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life without tomatoes

There's a good dhal recipe on the suburban wiki.

Herbsman. said:
btw crustychick if you really loved your boyfriend you would leave him and come to me. i like tomatoes and eat them almost every day. think how great life would be for you in my yard, tomatoes everywhere! yum!
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I was gonna say that . . . but without so much emphasis on tomatoes. :D
 
I don't have any great suggestions, but you can definitely make a non-tomato harissa that will be delicious. Use roasted red peppers, loads of chilli, some coriander roots, olive oil, etc. add ground cumin, rose water, whatever, for extra flavours. :cool:
In fact, I don't think I have ever made harissa with tomatoes.
 
perplexis said:
I don't have any great suggestions, but you can definitely make a non-tomato harissa that will be delicious. Use roasted red peppers, loads of chilli, some coriander roots, olive oil, etc. add ground cumin, rose water, whatever, for extra flavours. :cool:
In fact, I don't think I have ever made harissa with tomatoes.
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huh - interesting! harissa has only recently come into my life, and to be honest, the thought of making it myself hadn't really occurred to me yet! *shame*

thanks for the tip :)
 
Not wishing to be "aggro", but "sneaking stuff past" someone with a food allergy/intolerance isn't really on, even if the reaction is "only" eczema (which can be severely distressing if you have a bad case).
I speak from the position of someone who willingly gave up using or eating onions, spring onions, shallots, leeks and chives in my cooking, because my partner (now wife) has a severe intolerance/allergy to them. I just had to find ways around the lack of those ingredients in my cooking.
As for cooking for you and your boyfriend, pasta-wise a good bechemel sauce (yes, you can use soya or nutmilk instead of dairy) can be flavoured with loads of different things; herbs, spices, vegan "cheese" with mustard powder, tamarind paste...the list is only circumscribed by your imagination.
 
ViolentPanda said:
Not wishing to be "aggro", but "sneaking stuff past" someone with a food allergy/intolerance isn't really on, even if the reaction is "only" eczema (which can be severely distressing if you have a bad case).
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okay, I'm only answering this for clarity... i'm well aware of the tolerance that he has for these things... we've living together for about a year now... I would never ever ever cook anything for him that I thought would cause him any distress at all. Ever. So, please don't misinterpret my joking earlier post regarding "poisoning". It was a joke. He can handle a little tomato occasionally but clearly this was just a little too much, but only a little. And I wasn't really trying to sneak stuff past him... I just wasn't aware how much tomato was in the harissa!

And I *know* how debilitating his eczema can be. I have been there when his skin has been red raw and he's been clawing at himself. I have endured sleepness nights having to restrain him to stop him scratching himself so hard that he bled and had scars.

thanks for your concern for his wellbeing though. I'm touched.

ViolentPanda said:
I just had to find ways around the lack of those ingredients in my cooking.
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hence this thread :confused: :hmm:

also - vegan cheese?! bleurgh...
 
crustychick said:
okay, I'm only answering this for clarity... i'm well aware of the tolerance that he has for these things... we've living together for about a year now... I would never ever ever cook anything for him that I thought would cause him any distress at all. Ever. So, please don't misinterpret my joking earlier post regarding "poisoning". It was a joke. He can handle a little tomato occasionally but clearly this was just a little too much, but only a little. And I wasn't really trying to sneak stuff past him... I just wasn't aware how much tomato was in the harissa!
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Easy to tell. Ingredients are listed by rank of quantity. :)
And I *know* how debilitating his eczema can be. I have been there when his skin has been red raw and he's been clawing at himself. I have endured sleepness nights having to restrain him to stop him scratching himself so hard that he bled and had scars.

thanks for your concern for his wellbeing though. I'm touched.
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I had psoriasis as a child (back in the days when topical steroid ointments were "new" and coal tar-based greasy ointments were the treatment of choice), had contact eczema as a teenager and adult (bad enough to need my hands bandaged), had a younger brother who had horrific allergic eczema as a child (he reacted to 3 or 4 different e-numbers), so I know how awful it can be.
hence this thread :confused: :hmm:
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Oh, sorry, I thought the thread was about poisoning. :p
also - vegan cheese?! bleurgh...
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I quite agree. It was, however, a suggestion of an option.
Does himself eat stir-fries? Most decent stir-fries don't get within a mile of tomatoes, and you can bulk them out with noodles or rice, and even do (bleurgh) egg-fried rice. Do use decent spices though, it makes all the difference to the flavour.
 
perplexis said:
I don't have any great suggestions, but you can definitely make a non-tomato harissa that will be delicious. Use roasted red peppers, loads of chilli, some coriander roots, olive oil, etc. add ground cumin, rose water, whatever, for extra flavours. :cool:
In fact, I don't think I have ever made harissa with tomatoes.
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I've seen several recipes that don't use tomatoes. Looks like it might be that tomato gets used as a cheap "bulking agent" in some stuff, like onion and onion powder do in others.
 
Short answer: His allergy, his problem. IMHO he should be doing some of the cooking, and coming up with "safe" recipes and ingredients. I'd hope he'd already seen an allergy & nutrition specialist (can get a referral from your GP) to check what triggers the eczema and to give tips on how to get a varied & balanced diet while avoiding his triggers/allergens. There are various eczema and food allergy websites and messageboards, many of them will give advice, moral support, recipe suggestions etc.

Long answer: If you really want to be with him, it's your problem too. IMHO his food choices (for whatever reason) need to be given the same consideration as you'd like others to give your food choices. IMHO both of you need to work out whether all the food at home is to be "safe", or how you're going to keep "safe" food (and anything porous which touches it) separate from "unsafe" food so that there are few mishaps.

