I don’t want to sound alarmist but dining in a group may have its days numbered. And all thanks to eccentricities/manias… ahem… sorry. I was referring to the food profiles and fashions that shake this social practice. The restoration is not prepared to withstand such pressure.
I’m going to give you a real and close example. Then, if appropriate, we open a thoughtful debate on social networks. Nowadays it’s hard for me to get off my ass. What is happening is a true reflection of human evolution, which is why we are doomed to a well-deserved extinction.
A few weeks ago, in the summer that has just left us, a group of friends, most of them with a partner, decided to have an informal dinner in a bar near the urbanization where they spend their holidays. We are talking about about 50 people arriving from different parts of Spain. They have in common that they spend the summer together, their children know each other and harmony reigns. As always in these cases there is someone who is responsible for making the reservation and counting the number of places. WhatsApp groups for this are quite useful. You copy, paste and add the names that are added to the list, in the end everything is under control, with light and a stenographer. However, in this case it could not be.
When choosing a menu, something that is quite simple on paper, caused a schism and it was no longer summer-friendly.
I suppose you will agree with me that the usual thing in summer is to go out to dinner with unhealthy snacks, you know: Russian salad, bravas, calamari, chopitos… basically fried food, well washed down with beer; For dessert, a variety of cut fruit with grandma’s pie, tocinillo de cielo, Calatrava bread, cheesecake and blueberries… a hyperglycemic hodgepodge in the center to share; then come the house gift shots; later digestive gin tonics; Maybe some ice cream will fall on the promenade, and everyone will end up at the karaoke or trendy beach bar in a sorry state but happier than castanets.
I ask out loud: Why is something that has taken millions of years in the evolution of the human species going to hell? Let’s see why.
This friend of mine is very thoughtful and observant, he knew that there were specifically two vegetarians in the group but he did not have more information. Then he had the brilliant idea of ??asking on WhatsApp: “Do you have any food intolerances or preferences so let the person at the bar know?” What have you said! From that moment on, messages poured in, most of them privately. What if this… what if that…
At the end of the run, there were 3 vegetarians in the group, 3 vegans, 3 with lactose intolerance, 2 with a shellfish allergy, a Pescatarian, a lactose-ovo vegetarian intolerant to gluten, another gluten and lactose intolerant with an allergy to tuna, one who I couldn’t eat fats or citrus, and finally, a person who that same week had started a low-carbohydrate diet.
Of course, when my friend went to talk to the man at the bar to look at the list of requests, the man told him no way, he couldn’t. Specifically this: “I have a menu and based on it you order whatever you want. That’s what I can offer. The bar is full, there are two new kids in the kitchen, I’m just waiting in the dining room. It’s high season.” Come on, the best argument in the world loaded with overwhelming logic.
There are 15 people out of 50, that is, 30 percent of the group had a food key. That makes it unfeasible to share a space in hospitality, and even more so in a casual dinner with so many people.
Surely someone is thinking: “The hospitality industry should be prepared to endure these things, because people have the right to ask for what they want.”
In theory yes, in practice it is impossible. If we want to socialize we must lower the level of demands and be compromised. When it comes to eating in a pack, you can’t put so many things in the wheels. We have to be flexible and eat a little of everything.
Allergies are a special case and a misfortune for those who suffer from them. The incidence of these pathologies is increasing and is worrying, which is why it is important that restaurants, not only high-end ones, but all, have an allergen menu available to customers.
As you already know, I always have paella in my prayers, and this could be a fantastic option for people with celiac disease, if it weren’t for the fact that there are cheating cooks who use artificial coloring instead of saffron, or use industrial fried tomatoes instead of natural, two products that contain gluten and thickeners in their formulation. Therefore they make paella a dish not suitable for celiacs.
Someday I will tell you the story of the restaurant that offered vegetable paella for vegans, but made with chicken broth, “because if not, it doesn’t taste like anything.”
¡Good profit!
