I've been invited to a "Women in Sciences Dinner" for "advanced women doctoral students in the physical sciences." (Someone in the department identified me as willing to show up for this kind of thing.) The dinner is at Penang Restaurant. From the name, I thought it might be Chinese, but it's not. I've looked it up, and it serves Malaysian and Thai cuisine. Checking their full menu, sesame seeds are only mentioned twice. It's two days before I leave for the conference in Tempe, and they'd like an RSVP by May 1st.
Do I go, or don't I?
+ It's over at 7pm, so I shouldn't have problems catching a bus home. (Busses only get *really* annoying after 8.)
- I am allergic to peanuts, but not as bad as sesame seeds. (And peanuts only show up seven times on the menu.)
+ Free food is nearly always a good thing, and this restaurant looks like it should be nice.
- I will have trouble figuring out what is in stuff, since I have very little exposure to Thai and Malaysian foods.
- sesame seeds and oil may be much more prevalent than what the menu indicates. (And I can react to the smell of sesame seeds when they're heated.)
+ despite my picky eating habits and numerous allergies, I actually enjoy food from other cultures. (If it weren't for my sesame and MSG allergies, I'd be eating Chinese a *lot*.)
If you were me, what would you do?
2 comments:
I'd go -- free food and a chance to network with people!
Though maybe you should take an epipen just in case... also, you could mention (if you talk to someone when you rsvp) that you have allergies that you are a little concerned about? I assume they do an abbreviated menu for the dinner... so maybe you can work something out? hmm
Thanks for all the food tips. :) (And yeah, I'll definitely have my epipen.)
I'm in denial about my allergy to coconut. When I got tested for nuts, she didn't test that one... so I figured she also didn't include that one when she told me to stay away from all nuts. (Are coconuts different than regular nuts?) I may get a slight swelling with coconut, but I ignore it. (I like haystacks.)
I *love* spicy! I was gumming on hotrods before I had teeth. :)
Hmmm... maybe I'll RSVP with my interest and an allergy warning, and see if we can work something out. :) I had a Thai person come to a potluck of mine once, and she brought a really great dish! (I warn everyone of my list of allergies when I have potlucks... but mostly I ask them to not use sesame seeds, and to bring a list of ingredients... my list of allergies is waaaaay too long.)
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