Maneuvering Holiday Parties Gluten-Free Style

Going to holiday parties is fun for many people but for the gluten-free set, these events can be a bit like walking through gluten minefields. For this reason, a lot of people go to great lengths to avoid attending such parties. Believe it or not, in most cases, one can survive holiday events and remain gluten-free while doing so. It just takes a bit of research and pre-planning before the party.

Most of the time, the food served at company holiday events is catered. By calling the H.R. department of the company throwing the party, you can find out how to contact the event planners that were likely hired to take care of all party details. One more call to the actual caterer should put you in touch with someone who can eventually answer questions about the food being served at the event. After explaining your dietary needs, the caterer contact you’ve reached is likely going to have to get back to you with a list of exactly what you can eat at the party.

At the company holiday events I’ve attended, the list of items that were gluten-free was shockingly long. At the Georgia Aquarium, Wolfgang Puck Catering provides food. If people with special dietary needs contact the company before the event, they can be walked around to all the food stations to find out what is safe for them to eat, once they arrive. The pasta bar at the party we attended at the Georgia Aquarium was off-limits, but there were delicious gourmet salads (with no croutons), rice, potato, chicken, beef, and seafood dishes to be enjoyed. Almost all of the vegetable dishes were safe as well. The only area that didn’t offer anything tasty was dessert. Upon request, guests can have ice cream or sorbet but during 30-degree weather, frozen desserts don’t appeal to a lot of people.

The High Museum in Atlanta might have the best gluten-free fare at parties in the area. The party we attended there didn’t have as large a selection as the food at the Georgia Aquarium, but the creatively prepared holiday fare was exceptional in both taste and presentation. Strangely enough, the salad served was one of the few things that contained gluten at the party, besides the desserts. For whatever reason, the chef put croutons right in the salad instead of on the side. In any event, the amazing food that was gluten-free was more than enough to fill anyone up. It was fun to listen to party guests rave about the food, in particular the gluten-free offerings which were most of the meal, knowing they had no idea the things they thought were so delicious were actually gluten-free!

Since it’s likely that most desserts at catered holiday parties will contain gluten, consider taking in your own discreet gluten-free treat. Chocolate candy can be messy, but candied nuts can be packed in a baggie and placed in an evening bag very easily. Empty the contents of the baggie onto a dessert plate and then count how many times other guests ask you where you got the nuts. When people inevitably ask me about them, I explain that I brought them because all the desserts contain gluten, which I can’t eat.

The biggest mistake people make is assuming there is nothing safe for them to eat at large (or small) catered parties. At someone’s potluck party, there is probably not much, if anything, that will be gluten-free, except for what you take to the event. In contrast, at catered parties where the menu details are put in place long before an event, it is possible to find out what is safe before you even pick out what you’re wearing to the party.

Though it’s often said that buffets should always be avoided by people with food intolerances of any kind, there are ways to mitigate your risk when attending events where all the food is served buffet style. Review the layout of all the dishes and carefully inspect the serving utensils. It is actually pretty easy to tell when the serving pieces have been mixed up. When you find evidence that dishes have been contaminated this way, find a staff person and ask them to either bring you some food directly from the kitchen or to notify you when the items in question are going to be restocked with a clean serving utensil. Be first in line to get your serving from the new pan of food and enjoy!

As someone who has successfully eaten at many weddings, company parties and other events where not all of the food served was gluten-free, I highly encourage others to do a little recon about the food at parties they’ve been invited to, before flatly deciding it’s better to stay home. These days, there is simply no reason to turn down fabulous party invitations just because we can’t eat gluten.