Food for Thought
Allergies are on the rise. So is misinformation.
by Adrienne Martini
July 30, 2007
You probably know who chef Ming Tsai is. He stares at you in the food aisle of your local Target, where his products are sold, or from your TV, during his Simply Ming! cooking show. Those in the Boston area may have eaten at Tsai's flagship Blue Ginger restaurant. But what you probably don't know is that Tsai has EpiPens stashed everywhere, including his glove box, because his son was diagnosed with food allergies when he was two months old.
"The unfunny joke is that the son of a chef has food allergies," Tsai says. "He was allergic to seven out of the top eight food triggers. He could only eat protein and rice products."
Despite the larger cosmic gotcha, Tsai's son, who is now seven, was lucky, because he is the son of a chef and his dad had all of the tools to work within limitations. Travel, which is one of the biggest challenges for families with food allergic kids, was easier for the Tsais. The family would travel with a cooler full of rice-based products and meats and cook in hotel rooms. They would dine at restaurants where Ming knew the chef, which is, he adds with a laugh, "unfair and unrealistic for most people."
But Tsai is trying to level the playing field. Diners at his restaurants can know exactly what is in their food simply by asking for The Book — the capital letters are implied when he speaks of it. The Book lists what goes into each menu item, whether it be lemongrass, hanger steak or chocolate."The hard part is the mom-and-pop places, the small restaurants. People don't realize that a molecule can kill." Ingredients like fish sauce, which contains multiple other ingredients, are explained in their own index in The Book.
"It helps our business because people with food allergies come to us," Tsai says. Assembling The Book isn't an inconvenience. "It just makes sense. During service on Friday nights, we're busy. If asked, we can't think of all of the ingredients while cooking. The Book also reduces liability."
Tsai would like to see all restaurants with their own Books. "The big boys like Burger King already do it on their websites. The hard part is the mom-and-pop places, the small restaurants, that haven't really had the training. People don't realize that a molecule can kill."
Tsai is working to pass legislation in Massachusetts that would force restaurateurs to disclose what's in their food. Having a son with severe food allergies, he says, is "certainly life-changing but it gives me my stump to stand on."
©2007 Adrienne Martini and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Adrienne Martini has written for the Austin Chronicle and Cooking Light. A former editor for Knoxville, Tennessee's Metro Pulse, her first book is Hillbilly Gothic: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood. She chronicles her adventures at www.martinimade.com. |
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