Feeding People with Special Dietary Needs and Challenging Personalities

[liuzhou]

3 hours ago, patti said:

So am I depressing y'all with these posts? My original intent was to be lighthearted. Also, there were many delightful people on these programs. I wouldn't have been able to deal with the few challenging personalities as easily if they weren't mostly really go with the flow personalities. In every single program there were people who were appreciative, supportive, fun, validating, and positive.

 

Not in the least. Rather confirming what I've long thought. People are strange and some are stranger than others. Some are nice strange; some are stupidly strange; some are sadly strange; some are PIA strange; some are dangerously strange. Perhaps we are all strange in some way.

Some just need to give themselves a good talking to. Some just never grow up.

I once worked with a world-renowned linguist, now deceased. He was also my PhD supervisor. He was the most childish, boorish, rude, socially dysfunctional human being I ever met.

 

[scamhi]

Oh man, what a tough job dealing with people's food aversions.

Re: NY Jews: We have a friend with a home in Montauk. Her family was brought up religious. 7 kids. 4 orthodox and 3 not at all following of which my friend was a member of. Her yarmulka wearing brother and another orthodox guy came out sans spouses for the weekend. And those guys ate local scallops and shellfish with reckless abandon. Just because no one from their community was watching or judging them.

[patti]

The first few years that I ran the program, I had a wonderful venue to take the group to in a little town about twenty miles away. The family farmed rice and crawfish. One of the sons of the owner presented a slide show and a talk, explaining their operations and how rice and crawfish farming went together. This was followed by having boiled crawfish for lunch. It was really awesome, although in the fall, those groups were served crawfish etouffee, as it wasn’t crawfish season. I was pleasantly surprised by how many enjoyed the boiled crawfish experience, but thought it was funny when they asked where their utensils were. We don’t use utensils even for the corn and potatoes in the boil. All finger foods.

 

The seasoning blend that was used had bunches of black peppercorns in it. One woman was aghast as she looked at her tray of crawfish. “Look at all the eyes looking back at me!” While it was true, that the crawfish eyes were still attached, a lot of those “eyes” were black peppercorns! 😂

 

Unfortunately, the patriarch of the operation passed away a few years after we started going there.  I had no idea that his son was doing this only because his father wanted him to, and he stopped after his father’s death. His sister took over, but the lecture part was provided by someone else who wasn’t as good, and eventually it closed down altogether. 

[Shelby]

13 minutes ago, patti said:

The first few years that I ran the program, I had a wonderful venue to take the group to in a little town about twenty miles away. The family farmed rice and crawfish. One of the sons of the owner presented a slide show and a talk, explaining their operations and how rice and crawfish farming went together. This was followed by having boiled crawfish for lunch. It was really awesome, although in the fall, those groups were served crawfish etouffee, as it wasn’t crawfish season. I was pleasantly surprised by how many enjoyed the boiled crawfish experience, but thought it was funny when they asked where their utensils were. We don’t use utensils even for the corn and potatoes in the boil. All finger foods.

 

The seasoning blend that was used had bunches of black peppercorns in it. One woman was aghast as she looked at her tray of crawfish. “Look at all the eyes looking back at me!” While it was true, that the crawfish eyes were still attached, a lot of those “eyes” were black peppercorns! 😂

 

Unfortunately, the patriarch of the operation passed away a few years after we started going there.  I had no idea that his son was doing this only because his father wanted him to, and he stopped after his father’s death. His sister took over, but the lecture part was provided by someone else who wasn’t as good, and eventually it closed down altogether. 

I'm missing crawfish!!!  I need to order some...it's almost too late I bet.

 

My mom and step dad--he's very Cajun--I think have had two boils now.  They get 10 lb bags of live delivered--I think it's 10 lbs maybe more.

 

I like all things in the boil.  Onions, corn, potatoes of course.  Hot dogs and or sausages.....I think I'd like pineapple but my step dad and Ronnie would probably faint over that.   I've seen fresh artichokes.  That sounds good.   I've also read of people putting a whole ham in after the boil and letting it sit in there overnight.

 

We make it super spicy.  Mom makes potato salad out of leftovers.  We peel any leftovers and fry them.

 

And yeah no silverware :)

 

Loving this.

 

[kayb]

1 hour ago, patti said:

 

Occasionally I would get an email from customer service telling me that someone had registered for a program and they didn’t like Cajun food. Was that going to be a problem? Um, well, yeah. And what do they mean when they say they don’t like Cajun food? They might be able to avoid specific Cajun dishes, but even if they choose meatloaf on a plate lunch, it will have been seasoned the way local people like things seasoned. 
 

Sorry for rambling.

 

 

OK, I have to ask. Why in the name of God would anyone sign up for a Road Scholar tour in Cajun country if they didn't like Cajun food?

1 hour ago, patti said:

I never called anyone a moron or a Yankee! 😜 I try not to generalize to a group. But whaddaya mean about the view from up there? That southerners are morons?