Thinking about the food you need to replace (citrus and tomatoes), it's mainly colour, sweetness and a bright sour note you're after, isn't it? Sour/sharp apples (granny smith or bramley) can replace sourness, so can tamarind (you can buy it as a paste if you can't be doing with soaking it & sieving out the seeds), cider vinegar, sharp/dry apple juice, barely ripe kiwi fruit, pineapple, and slightly under-ripe passion fruit. Balsamic vinegar (white or red) might also help. As others have already said, colour & bulk can be supplied by paprika, red peppers, beetroot, or finely grated carrot. You'll never replicate 100%, but you'll get near enough to have a decent meal. :)

Non-dairy substitutes can be pretty disappointing, but AFAIK it's possible to find vegan pesto (so little "cheese" in it that it barely ruins anything) if you want something quick & easy for pasta. Otherwise, look for recipes on the net, alter them a bit if need be, get used to cooking batches of "safe" pesto, processed untomato base, unlemon sauce etc and freeze them (split into the amount you'd add to a meal for 2).
...........................................
FWIW I've got a condition which could be serious (IME antihistamines & painkillers aren't the solution, just palliatives) unless I'm v careful about what I eat, smell and touch. That includes anyone I kiss or go down on because the trigger gets into saliva, sweat and other secretions - sorry if that's grossed anyone out - it's not easy explaining on a 1st date why even a peck on the cheek is out unless the person gargled thoroughly after eating. :o

Luckily it's only one family of vegetable, but it's v widely used. It's in a lot of the stuff people think of as basic ingredients (sauces, pastes, spreads, savouries of all kinds) - I end up taking my "safe" stock cubes on holiday (and a few snack bars in case there are entire meals which turn out to be "unsafe") and have learnt to check the ingredients before eating even if I really trust the cook.

People who take it seriously make all the difference. :)
 
tbf though people with allergies should be culled (that includes me)

its a genetic weakness that prevents the advancement of the human race.

</nazi>
 
RubyToogood said:
This is the stuff I'm on about: http://www.baktat.com/index.php?var=produits_details-produits&lg=tr&proDetailID=295&categoryID=28

There's a hot pepper one and a sweet pepper one, I get the sweet one. It's very very close to the sort of tomato puree you get in tubes and makes lovely soups. I've only ever added it to tomato sauces, but I'm sure it would make a good sauce on its own and it's only a couple of quid for a massive great jar.
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cool - will look out for it - thanks :)

also, have ordered some smoked paprika today... :cool:
 
i have an aunt who claims shes allergic to prawns, tomato and chocolate. every time i see her at some family event and were in a restaurant or whatever she makes a point of making sure everyone knows about it.



i caught her scoffing down tomato and mozarella salad once. i called her up on it and she said the olive oil 'protects' her from it. bullshit. fucking attention seeking liar.




sorry. rant over.
 
Herbsman. said:
tbf though people with allergies should be culled (that includes me)

its a genetic weakness that prevents the advancement of the human race.

</nazi>
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There's quite a lot of argument that food allergy doesn't have as much to do with genetics, as it has to do with environment, hence the success of desensitisation for some allergies.

You eugenicist scum! :p
 
While browsing John Lewis's food hall for semi-convenience food (allium-free chutney etc), Bart's harissa paste doesn't include tomato at all. :cool:
 
Pip said:
Make him cook.
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^This.

Why are you asking a load of urbanites what he can eat? :confused:

Ask him, surely? He must know a lot recipes for meals if can eat. Or has he gone from gf to gf successively pissing them off with his dietary requirements, insisting that they adhere to them but just sitting back and expecting to be cooked for without any input or help from him, just the odd bit of criticism to contribute to the pot when someone inadvertently cooks something containing a forbidden ingredient?
 
The only solution, really, is to dump him.

I could cope with any number of dietary requirements in a partner: halal, vegetarian, vegan quite happily.

But I was on holiday in the south of France recently and one member of our group, can't bring myself to call her a friend she was such a pain in the fucking arse, was allegedly coeliac and allergic to dairy. I say allegedly, because they insisted on up walking round and round for an hour or so every meal time vetting all the restaurant menus until they found a restaurant they deigned to give the nod of approval to, but all that didn't stop then from having a cheese salad one day.

Life's too short to have such nightmare fussy people in your life. Getting rid is the only solution.
 
Anyway, gluten, dairy and tomato and potato allergies and intolerances are just nature's way of telling a certain sub-set of people that their life isn't worth living and they ought to be extinct. It's evolution in action.
 
crustychick said:
ummm, the only one they had on ocado.... :o

which on a little investigation is picante... (not that I know what that is... )
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It's kind of "sweet but sour too". Very nice. I tend to use sweet smoked paprika in savoury baked stuff, piquante in risottos, rice dishes and stir fries, and hot in Chilli (along with chillies). As with all smoked paprika, use sparingly!
Just looked at ocado's prices. You're talking about the Bart's £ 1.69 for 45g effort? :eek:?
 
AnnO'Neemus said:
Anyway, gluten, dairy and tomato and potato allergies and intolerances are just nature's way of telling a certain sub-set of people that their life isn't worth living and they ought to be extinct. It's evolution in action.
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No it isn't. Food allergies and intolerances are rarely inherited. The research tends towards seeing many of them them as caused by environmental factors including in utero and childhood over-exposure.
 
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