Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [123]
Seated dinners
Formal events, including weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs, have specific three- to five-course seated meals planned far in advance. So planning ahead is imperative for vegans who want to enjoy longer evenings such as these.
Is that alcohol truly vegan?
Many alcohol companies use animal products to create their beverages. Breweries still use finings, or filter applications, made from fish bladders called isinglass. Gelatin also is used in some brews, as are milk and honey. Some wines are clarified with the same ingredients as well as caseinate, a milk protein, or albumin from eggs or dried animal blood. Here’s a partial list of vegan beers, wines, and hard alcohols to choose from:
Beer: B.J’s, Bridgeport, Corona, Deschutes Brewery, Dogfish Head, Fish Tail, Full Sail, Grolsch, Hair of the Dog, Heineken, Henry’s, Killian’s Irish Red, Miller, Mt. Hood Brewing, Moosehead, Pilsner Urquell, Portland Brewing, Redhook Ale, Rolling Rock, Sapporo, Sierra Nevada, Terminal Gravity, Tuck’s Brewing, most Widmer brews, Woodchuck Draft Cider
Wine: Albet i Noya, Alderbrook Winery, Avery Lane, Barrelstone, Big Sky, Blossom Winery, Bully Hill Wine, Calamus Estate Winery, Carmel Winery, Casa Barranca Winery, Castle Rock Winery, Cave Springs, Cherry Creek Wines, Cline Cellars, Colchester Ridge Estate Winery, Coturri Winery, Desert Wind Winery, Duck Pond Cellars, Fetzer Vineyards (whites only), Four Chimneys Organic Wines, Frey Vineyards, JoieFarm Wines, Lakeview Cellars, Luna Vineyards, Manischewitz, McManis Family Vineyards, Moet Champagne, Namaste Vineyards, North River Winery
Liquors: Absolute, Bacardi, Beefeater, Bombay Sapphire Gin, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Cutty Sark, nonflavored Smirnoff
Note: Thanks to www.barnivore.com for this list. The masters of this great site list and update vegan and vegan-friendly booze regularly.
As soon as you receive the invitation for a seated dinner, contact the host about your vegan diet. Rather than insist that a vegan option be made available, politely ask whether a vegan dish will be offered. If the host hadn’t planned on a vegan dish and doesn’t offer to provide one, simply thank him for letting you know so you can prepare accordingly. These events can last several hours, so you’ll want to eat a substantial meal before attending. Keeping a hearty snack in your purse or pocket can help you get through the party without an attack of low blood sugar.
If you’re feeling hungry and no more cruelty-free food options are available, stay away from alcohol; the effects of it will be stronger and faster on an empty stomach.
Event facilities, hotels, and conferences
Attending a conference or event held in a hotel, conference center, or other event facility offers vegans similar challenges to those at large weddings. The event coordinator will be planning meals for hundreds of guests and may not have considered vegan dietary needs.
When confirming your attendance at an event like this, talk with the planner or host committee as soon as possible. Tell the planner your dietary restrictions and ask whether she could arrange for a vegan option to be provided at every meal. This usually can be accommodated. As in all cases, be polite and friendly.
Even though you ask in advance, it’s wise to confirm the week before an event that your vegan meal option has been accounted for. No matter what, however, you’ll be better off bringing a wrapped sandwich, thermos of soup, and other snacks just in case. Some event facilities aren’t as well versed in vegan catering, so the offering provided may be simple veggies and pasta, which isn’t very filling. You could get hungry later, so having hearty snacks on hand can get you through the day.
If you’ll be staying overnight at a hotel, call ahead and ask to speak to the room service manager or a chef in the hotel’s restaurant.