<p>I am having some friends and their college-age sons over tomorrow evening, and am planning to serve a yummy shrimp pasta salad. My daughter and I recently discovered that adding fresh grated Parmesan cheese to this salad makes it even tastier. I’d like to do that tomorrow, but one of the sons has a lactose allergy. His mom has reminded me not to serve any dairy products at all, and I don’t want to go against her wishes (even though methinks a bit of grated cheese would probably not cause any problem).</p>
<p>The question is, do you know of any other ingredient or ingredients that might be a good substitute?</p>
<p>Aren’t you adding the cheese to the salad just prior to serving? Couldn’t you just put some cheese on the table when you serve and let them put it on if they want to/aren’t allergic?</p>
<p>How about just passing the grated cheese at the table with exhortations that those who can tolerate it add it to their salad? Alternatively, you might want to try adding a little Accent (monosodium glutamate) to the dish instead of the Parm. It’s the chemical that gives Parm its “umami” flavor profile. I’ll also mention that most people who are lactose intolerant don’t have a problem with aged cheeses, so you might want to check with the son about whether he can have it–his mom may be overly cautious (as we moms tend to be).</p>
<p>^ Yeah, or just put some of the salad in a separate bowl uncheesed and then put cheese on the main portion. Just serve the lactose-intolerant kid from the cheese-free bowl.</p>
<p>It is better to err on the side of being extra careful IMO.</p>
<p>My S recently had a group of college friends here for the weekend and one has celiac disease and needs a gluten-free diet. I researched what would be OK for him and went over all the ingredients with him.</p>
<p>Please don’t put the cheese in the salad without checking in with his Mom. You have two choices pass the cheese separately or make a good sized amount without it. Another classic “umami” taste is fish sauce, even though it smells disgusting, it is surprisingly good when mixed with large quantities of other stuff.</p>
<p>I love cheese even though I have lactase deficiency. I regularly sprinkle parmesan on pasta and caesar salad without any problem. But I don’t know how severe this person’s allergy is. More important, putting the parmesan on the salad after being told not to by the mom would be really discourteous. I suggest following others’ suggestions, i.e., putting parmesan in a bowl for guests to sprinkle on their pasta.</p>
<p>mathmom: I never knew one could use fish sauce in pasta!</p>
<p>Thanks, all. I like the cheese all mixed into the salad, but wouldn’t think of doing a sneaky cheese move. </p>
<p>I’ll either try the Accent (sounds good – never tried it!) or go w/ the little bowl of Parmesan on the side. Guests will be serving themselves. I don’t want to draw attention to “allergy boy” by having two labeled versions of the salad, although I considered it.</p>
<p>Aged parmesan is virtually lactose free. Lactose is milk sugar, and the reason that hard cheeses are so sharp/tart is that bacteria consume the sugar and transform it into other compounds. A lot of “lactose intolerant” people will tell you how sick it makes them to have parmesan. If that’s true, their problem isn’t lactose intolerance. If they’re allergic to proteins in milk, that’s something different (and much rarer).</p>
<p>Of course, it’s not our job to disabuse others of their mistaken ideas. I’d put the bowl of parmesan on the side.</p>
<p>Yes, I’m one of them. I’d rather have the parmesan on the side. I doubt one can sprinkle enough to cause an allergic reaction. When I eat hard cheese, I get a bloated feeling that eventually goes away.<br>
I’m going to raid the fridge and eat the last of the sharp cheddar cheese.</p>
<p>I’m one of those who gets headaches from Accent (really from MSG). Sneaking some of that into a Pasta dish would result in my leaving the party early and spending the rest of the night in bed.</p>
<p>There’s a reason that good restaurants walk around with the cheese grater after they’ve served you your dish.</p>
<p>Leave all the cheese off. Either grate the cheese and bring it to the table, or bring the grater and the cheese to the table and let the guests grate their own. (Skip the Accent, too.)</p>
<p>Please don’t put the cheese on the salad. If the person truly has an allergy, the consequences could be extremely serious. If it’s simply lactose intolerance, the consequences may not be serious, but merely unpleasant. People with serious food allergies can have a difficult time getting people to believe that allergies can be serious/deadly. Err on the side of caution and pull out some salad for him before you add the cheese or give everyone the option of adding cheese at the table.</p>
<p>Marite, you can put fish sauce in anything, but I’ve been getting more daring since getting the Splendid Table’s new cookbook (How to Eat Supper). They are addicted to the stuff! It kind of reminds me of the way The Moosewood Cookbook used to put tamari in everything.</p>
<p>my son has a severe dairy allergy. unless you have an epipen handy, i would recommend leaving the cheese out of the salad and let those that want to add it, do so at the table.</p>
<p>lactose intolerance is not the same as an allergy.</p>
<p>just recently my son had a scary episode. home alone in his house, eating some hint of lime tostitos…started to get really sick and called a friend for help finding the epipen. who would have thought that there would have been nonfat dry milk in that bag of tostitos? some allergies to dairy products can indeed be life threatening. please don’t take that lightly.</p>
<p>sorry for the grandstanding, but i have been so aware of dairy allergies and explaining that it’s not the same as an intolerance…it’s a serious thing.</p>
<p>Look for a lactose-free labeled cheese and use it, keeping the label to show if there is a need. Or serve it on the side, even if it is lactose-free, and let others decide.
<p>If you have such a severe life-threatening allergy you should not be depending on every stranger to prepare a meal that is safe for you. Who knows what dairy product someone may inadvertently use in preparing a meal.</p>
<p>mathmom: we like Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai food and do use fish sauce quite a bit, but had never thought of putting it on non-Asian food. I’ll have to try!</p>
<p>Given that the OP was given a heads up by the mom that her son is allergic to dairy, I’d say they are not depending upon strangers but rather that a friend wouldn’t knowingly put something in a dish which could cause a problem.</p>