Thursday, March 6, 2008

Lactose Intolerant Kosher Jew

Back in 2003 I went to a conference in Toronto for 4 days.

A friend and colleague that came with me was vegetarian. On the first day there we met a new friend who was lactose intolerant (allergy to all dairy).

It was interesting to see how the hotel handled the allergies. My vegetarian friend got a huge bowl of gross looking pasta that after only a few bites he couldn't eat anymore. At the time I wasn't not lactose intolerant so I just ate what everyone else was eating. Fairly heavy conference food.

Our lactose intolerant friend got grilled things, with fresh fruit for dessert. At one point she stepped out for a meeting over lunch, and while we waited over an hour for her to return, we couldn't help ourselves and we ate her fresh fruit plate. She wasn't overly impressed with us, but laughed all the same.

On the second last lunch they fed us finger food so we could network. Yeah right, since when is salad finger food, so we pulled up come carpet and sat on the floor to eat. A gentleman joined us and he had a tray wrapped in clear plastic. Naturally we asked him about his food, after introducing the vegetarian and the lactose intolerant among us.

Turns out this was a Kosher tray, he was Jewish.

Naturally we inquired and asked lots of questions, having never encountered 'Kosher' food before in a public setting.

At the end of the lunch we decided the healthiest way of eating at conferences, was to be a lactose intolerant Kosher Jew. You don't get over sauced, bulk cooked cheap food. You get grilled meats, baked potatoes and tons of fresh veggies and the desire of all hotel stays, fresh fruit.

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