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Beware!!! |
I am one of millions of
people who have a food allergy. Didn’t always have one, but about 15 years ago,
my body decided that it was going to protest every time I ate an egg yolk. It
started gradually with minor irritation that grew into a full blown revolt including; severe itching, swollen lips, chest pain and ER visits. Now, I am not
complaining because 97% of people with egg allergies are allergic to the
whites, which would be a problem. But since I can at least use Egg Beaters and
egg whites for recipes and omelets, I consider myself spared from real
sacrifice. (But I do miss eating a good deviled egg on occasion).
As with most of my
fellow food allergists, life on the road can be a bit of a challenge. You have
to self-protect, and assume that no one serving you food cares about your
problem – because they don’t. I remember an episode of the old Rosanne sitcom
where she was playing a waitress. Another waitress approaches her and says “we
are out of decaf coffee”, Rosanne takes the pot of regular coffee and fills up
the orange-rimmed decaf pot and replies “now, we’re not.”
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Egg white omelets 24/7!! |
I think of that scene
every time I am traveling, which is why I never order Egg Beaters in a
restaurant. They look (and for the most part taste) just like scrambled eggs. I
fear that someone with Rosanne’s mentality is in the kitchen and stick with egg
whites where I can see the difference. Self-protect. I am also fortunate to
live in an area that is the birthplace of diners! Egg white omelets are on
every menu. You would be surprised at how that is so not the case in every
state.
A few years back, my
husband and I were traveling on a fall weekend and ended up in the mountains of
West Virginia. We stopped at a small luncheonette for breakfast, where I was
put in my place by a waitress with a less than the famed “southern hospitality”
attitude.
“Could I have an egg
white omelet please?” I asked the redheaded server who seemed annoyed to have
to put out her cigarette to take our order.
“A what?” she asked with
a southern drawl so thick it took her forever to say those two words.
“An omelet made with the
just the whites of the egg. I’m allergic to the yolks. So….just the whites
please, with American cheese.” She stared at me for a minute and then asked
“Where y’all from?”
“New Jersey”, I answered
with a bit of curiosity.
“Well,” she said,
knowing full well that the other 11 locals had started paying attention. “Up
here, our whites and our yolks all come in the same container…. it’s called an
egg shell”, which brought much laughter from her apparent regulars.
“It’s pretty much the
same thing where I come from,” I answered, my eyes fixed on hers. “But, there,
our cooks know how to crack the eggs so they can separate the two.” There was a
definite hush to the room. Even my husband was letting me have this one.
“Hey, Beyrl,” she bellowed
into the kitchen while starring me down, “this lady from New Jersey wants you
to separate the egg yolk from the white, slimy part” This actually seemed to
peak Beyrl’s interest. “Hey, I saw that done once! I think I can do it. What do
you want me to do with the yolk though? ” Knowing that ingesting any part of
the yolk could put me in anaphylactic shock, I decided not to test Berle’s
culinary skills.
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My Southern Breakfast! |
“You know what? Never
mind. I’ll just have a toasted bagel”
“What?”
“Toast,” I corrected
myself “just some toast and coffee”
She turned to my
husband, “do you have issues?”
“No” he replied quietly,
“I’ll just have a couple eggs over easy.” Something told him it wasn’t the
place to ask for turkey bacon. Sometimes, self-protecting takes a great deal of
restraint.
A few years later, we
were traveling through Georgia on our way to Florida when the same scenario played
out in a Waffle House, a chained breakfast joint, off Interstate 95. With
dozens of eggs openly stacked behind the counter, I asked the young waitress if
they had egg whites, and she mumbled “No, just eggs”. I eat a lot of toast when
we are traveling.
“Up here in the north",
restaurant menus are blessedly more sensitive to the needs of those who just
can’t eat everything. Recently I have noticed that they are starting to list
the ingredients that are in each menu item. How great is that? But even with
that being said, the need to self-protect, still exist.
It wasn’t that long ago
that I walked into a Chinese takeout restaurant and asked if they could make
Egg Foo Yung with just egg whites. “Sure, sure” the young girl who spoke very
little English replied. Later that night, the
paramedics were laughing so hard, they almost dropped me in the bushes when my
husband told them why I was having a reaction. Sometimes I have to protect
myself from….me!
Thanks! And all true!
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky, I guess, that my gluten issues aren't anaphylactic in nature. Because I've had a lot of the same problems in restaurants. We recently moved to a new area, near friends, who recommended their favorite restaurant. So we went to eat, and I politely asked the waiter if they did gluten free food. and he snapped back "No, everything here has gluten in it!". Yikes, OK. Sure enough, even a seemingly "safe" item off the menu made me ill. I know where not to eat anymore.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if your local, but we ate in a restaurant in Voorhees, NJ called Pasta Pomadora last week that had a d-page menu of gluten-free pasta dishes. My husband watches his gluten intake so he was thrilled! Thanks for reading!
ReplyDelete