What to serve vegetarian, vegan and gluten free guests

On Saturday you are celebrating your fortieth in the garden. The guest list includes a colleague who eats no meat, a niece who is vegan and your partner’s father, who found out last year that he has coeliac disease. Three needs, one table, and simpler than it sounds.

Vegetarian and vegan, the difference

A vegetarian eats no meat. The Voedingscentrum, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, distinguishes between those who still eat fish and those who do not, so it is worth asking. A vegan eats no animal products at all, so no milk, cheese or eggs either.

For vegetarians, the catch is in the details. If gelatine is on the label, it is always of animal origin. Cheese is made with rennet, which usually comes from a calf’s stomach, and the label does not have to say whether it is animal. With cheese that carries a vegetarian mark you can assume vegetarian rennet, the Voedingscentrum says. Even wine and fruit juice may have been clarified with gelatine without it showing on the bottle.

Enough protein without meat

If you leave out the meat, put something else on the table that provides protein, iron and vitamin B1. According to the Voedingscentrum, each of these portions is roughly comparable to 100 g of meat:

• 2 eggs
• 135 g of pulses, such as brown beans, chickpeas or lentils
• 100 g of tofu or tempeh
• 100 g of falafel, with chickpeas as the first ingredient
• 30 g of unsalted nuts, peanuts or seeds, a small handful

For a vegan guest, the eggs drop out. Feel free to pair the rest with grains, as the Voedingscentrum calls grains with pulses a golden combination. Think rice with a bean stew.

Coeliac disease is not the same as eating less bread

In coeliac disease, eating gluten makes the immune system attack the body itself, which inflames the lining of the small intestine. That is why it is neither an allergy nor an intolerance, the Voedingscentrum stresses.

Around 1 percent of people have coeliac disease, about 170,000 in the Netherlands. There is no medicine, and the only treatment is a gluten free diet for life. With coeliac disease in particular, even a little gluten can cause symptoms, down to a stray breadcrumb.

A gluten free diet also helps people with a wheat allergy or gluten sensitivity. For everyone else it is not necessary, the Voedingscentrum says. If you suspect gluten is causing you trouble, see your GP first, because eating gluten free beforehand makes the blood test unreliable.

For your guest list, that means asking one more question. ‘I try to eat less bread’ calls for something different from ‘I have coeliac disease’.

Where gluten hides

Gluten is found in wheat, including spelt and khorasan wheat, and in rye and barley. Most people know that bread, pasta and cakes contain it. But many soups, sauces, cold meats and liquorice contain gluten too, through flour, breadcrumbs or thickeners. Coated party nuts often contain gluten, and the meat substitute seitan is made from wheat protein. Even disposable plates made from wheat bran contain gluten, according to the Voedingscentrum.

Oats are naturally gluten free but almost always contaminated with gluten. For a guest with coeliac disease, only use oats when the packet says gluten free.

On packaging, gluten free is a protected term. Under EU rules, Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014, it may only be used when the food as sold contains no more than 20 mg of gluten per kg. For ‘very low gluten’ the limit is 100 mg per kg.

A buffet everyone can eat from

The smartest buffet for a mixed crowd is one where most dishes suit everyone. Plenty of food is naturally gluten free: fresh vegetables and fruit, potatoes, rice, pulses, eggs, unsalted nuts, Dutch cheese and unprocessed meat and fish. Build the buffet around those and little needs making separately.

• Make the gluten free dishes first, before any flour comes out. Flour can drift through the air.
• If something with gluten falls into a dish, do not scoop it out. Make the dish again.
• Serve a portion of every dish into a separate bowl for your coeliac guest before everyone else helps themselves.
• Put the bread and party nuts at the end of the table, each with its own knife or spoon.

Most important of all, says the Nederlandse Coeliakie Vereniging, the Dutch coeliac society: talk to your guest about how you will handle the food. They may like to shop together, or feel safer bringing something of their own.

That makes a big platter of vegetables a natural centrepiece for a mixed table, and fresh fruit is naturally gluten free as well. Maximus Catering makes fruit towers and vegetable fans just the way you want them. Feel free to mention who is coming when you ask.