When Food Is An Issue

These days you’d be hard-pressed to find a bride and groom whose friends and family don’t include at least a handful of folks who are, say, gluten or lactose intolerant, vegetarian or vegan, or adhering to a strict protein or low-fat diet. Here, the experts weigh in on ways to cater to these - or any - food concerns. Planning Makes Perfect First off, it isn’t necessary that you offer a single meal that works for everyone from start to finish. Just be sure to inform your catering company well ahead of time, so that they can create a menu with pleasing options for people with dietary restrictions, says Kaspar Donier, the owner and chef for Seattle-based Kaspar’s Special Events & Catering. If you’ve opted for stations or heavy appetizers, the numerous choices will make it easy to meet many preferences. But if you provide the number of alternative eaters and where they will be sitting, caterers also can create special dishes for plated or family-style dinners that won’t require guests to subsist on sides. Have a crew with a variety of restrictions? John Lawrence, director of catering and co-owner of Northborough, Massachusetts-based Pepper’s Fine Catering, suggests coming up with a dish that’s just as dramatic and enticing as the main entrée but that can meet multiple needs. For example, Pepper’s quinoa & vegetable-stuffed zucchini baton served on a tomato lentil ragout is nut-free and should work for most people who are gluten intolerant. Half the batons can have local goat cheese in the stuffing, which is fine for vegetarians and most who are lactose intolerant; for vegans, the other half is cheese-free. Make Over the Main Event If it’s you and/or your spouse-to-be who has the food issue, don’t be afraid to make a menu that more fully speaks to your tastes. Vegan? Donier likes shiitake mushroom chips with black bean hummus, quinoa cakes with mushroom tempura and tomato saffron sauce, tofu Thai vegetable curry with brown rice, and mango rice-flour tempura with passion fruit coulis. An easy gluten-free option is meat. Lawrence suggests coffee-crusted turkey tenderloin and served with an apple, Cognac and maple sugar reduction, butternut squash risotto and seasonal veggies. “This dish has gone over very well at weddings, and not because it’s specifically gluten-free,” Lawrence says. “It’s simply delicious.” Let Them Eat Cake Although it seems counter-intuitive to have cake without dairy or wheat, today’s bakers are becoming more and more proficient at creating mouth-watering treats that are vegan or gluten-free. “Our most popular vegan cake has been our double-chocolate with various [fruit] fillings that change with the season,” Lawrence says. Other delectable variations include vanilla bean, carrot and lemon blueberry.