Missing the obvious
"You can eat this--it's just made with matzah meal."
Huh?
"Does this have wheat in it?
"It's made with flour."
(Third person): "Most flour is made of wheat."
[Mentally, to Third Person: Thank you.]
I just don't get it--what the heck do some people think that most matzah and most flour is made of?
Maybe they think we gluten-intolerant folks can eat this stuff because we're gluttons for punishment. :)
Huh?
"Does this have wheat in it?
"It's made with flour."
(Third person): "Most flour is made of wheat."
[Mentally, to Third Person: Thank you.]
I just don't get it--what the heck do some people think that most matzah and most flour is made of?
Maybe they think we gluten-intolerant folks can eat this stuff because we're gluttons for punishment. :)
posted by Shira Salamone at 3:48 PM
17 Comments:
Much like you translate things in an offputting way in your blog so that people understand, not many people put all that much thought into food if it doesn't affect them. Stop complaining and explain (politely) to them. Or, you could malign them behind their back as you're doing. Which way would be more productive, do you think?
I *always* explain politely. I'm just surprised that an explanation is necessary.
You also complained " . . . you translate things in an offputting way in your blog so that people understand . . . "
My response is as follows: Off-putting to *whom?*
You're so vain, you pro'bly think this blog is about you.
Here's the official policy of my blog.
When I say that this blog welcomes the entire Jewish community, I include both those who are better educated Jewishly than I and those who are still learning, as I am. I will continue to translate Hebrew, Aramaic, and Yiddish words, and will continue to try to explain Jewish practices and/or concepts that I think may not be understood by all of my readers.
I hope to spare my still-learning readers some of the "fun" that I had.
Ehem, where was I before I interrupted myself? Oh, yes, here:
If I told you that I was allergic to nuts, would you serve me green beans almondine?
If I told you that my kid was allergic to peanuts, would you give him peanut-butter crackers as a snack?
If I told you that dairy didn't agree with me, would you choose ice cream for dessert when you invited me for dinner?
Is wheat such an obscure ingredient that people really can't figure out what flour and matzah are made of?
Yes. It is. Because people aren't focused on it like you do. Many people don't think that through, that matzah meal is wheat. Or did you say "I can't eat gluten." I have no freaking clue what contains gluten and what doesn't. So yeah, get off your holier than thou high horse and cut people some slack. Or, stop eating with them.
Yes, I *know* that I have to explain what gluten is. Every. Single. Time. Politely.
But I would think that wheat is more obvious.
Apparently not.
So I explain that, too. Politely. Unless I wish to become a hermit, I'll continue eating with folks who accidentally serve me things that I can't eat. And I'll continue to bring kosher parve gluten-free crackers and cookies with me in my trusty backpack wherever I go.
I looked at your post and my first thought was that all the non-gebrokts stuff that hits the stores on Pesach - which happens to be GF - have gotten people confused to the point that they think KFP=GF.
As for this point for point:
If I told you that I was allergic to nuts, would you serve me green beans almondine?
Probably not. But what about these lovely parve Snickerdoodles (where marzipan replaced butter, and the things left unlabeled)? Oh and did we mention the ground walnuts in the olive tapenade? Or the Amaretto in the Death by Chocolate? (these are all actual experiences)
If I told you that my kid was allergic to peanuts, would you give him peanut-butter crackers as a snack?
But he's OK with tree-nuts right? So this Pearson's Nut Goodie should be fine. (Nope, the "Nuts" are peanuts)
If I told you that dairy didn't agree with me, would you choose ice cream for dessert when you invited me for dinner?
I couldn't feed you fleishigs anyway, so I might be tempted. But really, if you were at my house for dinner the menu would likely be:
Pomegranate and Spinach Salad
Ful Medammas over Polenta with braised greens.
Kheer made with Coconut Milk for dessert.
But I doubt you'd eat from my kitchen.
Is wheat such an obscure ingredient that people really can't figure out what flour and matzah are made of?
See my note above. The Potato Flour/Tapioca/Egg cakes that come out for the Non-Gebrokts set can leave people imagining that if it's OK for Passover, it must be Gluten Free
" . . . all the non-gebrokts stuff that hits the stores on Pesach - which happens to be GF - have gotten people confused to the point that they think KFP=GF."
Thats an excellent point, Reform BT. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
[I never heard of non-gebrokts until about 10 years ago, so I assume that there are other folks who never heard of them, either. Here’s an explanation.]
" . . . ground walnuts in the olive tapenade . . . ", peanuts "disguised" as tree nuts, etc.
Wow, you're right. Finding allergen-free foods or foods that don't aggravate food sensitivities can be a serious challenge.
