How to be a good guest – dietary requirements

To have your friends over for a meal is always a joy, and you want them to be happy. However, one way to spoil it is to let guests dictate your culinary choices.

No-one had food allergies when I was a child – you ate what you were given and were grateful. Actually, my brother Paul couldn’t eat dairy, but he never mentioned it to anyone – he just went about his life and ate around his allergy.

Let’s say you are the type who eats everything, as are most of your guests, and there is one person coming who
is different – be they vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, organic, gluten intolerant, on a detox diet or counting calories.

There are several guidelines you can follow to ensure you still enjoy your meal.

oost importantly, you don’t have to take notice of anyone who hasn’t warned you in advance of their dietary peculiarities. If someone tells me about a dietary preference, I usually assure them there will be lots of different dishes and they can choose whatever they like. I quite enjoy vegetarian peculiarities, as it’s easy to cook a delicious vegetable meal, and the meat eaters don’t realise they are missing something. Dieters are also easy to cater for – you just serve them small portions and don’t use fat.

However, I think it’s impolite to expect a host to rearrange a meal around you. I know a wonderful woman called Laurinda, who is vegan for various reasons. She came on my last culinary trip and never once expected anyone to make any exceptions for her – she just smiled and ate what she could. She even wrote an incredibly interesting, award-winning vegan cookbook called Benessere, which was published in New Zealand.

What is most important with entertaining is that the food is good – and makes you happy.

Roasted white Beans

600g dried white beans
150ml lemon infused olive oil
250ml vegetable stock
150ml white wine
4 sprigs each fresh oregano and thyme
6 cloves garlic, smashed
12 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra sprigs of thyme for garnish

1. Soak the beans for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, drain, then cook in boiling water for half an hour. Drain again.

2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Put the beans, oil, stock, wine, herbs, garlic and sun dried tomatoes
in an ovenproof dish. Add salt and pepper and mix well.

3. Braise in the oven, covered loosely with baking paper, for half an hour. Keep checking after that every so often – they might need as much as an hour. The liquids will have absorbed into the beans, leaving a moist,  intensely flavoured stew.