHEESE is FINE. The number of people I've wanted to smack around the face for saying 'you can't eat stilton' in a whiny voice... grrrrr.

[SueV14]

Mrscog, I'm using NHS site for guidance as well. And I'm not sure it's ok for meat to be even pink though..?

And yes, I know re Stilton. With Stilton being one of the cheeses I. Or ally loved I made a huge portion of Stilton mushroom risotto and was eating it for 3 days. That was a total overkill and I can't see any blue cheese ever since! :))

[Mrsgrumble]

I am probably no help but I hated de-alcoholised wine but I allowed myself Radler lemon beer- 0.1 % or something

Also liked a tonic water and lemon

I have had my baby and I was craving end but cannot enjoy it now..bizarre

[Mrscog]

Yes pink is not recommended but the risk is so small I have taken it, plus in my first pg we were told it was fine to eat pink whole cuts of meat. I completely understand it's a personal choice though.

Thank goodness the Stilton message got through to you though! :)

[Threeplus1]

Sushi is fine if it is very fresh (Japanese women are encouraged to eat it), just avoid high mercury fish like tuna and shark. Same with ceviche.

I personally still eat prosciutto and smoked salmon - in fact, I'm pretty obsessed with smoked salmon right now!

I love pâté and usually make a big batch of chicken liver, port and fig pâté every Christmas, but that's one that I do avoid when pregnant. Baked Brie or Camembert with crusty french bread to dip is divine - and perfectly ok.

As for wine, I'd be ok with the odd glass once I'm past the first trimester, but if you want to avoid alcohol totally then get creative with the mocktails!

[Mrscog]

Oh and I do sympathise, I'm craving pâté like mad this time. 17 weeks to go.

[Nandocushion]

First pregnancy? I get it, I really do...but you know, French women still eat the cheese and paté and drink the wine, Italian women eat the prosciutto (and drink the wine), and Japanese women eat the sashimi. Their babies are fine. If you have a second one, you'll probably be able to relax a bit.

[HolyDrinker]

I thought sushi was fine if it had been frozen first, and you should avoid the fresh stuff. So most supermarket sushi should be fine. Something about the freezing process killing off harmful parasitic worms.

[SueV14]

Mrsgrumble, yes this non-alcoholic wine sucks indeed! I am not a beer person normally (only like Desperados and Corona) so tried a few non-alc beers and well, who was I kidding! :)

Threeplus1, you made me drool with your Christmas pate!! Post your recipe and I'm making it the day after I give birth! :)) Baked Camembert is on my list to make this weekend though! But would be sooooo much better with a glass of good red! drool

[Threeplus1]

All good sushi joints will use fish that was first flash frozen

[SueV14]

Nando, exactly! This is what I'm telling myself all the time, how the hell do French and Japanese women have healthy babies?!

HolyDrinker, believe it or not, I've asked in 3 restaurants if their fish has been frozen first and everyone immediately goes "NOOOO, our fish is all fresh!!" And I go "That's a shame, I'll have a chicken miso udon then"
And although my consultant told me it's ok to eat sushi every now and then, I shouldn't get them from tesco. So confusing!

[SueV14]

Threeplus1, then they all lie about it!

[Threeplus1]

suev14 I am a bit of an 'instinct' cook, but this is roughly what I do

Sautée about 1lb trimmed chicken livers in some olive oil with a small finely chopped onion, a good pinch of fresh chopped thyme and a clove of garlic until almost cooked through, adding a good glug of port whilst doing so.

Transfer to a blender and start to blend adding in dried, chopped figs and about 1lb of room temp butter in cubes until desired consistency is achieved.

Scrape out into either individual ramekins or a terrine dish and top off with melted butter to seal, then refrigerate.

You can play with the amounts to suit your taste. I like to serve it with toast triangles and a homemade red onion jam.

