What are you bringing to the potluck?

The Golden Gate Singing is upon us (this Saturday!), so it's time to start cooking!

I mean that literally, of course. We live in the Bay Area, a place rich in amazing food. I mean, there are already strawberries at the farmer's market! So how are we going to impress our guests, foodwise?

Some thoughts and suggestions:

-Main dishes are always needed! Salads and side dishes are always welcome, but every once in a while a potluck happens that is nearly all salad. Bring a main dish! We want everyone to be well fed.

-Delicious desserts are key.

-Casseroles are traditional and always go over well.

-We tend to be heavy on the fats and starches and less well represented in terms of meats and vegetables. Bay Area singers tend to lean toward vegetarian food, which is fine and reflects our local culture. But I challenge you to think beyond the potato gratin. (Not that a potato gratin would go unwelcomed!)

-The more food the better.

* * * * *

A call for ingredient awareness:

We tend to think of foods as containing the obvious. Like Fig Newtons, we would suspect, are made up of equal parts fig and Sir Isaac Newton.

But thanks to the corporatization of food production, this is rarely the case. "Foods" contain ingredients that are only technically edible. Things are processed together that you never thought possible. You look on the label of a packet of cookies and it says things like "may contain traces of prawn powder." And first you are shocked that cookies could go with prawns, and second you are shocked that prawns come in powder form. (Unless you know from Asian food, of course!)

Most of the time this isn't a big problem (well, actually it's a giant systemic problem that we can afford to ignore in the short term).

But some of us have -- shall I whisper it? -- food allergies. Because if you are allergic to prawns you can't go eating cookies with wild abandon anymore. Woe!

When I mention food allergies and cross-contamination, a lot of people treat me like I am trying to suck all the joy out of life. Trust me, I am not. In fact, being aware of ingredients helps prolong my life. And nobody is telling you not to cook with whatever you want or eat whatever you want. But it can't hurt you to be aware of what's in your food. Because... do you want prawn powder in your cookies?

For instance, bread presents a big problem for me because it's often processed with nuts. So any time I eat out, I find myself asking the waiter if that delicious bread is nut-free. I usually get a "you are crazy" look from the waiter along with a "well, I imagine so."

Imagine away, waiter-dude, and see where it gets you. For instance, I would imagine that cake flour was totally vegan. But as you see, that is my imagination.



Now, many vegans wouldn't bother with the risk of eating a trace of dairy, because that teeny tiny trace will not send them to the ER. Not so for those with serious food allergies! Ignoring that stuff is not an option -- even if you survive the reaction, every reaction you have makes the allergy worse and makes it more likely that you'll
croak next time. Not good.

Once again, I'm not asking anyone to change their cooking habits; I'm just trying to increase awareness of just how widespread the common allergens are. (As an informal experiment, you can check out the chocolate selection at your local grocery and try to find some that is genuinely nut-free.)

Know what's in your food! It's good for everyone.