Catering for vegetarians at a house-warming party, do I need to provide separate food?

[IslandCanary]

Everyone is bringing a dish, so far most of these contain meat/fish (apart from the salad) as we're doing tapas-style.

One couple have just told me they are vegetarian.

Do I need to ask everyone to bring vegetarian dishes instead? Or is it ok to just provide some salad/rice and let them bring a dish they can eat? I don't want them to feel excluded.

I find most vegetarian food bland and unpleasant and would rather have meat/fish dishes to cater for the majority (I'm planning to make spicy chicken wings, someone else is bringing meatballs, another is bringing battered tempura prawns, crispy squid, vegetable risotto etc.

If I need to provide more veggie options does anyone have any ideas?

I want "Pie for Roussette". A whole pie. Just for me.
Quarter chicken, quarter vegetable, quarter gluten free beef and quarter halal lamb?

Maid yes, if it said "vegetable pie", I would think it's errrr fair game.grin If it said "vegetarian pie" I would leave it for vegetarians!
I've just had an epiphany.

pearlylum Smarter Your thoughts on the vegetable v vegetarian labelling?

Ditch the lamb and I'm up for it! God, I'm desperate for pie now. Preferably steak and ale. Ho hum

The problem is Needs is that to "take personal responsibility" every guest would need to know the dietary requirements of everyone at the party.

That's just not going to happen. Placing the "blame" at the other guests (unless they have taken food specifically marked as for as distinct group) is just a mis-direction of the issue.

I appreciate its a horrible situation and why I make sure it would never happen to any of my guests whatever their dietary needs are.

Then again I can't bear the though of under catering - unless the table is in danger of collapse and there's at least double what I think we might need I start to get twitchy .

SuburbanRhonda, at one point in my life, I had a Jewish boyfriend and I went round to his home for dinner. This was in the 70s when vegetarianism was very odd in the UK. I was prepared to eat latkes until I was stuffed.
His mother said 'no problem' They were wealthy and kept a kosher home. Not only did they have separate dishes for dairy and meat, (blue and red trimmed) they had a double kitchen with two of everything so that meat never met dairy.
Delicious food, and lots of it.

Just because I eat meat it does not mean I only eat meat, why are you all being so Goady to meat eaters, if there is a bbq or buffet I am allowed to eat stuff other than meat. It so annoying when you are expected to exclude from your plate just because others do. If it's so much of a problem as the host to go first.

The problem is Needs is that to "take personal responsibility" every guest would need to know the dietary requirements of everyone at the party

No they don't, if an item is labeled vegetarian/vegan/gluten free/dairy free and right next to a pretty obvious none of the above option then it's just obvious that there are guests in attendance who have requested that option.

If it's not obvious then just ask the host or caterer

I eat chicken. I've never tasted a chicken pie that I found edible. In this hypothetical pie situation, where the pie is the main course, if the chicken pie was presented as the only one I could eat without taking a main course from the mouths of other guests?

I'd leave the chicken pie. Then fill my plate with the salads, dips, mini pizzas etc, then lurk near the end of the line waiting to see if any other pies were going spare once the other guests had had a chance to pick. Probably while wishing that I'd told the host I wanted vegetarian food so that I could have just grabbed the veggie pie without any moral quandaries.

Chicken pie is the one I like and now I really really want one

Oh yeas and despite what THAT bastard thread said you cannot cook one in a sandwich toaster

Chicken pie in a sandwich toaster???

People have actually tried cooking pies in sandwich toasters?

How could anyone think that you'd end up with anything close to a pie???

Because some random in Mumsnet told me it worked I even had to buy the toaster thingy specially and wait for it to be delivered

See this is why vegetarians get on so many people's tits. You want 75% of the food vegetarian, but you don't want the meat eaters to eat it. You want a 'proper choice' and a good selection, but for vegetarians only. So basically you want 75% of the buffet to go to 10% of the diners while 90% of the diners eat the other 25%.

Why more vegetarians don't go in to banking I don't know. They'd be perfect for it, right mindset.

It gets massively on my nerves that many vegetarians make the choice to do this but then expect everybody else to put a huge amount of effort in to facilitate it and expect other people to pussyfoot around what they eat for their convenience. Just, seriously, get fucked. Do what my vegetarian DH does and have a bit of cheese and bread or go to the chipper on the way home and stop fucking moaning about someone eating your share of the lentils.

I actually had a cheese and bean wrap for lunch today out of pure spite after reading this thread. I hope there's a hungry vegetarian crying somewhere because Boots sold out because I ate that and there was only tuna left and they had to eat crisps. It was fucking lovely n all.

Just because something is labelled as vegetarian I wouldn't automatically assume I couldn't eat it in the context of a buffet.

I'd view it as an alternate choice.

Unless it was marked as for "X guest or guests only" I'd assume it was an option for everyone to choose from.

This thread is hilarious! sorry. It probably isn't meant to be!

See this is why vegetarians get on so many people's tits.

Actually I think it's just you, bill.

Your poor DH, having to eat chips and bread and cheese just to keep you from blowing a gasket about his vegetarianism

I would be happy to help myself to a tasty plate of food marked vegetarian.
Why does a vegetarians' choice trump mine?

I agree Rousette!

Bill Read the thread.

You want 75% of the food vegetarian, but you don't want the meat eaters to eat it

Nope. If 75% of the food is veggie, no meat eater nor veggie has to go without. This is the solution we veggies are arguing for.

The problem is that most buffets/catering/etc equate 1/10th of the guests being vegetarian with 1/10th of the food needing to be vegetable based, therefore 9/10ths of the food being meat/fish-based.

Meat eaters eat vegetables. They may even eat mostly vegetables

People need to serve to serve more fucking vegetables.

Oh, and if you have veggies coming for tea, serve them a proper dedicated main, not a share of the sides.

Really? Most vegetarian food bland and unpleasant op?? A curry or pasta or rice or risotto would taste exactly the same as a meat dish because of the sauces, it just wouldn't have the meat in it.

What comes out of this thread for me is -

1. Do lots and lots and lots of vegetarian food

1. Label, label label

1. I want pie. Now.

Pearly.

From the stance of someone who has never attended a catered event where diet requirements were not asked in advance and never held a function where I didn't ask guests if they had any diet requirements.

There's thrumos yours because you didn't disclose the requirement in advance and they did.

It gets massively on my nerves that many vegetarians make the choice to do this but then expect everybody else to put a huge amount of effort in to facilitate it and expect other people to pussyfoot around what they eat for their convenience. Just, seriously, get fucked.

I couldn't agree more with this. Vegetarians are a pain in the arse! If I were you I'd tell them to bring their own bloody food or fuck off!

Meat eaters would eat the non meat food too, unless they are actually carnivores not omnivores. I don't get (as a meat eater) why most things in a buffet would have to contain meat to keep meat eaters happy. Surely it is better to have most things vegetable based so that everyone is happy. It's like the 70s in this thread today. Meat eaters must only consume food containing meat. Vegetarian food is bland.