 

Get 'im!

[patti]

5 minutes ago, kayb said:

 

OK, I have to ask. Why in the name of God would anyone sign up for a Road Scholar tour in Cajun country if they didn't like Cajun food?

My sentiments exactly. In addition, the title of the program that was run most frequently was, “The Cajun Experience in Music, Food, and Dance.”  

[Kim Shook]

I know that there are foods in other countries/regions that I would not be willing to eat.  I understand that.  But, if you know that about yourself, you don't sign up for a travel program that specializes in local cuisine.  If you want the Disney version, go to Disney.  

[KennethT]

My wife and I used to go to NOLA once a year (she grew up there) for a long weekend. Most times I'd have gumbo for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then eat my weight in oysters and boiled crawfish. One year we were invited to her step-brother's annual crawfish boil which was a lot of fun (they add pineapple btw) but some of the attendees were a little prejudiced against us Yankees assuming that we would have looked down our noses at them. That was annoying. And ironic.

Edited May 26, 2021 by KennethT (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I've never come across something I couldn't eat.   Only one that was offensive.   But it was such a classic that I ordered it a half dozen times again to see if I could "get it".    I eventually made peace with it.  

[Margaret Pilgrim]

4 minutes ago, KennethT said:

... some of the attendees were a little prejudiced against us Yankees assuming that we would have looked down our noses at them. That was annoying. And ironic.

But isn't it delicious to prove those who prejudge us wrong?   Husband and I were just talking about the extent to which we've been able to slither into unfamiliar cultural situations and come out unscathed and unscathing.  

 

 

[DesertTinker]

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I've never come across something I couldn't eat.   Only one that was offensive.   But it was such a classic that I ordered it a half dozen times again to see if I could "get it".    I eventually made peace with it.  

And that would be??

[Margaret Pilgrim]

 

4 minutes ago, DesertTinker said:

And that would be??

Pied et Paquet 

Funny, since I readily eat tripe and feet in other preparations.    My first experience with this classic was at a Michelin restaurant.   It was strong and rangy.    I got down my portion, and blanched when the server aooeared wutg the casserole for second helpings.   "Merci, non."   Since it was such a famous dish, and to husband's consternation, I ordered it again several nights later from a lesser kitchen.   This was much more palatable but still difficult.   I finally found a delicious version in town.    I now called the quest over.

[DesertTinker]

17 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

 

Pied et Paquet 

Funny, since I readily eat tripe and feet in other preparations.    My first experience with this classic was at a Michelin restaurant.   It was strong and rangy.    I got down my portion, and blanched when the server aooeared wutg the casserole for second helpings.   "Merci, non."   Since it was such a famous dish, and to husband's consternation, I ordered it again several nights later from a lesser kitchen.   This was much more palatable but still difficult.   I finally found a delicious version in town.    I now called the quest over.

You’re far more adventurous and brave than I am! 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

12 hours ago, DesertTinker said:

You’re far more adventurous and brave than I am! 

My mantra is there is no bad food, only bad cooks.

[Steve R.]

Seems like a good place to mention the difference between andouillette & andouille.  

[Margaret Pilgrim]

6 minutes ago, Steve R. said:

Seems like a good place to mention the difference between andouillette & andouille.  

And the difference between French and Cajin andouille.

[SLB]

I am loving everything about this thread.  

 

As a child, the thing I ordered in restaurants whenever we went to restaurants -- (which wasn't often, this was the 70s, weren't restaurants strictly for "occasions"???  Maybe they were really diners we were going to, I don't know) -- anyway, the thing I always got was "hamburger steak".  I kind of remember being very concerned/intrigued/committed-to-figuring-out whether the "salisbury steak" at school was the same thing.  I thought the potential for confusion was a Big Problem.  Possibly even an engineering problem (my dad was an engineer, I thought it meant "smart").     

 

My main other-mother was from Lafayette.  Which she pronounced, "LAAAA-feeyette".   "La" like a baby's "waaah"; "fy" quick-almost-swallowed, "yette" kinda spit out. 

 

They moved around the country (she married a man who was what used to be called "an IBM-er") -- and were living near where I went to college, during my college years.  Which are important years to have an other-mother.   Anyway, after retirement, they settled back home. 

 

She remains one of the top two cooks in my life, ever.  When I lived in Alabama I would hightail it to Lafayette whenever possible.  For the love, but even more for the food.  Honestly?  Her meals probably kept me from succombing altogether to depression when I was in college.   

 

I think I need some Louisiana eatin', urgently.  

 

On topic -- I have a lot of people in my professional life who have a whole lot of needs that present in a frame of straight insanity.  One expert psychologist I was escorting on a work trip needed a hotel room that had not been cleaned because she had a "very fragile liver" that could not handle so much as a whiff of residual industrial cleaner.  

 

Why yes, she drank with dinner.  Yes.  Plenty.    

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by SLB (log)