Rosh Hashanah with Food Allergies

Last night I celebrated Rosh Hashanah with friends and family. Dearest friend, lovely supporter and safe person S. was the cook and hostess [with the total mostess] who created a Sephardic Rosh Hashanah.

Sephardic tradition on Rosh Hashanah is to have a seder of sorts [not unlike Passover] eating symbolic foods. Since Rosh is all about the head of the year, and harvest and bounty and the circle of life and forgiveness of past wrong doings over the year, we ate lots of yummy things relating to fertility and dates and beans.

Add to that in Sephardic tradition they serve green and gold foods [which I blurted out mid-seder were the colors of color war at my summer camp], it was quite a bounty.

At the table too was this allergic girl, her slightly less but still allergic mother, a vegetarian who is gluten-intolerant and dear friend C. who eats no veggies and fruit [by preference].

A lot for a hostess to juggle, but S. is up to the task. She introduced each dish with a list of its ingredients as a special nod to everyone’s needs so we all knew exactly what was safe for us and what was not.

Yay and thank you S.!

Below are some pictures of our Rosh seder. Did any of you have a Rosh dinner last night? How was it?

***

Symbolic foods for Rosh:


The special round challah for this time of year:


Sides:


Lamb with black bean sauce:


My filled dinner plate:


Chocolate babka:


Honey cake with walnuts:


The now famous [if you heard Martha Stewart radio last week I mentioned these] homemade quince paste:


Flourless chocolate cake with almonds:

Comments

Theresa said…
Now that was quite a spread!

http://apaintersdiary.blogspot.com/
Shauna said…
What a lovely dinner!Happy Holidays. How wonderful that the hostess took care to introduce each dish.
Tara said…
That lamb with black beans looks amazing!!!
Allergic Girl® said…
thanks everyone--it was delish, she really introduced every dish like "it was a four star restaurant" [her quote] and she doesnt even use recipes!
Unknown said…
Wow... What an amazing dinner! Your hostess did an astounding job of juggling a wide array of food needs while ensuring you could have traditional meal to celebrate the day! As the mom of a family with a variety of allergies (gluten, dairy, soy), I also know that you can lay out a wonderful meal and never touch a prohibited ingredient, while ensuring the palate is suitably entertained... After all, allergies should not equal deprivation.

www.beallergywise.com
Jenny said…
It is so great to see holiday traditions upheld, while still accomodating food allergies. It can be done, so thanks for sharing. Those pictures were mouth-watering!

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