I have already told DH he needs to make this (fat chance!) for my first post delivery meal

[Threeplus1]

Hmmmm, I was told that if you've eaten there when not pregnant and been fine, then you're very unlikely to get sick now..... You're actually more likely to get sick from unwashed or improperly washed salads and vegetables than rare steak/raw fish/cured meats

[Nandocushion]

The sushi thing is a bit of a problem and I think it's true that they lie about it, because everyone seems to think that sushi has to be "fresh". It has to be frozen when fresh, like right on the boat, but it does have to be frozen to be safe - or cooked. Those are the only two ways to kill any parasites. Plenty of people DO eat fresh fish for sushi, but they are the ones taking a big chance.

Every country seems to think it has the right recommendations and that everyone else is doing it wrong. It's just ridiculous. So many of these precautions are based on just-in-case stuff rather than hard evidence.

[SueV14]

Threeplus1, thanks for the recipe, is saved and will be made in 7 months! Is it actually ok to eat everything when breast feeding??

[DanyStormborn]

Cooked shellfish are fine so I would eat the seared scallops. I'd also eat the prosciutto and soft cheese when it's cooked. Sushi is safe as long as it is pre-frozen, all sushi prepared off-premises is has to be pre-frozen so this includes supermarket sushi (the only good one I've found is Waitrose). I think in sushi restaurants often some fish is pre-frozen to keep it fresher so you could e-mail and ask to see if it's worth a trip.

[SueV14]

Ladies, what do you do about eggs? I love mines poached, florentine or royal. But NHS site says "thoroughly cooked until the whites and yolks are solid"...

[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtle]

you can eat rare steak, you just can't eat rare mince products like burgers. for a solid piece of meat (i.e. steak) the bacteria is not in the meat, its on the outside. so as long as the outside is properly cooked at high heat, the inside can be rare. Burgers have to be properly cooked because they are minced so the bacteria can be in them.

the misinformation about what you can and can't eat drives me crazy.

[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtle]

eggs are fine runny as long as they ate lion stamped (which means the chickens have been vaccinated against salmonella). 85% of uk eggs are lion stamped.

there has never been a salmonella problem in the uk, Edwina Curry has all but admitted she made it up in the 80s.

[Threeplus1]

Spot on about steak versus mince ninja And I eat my eggs semi runny too. I'm in North America and goodness me it drives me crazy how ridiculous the guidelines here about what you can eat can be! This is my 4th pregnancy though so I am much more relaxed than I was in my first.

sueV hope you like the recipe! Oh, and after baby is born, even if you bf, anything is fair game

[Rockchick1984]

SueV all food is fine while breastfeeding, unless your baby particularly takes against something (DD gets the squits if I eat curry, for example), even alcohol in moderation is fine while breastfeeding - if you're sober enough to drive, you're sober enough to feed the baby :)

[browneyedgirly]

Sue, completely with you on this as a self-confirmed fellow foodie! The point is there is so much conflicting information about what is and isn't ok it does have to come down to personal choice and how much of an informed 'risk' we all want to take. And I completely respect all of our individual choices as we're all grown up and capable of making decisions for ourselves. It drives me nuts when people comment about what I should/shouldn't be eating!

I miss wine and champagne, rare steak, stinky Camembert, homemade chicken liver pate, sashimi (although I did have some after researching all about freezing point ppl mention above but then felt so guilty I didn't enjoy it anyway!). I've tried to find alternatives and where nothing comes close just keep telling myself it's only for a short time and when this baby is here I'm going to have a feast. That's the plan - I appreciate food will probably be a much lower priority once I have a baby to figure out!

Anyway, just wanted to say I sypmathise. The sacrifices we make, eh...?

[browneyedgirly]

Oh, and I eat runny eggs as long as they are lion stamped - as I said individual choice and all that, but I was too sad eating rock hard eggs!

[FruitBadger]

With food / alcohol when breastfeeding, I love the guidance I was given by my NCT breastfeeding counsellor "They're boobs, not blenders, use common sense!"