Speaking of snickerdoodle cookies, Enjoy Life Foods snickerdoodles don’t contain either tree nuts or peanuts. Of the various kosher parve gluten-free and dairy-free snack foods that I've encountered, Enjoy Life Foods are the most allergen-free packaged foods that I’ve seen, thus far.
Oops, so busy setting up links that I forgot something else important: Yes, Reform BT, I *would* eat from your kitchen. As with most Conservative Jews I know, I do eat food cooked in non-kosher restaurants and/or other people's homes (kosher or non-kosher) provided that the food contains neither fleishigs (red meat or poultry) nor shellfish. No, the Rabbinical Assembly does *not* approve, but we do it anyway.
Good to know; there have been posts of yours that had led me to believe that you avoided food cooked in non-kosher restaurants.
As for what the RA approves of and does not approve of; well I don't keep track. I know Conservative Rabbis who will eat from restaurants and my kitchen.
I know of Conservative Jews who will eat fleishigs by me so long as the meat was kosher before it hit the pan. I don't even try to figure that out, but whatever people's boundaries are, I accommodate because that's fundamental to hospitality.
My own practice is not to eat animals that could not be made kosher. Doesn't matter where I am, at home, at a restaurant, whatever.
I regard the RA as a bit of a problematic organization. The challenge is that you cannot "permit the use of all wines" halachically. You can torture Halachah to make it "look" OK, but really, if you get to the point (as Elliot Dorff does) of saying that you can Batel beef blood that was introduced intentionally to the wine as a clarifying agent, you have thrown Halachah to the ground.
Throwing Halachah to the ground is probably the Right Thing To Do in many cases, but if one is going to do it, one should not pretend that one is not.
I don't understand how a movement can permit a non-kosher Chilean wine on the one hand, and fail to say that a properly executed civil divorce can serve as a Get.
So the RA has a serious credibility problem in my eyes.
Generally speaking, I try to avoid eating in non-kosher restaurants where kosher ones are available, but I've been known to cheat even in Manhattan.
"My own practice is not to eat animals that could not be made kosher."
I'm heard that approach described as "Biblical kashrut." Makes sense, since the laws of shechitah (kosher slaughter methods) and separate dishes are post-Biblical rabbinic laws.
I can't say too much regarding Conservative interpretation of halachah (Jewish religious law), not being too well schooled on the subject, but if it's as inconsistent as most Conservative Jews' *practice* of halachah . . . I can't say much about my own consistency in that regard, either--guilty as charged.
I should probably clarify one point, which is that I distinguish between restaurants and homes. I've never refused to eat in a non-kosher home, provided that the food is not fleishig or shellfish. As with many Conservative Jews, I'm stricter in my kashrut observance when it comes to fleishigs (meat/poultry) and shellfish than when it comes to other foods.
As inconsistent as it may be, this actually is a functioning standard among observant Conservative Jews. If I ever start a food truck, I will call it Hot Dairy Out. Most people would think it was just a catchy name, but everyone in my personal Jewish circle would get the joke. No, the RA does not allow. And some Chassidim will not even accept a glass of cold water in a non-Chassidic home because of issues like tovelling dishes. Everyone claims that they really are simply following the halacha.
I think the HDO (hot dairy out) standard relies on kind of a best-case scenario, where the food could conceivably be kosher, if the pans had not been used for something non-kosher in the last 24 hours, if nothing drops into the food, etc. A generation ago, many Modern Orthodox ate vegetarian / dairy out, some hot and others cold. But things have moved to the right and now being seen in a non-kosher restaurant with a kippa is likely to cause gossip in a MO community.
In terms of the gluten issues, I think the problem is that none of us readers know you, so we cannot apply the right tone to some of your writing. The words, as I read them, often do sound exasperated to the point of being rude. This happens to me as well as a writer. I have a sarcastic side, which comes across as funny in real life but can come across as extremely cutting on the written page. So you may want to consider the fact that we can't hear the tone and the tone makes *all* the difference.
Gluten issues are very hard for most non-GF people to understand. I mean, I keep kosher and am constantly turning down offers to eat or taste this or that and I often can't keep it straight. I'm sure the matzo meal comment has something to do with the idea that leaven and gluten are connected. So, the are thinking that you can eat something unleavened, right?
For whatever reason, you've been given more than the usual amount of opportunities to discuss food with people and the nisayon of not being able to eat many things. What purpose does this nisayon have for your life? I certainly don't know but perhaps it is a door to deeper and more meaningful interactions with people, even when the conversations is supposed to be completely casual.
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