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Original poster

Catering for vegetarians at large party

133 replies

SevenKingsMustDie · 28/03/2024 06:47

DH is turning 40 this summer and we are having a party in the garden (as long is the weather is ok!).

We DO NOT want to be tied down to a BBQ and not be able to mingle, so I am buying a heap of bread rolls, and making slow cooked beef, pulled chicken and pulled pork for people to fill the rolls, with sauces and 'naice' salads.

Am looking for suggestions for a veggie alternative - needs to be ok being kept warm in a chafing dish for a while...

TIA for your ideas!

OP posts:

OneMoreTime23 · 05/04/2024 14:19

NameChangedAgainn · 05/04/2024 14:17

I was in hospital about 10 years ago, so also not the 50s, and the caterers couldn't understand that anyone could have food allergies to anything other than peanuts.
I was so ill, I was running a fever and remember thinking that I must be losing the plot because I was telling the caterers that I am allergic to XYZ but could eat a piece of fruit or even dry toast if they had any, and they were replying with comments like "the only allergy option is XYZ, it doesn't have peanuts.. Your options are..." and list the options that I'd already explained I couldn't eat. I laughed a bit hysterically, nurses came in, I explained the issue and they said they'd find something for me to eat, then never came back. This happened three times a day for my entire stay.

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I’m allergic to tomatoes. And don’t eat meat. That gets quite interesting.

NameChangedAgainn · 05/04/2024 14:20

Bjorkdidit · 05/04/2024 14:10

Everyone was asked to specify any dietary preferences on the rsvp, so yes people had the opportunity to specify that they didn't eat pork or beef

But it's not always that straightforward. I don't 'not eat beef or pork' but I'd never choose steak, burgers, pizza with meat on or chicken sandwiches over pretty much anything else, so faced with a choice of burgers, sausages or vegetable kebabs, I'd probably choose the vegetable kebab, especially if it had halloumi or something with it. But I wouldn't know until I saw the food.

If they served something like belly pork, or marinated chicken, I'd probably eat that. You can't really put that in a preference that you can ask for 'I don't like dull, fast food like cooking', which is probably how it's best described.

I completely agree, the issue is with the caterers though, they should know everyone might like a veggie kebab (it was tofu in sweet chilli sauce). If there had been no vegetarians in attendance, there wouldn't have been any veggie kebabs at all. The caterers said they had catered a wedding barbecue the day before with no vegetarians and it was fine (the caterers were a bit miffed about our deliveroo order, which we'd tried to keep subtle).
This is why vegetarians go to great lengths to remind caterers/hosts that everyone will likely eat some of the vegetarian food.

NameChangedAgainn · 05/04/2024 14:21

OneMoreTime23 · 05/04/2024 14:19

I’m allergic to tomatoes. And don’t eat meat. That gets quite interesting.

Show quote history

I can't remember the options I was given in hospital, but for comparison, it would have been like suggesting you could pick the beef mince out of a spag bol 😂

PeterGabrielsunderpants · 05/04/2024 14:26

SevenKingsMustDie · 28/03/2024 06:47

DH is turning 40 this summer and we are having a party in the garden (as long is the weather is ok!).

Am looking for suggestions for a veggie alternative - needs to be ok being kept warm in a chafing dish for a while...

TIA for your ideas!

If it's in the summer, you could just make a big brown rice salad with lots of chopped peppers, tomato, beans of some sort, spring onions etc. Normally goes down very well. Just don't leave it sitting around in a warm environment for too long - bring it out at the last minute

Simonjt · 05/04/2024 14:32

Mixed bean chilli with a ‘drier’ sauce is nice and can be dry enough for a bread roll, but wet enough to be enjoyable, can easily be kept warm, goes well with a salad too.

If you cut corn on the cob length ways into quarters they can be roasted in bbq sauce, they’re very nice.

Yogatoga1 · 05/04/2024 14:41

Worst I had was at a catered event. I had informed them I was veggie.

starters came out, vegetable tartlet. Only they brought the vegetarians a salmon starter.

fuck knows why. Fortunately enough people wanted to swap.

mind I used to regularly have this argument in Subway. Their training seems to include tuna as a veggie option. I gave up trying to convince them it wasn’t and stopped going. That and the double dipping making the sandwiches 🤮

vegetarian catering seems obvious, but is rarely done well enough.

DahliaMacNamara · 05/04/2024 15:16

God, yes, several times I've been told the 'veggie' catering option's on its way, when there was plenty of normal non-meat food out that I could eat, but I was expected to wait for the thing that had been ordered just for the vegetarians, rather than tuck into the omnivore-friendly buffet . Of course, when it showed up it was tuna, or salmon. The fuck? Worse than useless.

NameChangedAgainn · 05/04/2024 15:18

I've also been served fish as the vegetarian option before 😂
Different dietary requirements were covered on my food health and safety level 2 course so I assumed, incorrectly, that caterers would all have had the same training.

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