Alcohol in food

[Motherwoman]

I was really hacked off on Thursday. I went out to lunch with a friend I used to work with, we were going to have a Christmas dinner. Went to a nice Gastro-pub type place and they had the roast turkey on the specials board. Now I have a problem with alcohol, (no, OH not like that) I can't have even the tiniest smidge, it makes me ill. And I can guarantee that cooking does not remove all the alcohol.... Also applies to wine vinegars. So knowing that they very often put red wine in gravy I asked the lady taking the order to check, I could have it without if need be. There was alcohol in the gravy, on the turkey, in the stuffing.... So I went through the entire specials board with no luck, even the veggie roast root hotpot had it. So my xmas lunch with my friend ended up with me having macaroni cheese as it was one of only two things without alcohol. (The other was gammon, egg and chips) It was very nice macaroni cheese but not what I was expecting!

So what is it with chefs? Are their skills in flavouring foods so bad that they have to chuck alcohol in with everything? Eating out, like many others with allergies, is turning into a nightmare and I notice that even with the new regulations coming in alcohol is not mentioned as one that eateries have to tell customers about.

MW

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Motherwoman, i would never think such a thing....honestly

Although i was a heavy drinker in my younger days, (building worker), i have never liked the taste of alcohol in food, but luckily it isn't a health issue.

Maybe it is a thought, that they should be telling people if alcohol is present....

[Primrose]

A lot of people are under the impression that all alcohol evaporates in cooking so I suppose they assume there will be none left, only some residual flavour from whatever has been used, if anybody has an allergy to it. I must confess, that has always been my assumption.

My oddest experience of serving alcohol in food was once making a sherry trifle and discovering that one of our guests had a religious objection to alcohol, but she ate some nevertheless and excused herself on the grounds that "alcohol disappears in cooking". I thought it tactful not to point out that that nothing in the trifle had actually been cooked!,

[Motherwoman]

I can tell you with certainty that not all alcohol disappears with cooking!
I get the oddest looks sometimes, I asked in a cafe/restaurant once 'does this dish have any alcohol in' and the reply was 'not really, just a bit of Jack Daniels'. What did she think it was?

I used to be fine with booze and then it sort of crept up on me with pains and what I shall call 'etc....' and I had to do a 'take stuff out of the diet and reintroduce it diet' and I found out what was causing it. Takes me about two days to get over it if I inadvertently consume even the smallest amount.

Himself isn't too bothered though as I always drive!

MW

[PLUMPUDDING]

I'm surprised they hadn't put some white wine in the macaroni cheese sauce if they had used it in everything else.
I can sympathise with you as I have an allergic reaction to cider vinegar and it is surprising how many dishes this gets into. My lips tingle and I come out in red weals so know as soon as I've had any.

[Motherwoman]

Hi PlumPudding,

Takes a bit longer with me, so I can consume it and not realise for a couple of hours when I start feeling queasy and then get a headache, do a lot of yawning and then back it comes in a violent manner. Then I spend a couple of days feeling like I've had a bottle of neat alcohol! It is deeply unpleasant...

MW

[PLUMPUDDING]

That is nasty. I had never had any allergic reactions before the cider vinegar one and then also had a reaction, with the same symptoms as you have, to the pills they gave me to counteract the cider vinegar ones. I thought I was dying until the doctor realised what it was and gave me something different. It is surprising what can cause allergies especially things you've never reacted to before and in your case when they are added to food you wouldn't suspect. It is salads with the dressing already added that usually catch me out. At least we know what we are eating when we cook it ourselves.

[Motherwoman]

Yes, I've been caught out by salad dressing! I ask for it naked now...

I'm feeling a bit of a chump at the moment as I had a slice of someone's homemade cake without thinking yesterday, didn't think to ask did I? My excuse was that I was tired after a long meeting and I'm still suffering. I've had to put together some very complicated agendas and document packs today and it's been really, really hard going had to go at it in small chunks.

[peter]

.... had to go at it in small chunks.

Too much detail.

[Motherwoman]

No, the work Peter, the work!! Feeling a bit better this morning.