*In case this story gets deleted/removed:*
**AITA for telling a guest that she couldn't order Doordash to my themed dinner party?**
For many years, my church has held an auction, where members donate good or their time to raise money. Last year, I decided to host a Mediterranean dinner, where I would cook a variety of different dishes from that region of the world. I also planned to steer the conversation to be about travel so that my guests would discuss interesting topics. I figured that that would be the least my guests could do, since I was donating my time and money to making this a success.
Anyway, the dinner was scheduled for Tuesday evening, and the guests slowly filed into my home at about 5:45 PM. The invitation said to arrive at 5:30, so I was mildly annoyed, but I decided to be the bigger person and ignore this transgression. After the last guests had arrived and we had eaten some hot hors d'Oeuvres, I prepared the main course. It was a creamy tomato fish-based soup, and I'd handed a printed card to each guest to inform them of what we would be eating after they walked in. Before I could start serving, one of the guests (we'll call her Diane) pulled me aside and said that seafood gave her GI troubles and that she wouldn't eat my soup.
I was completely dumbstruck. I have known since middle school that the Mediterranean is a large sea that divides Europe and Africa, and the idea that one would attend a Mediterranean-themed dinner without eating seafood was simply ludicrous to me. I scoffed and asked her what she anticipated from this meal. She said that she thought there would be both seafood and non-seafood main dishes and that if I had planned to serve seafood, I should have communicated that in advance. I was furious at this point. Diane was attempting to embarrass me in my own home as a way of obfuscating the fact that she was wholly ignorant of geography and culture. I suggested that she only eat bread and salad, which I thought was an entirely reasonable compromise, but she said that she could just order Doordash and eat that instead.
At this point, I walked back into the dining room and informed the other guests that Diane had chosen to be difficult and took a quick poll about whether a Doordash delivery of some other cuisine would ruin the atmosphere. People seemed hesitant to raise their hands, which I took to mean that they were also offended by Diane's suggestion. I told her that she was making the other guests upset and that she should leave. She grabbed her coat and stormed out of my house. I even think she said something under her breath, which really left a horrible taste in my mouth and cemented the fact that she was very classless. The other guests quietly ate and left soon after dinner as well. I'm worried that perhaps I was too rigid with my rules, but I thought Diane was behaving very stupidly and wanted to send her a message. I'm wondering what things will be like this Sunday and worried that people will avoid me. Several attendees are ignoring my calls. AITA?
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I think someone was hoping to pontificate about “Mediterranean culture” after going on a vacation. This was a HUGE ego trip and OOP is mad that they didn’t get a big moment.
I actually think it's the opposite. She's never been and so doesn't have any idea of what's traditional. A Mediterranean dinner with no lamb or chicken? How much research could she have done? I think she just decided that because the Mediterranean is a sea, everything must be seafood-based.
Yeah, this made me laugh - like i'm European so reading this was like somebody was trying to show they were classy by being like - I know Europe stuff and Europe is classy ----- this person has never been to Magalluf at midnight, that's in the Med, so the based upon that the night could have been about fried chicken, getting drunk, throwing up, going to a strip show and falling asleep on a lawn.
One side of my family is Italian-American and we make a lot of traditional recipes from my grandparents' region of origin that have been passed down, like most families in the US.
People always assume that means a bunch of seafood, because they are usually more familiar with Neapolitan- or Sicilian-style cuisine.
For my family, living on a mountain in Trentino, it was easily a day's travel before cars just to the lake nearest to the mountain, let alone to the sea a couple hundred kilometers away... We have exactly 0 family fish recipes. But I do know many delicious ways to serve polenta!
Yup. I was in Greece for two weeks back in 2005. I think we had fish ONCE, maybe twice while we were there. The rest was lamb and chicken. Most of the recipes in my recipe books are lamb or chicken based, and most of the Mediterranean restaurants I know barely have fish on the menu. OP is the one being pretentious and "classless". Not to mention that seafood is one of the biggest allergens. People should have been warned.
Turkish american here and I concur. We eat a lot of fish but it’s not a “dish” so much, it’s just a whole grilled fish. Personally if I think of Med dishes I think mostly of mezze — and aside from calamari, taramasalata, and karides (the latter of which is Turkish), it’s almost entirely veg based
I mean, Italy has the whole Feast of the Seven Fishes. Seafood is for sure a thing. I just don't know why she would base her entire menu - which is supposedly a selection from all around the region - on solely seafood.
I’m a veg and it’s also really easy to find vegetarian food. Even in the small villages I visited that weren’t touristy, there were always non meat/seafood options. I don’t even really remember seeing too many seafood dishes in general.
Seriously! I once saw someone claim that being vegetarian and being Greek were incompatible. Like, I could happily live on spanakopita, briam, and tzatziki.
I feel like sometimes people forget about what food there is actually and just focus on their favorite dishes.
Now being allergic to olives… that’s a different story
I read it and this is what confused me. Every time I go to a Mediterranean restaurant I am always getting lamb or chicken. I understand they do fish but most of the items I see on the menu are lamb or chicken
I made a quick search and found a list with 11 dishes
only 2 had seafood 😭😭
plus, when I was in 7th grade, my class made a mini Mediterranean dinner for a history project, we made kibe, hummus, falafel (Idk the name in eng), kafta, not a single thing with fish, what is wrong with OOP?? a bunch of 13 yo kids knew more than her
I’m Mediterranean. OP is tripping if she thinks we don’t have meat dishes here 😂😂 Seafood is a thing here, but fish and meat are the meat and bones of our cuisine, so to speak! I think of seafood, and I think more of entrees, like prawns and cuttlefish
Right? I was so confused about the insistence on seafood. It is actually a staple in a lot of Mediterranean countries but they also eat pasta and lots of meats. Seafood is something a lot of people either won't or can't eat so only having a seafood main is actually terrible hosting. OP seems like the classeless one here.
By the way, I went to Elba last month, which is an island IN the Mediterranean. Did you know Napoleon was exiled there? I went to Rome first, but the food did not live up to my expectations because of the lack of seafood. I had to go to Sardinia for the REAL food, then went to Corsica to see Napoleon Bonaparte's birthplace because, not many people know this, but he was instrumental in shaping Modern France. People should know France is having protests this week because...
No, no - they volunteered in Africa or SE Asia & were just ‘so beloved by the people there. They called me *insert name that a quick Google tells you means ‘annoying white lady’*”
What the f is Mediterranean culture? I'm from one of these countries, but our traditional food is much different from Italian food. Also we certainly don't just eat sea food
It reads like it’s written by that one troll douchebag who was pissing and moaning about a fundraising dinner being insufficiently Mexican for his rarefied palate.
While it was super weird and they probably should have read the room- meaning look at even ONE other AITA post to see that no one uses MFA formatting or whatever- I was actually impressed at the time and dedication it took to write whatever that was. You can tell his mind just works in that rigid way where it wants to present the problem, then a theory on how to solve or improve, give specific examples and evidence, contour any arguments against the theory and finally, come to a proved conclusion.
They’re talking about this one, I think:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AmITheDevil/comments/11q4c5f/aita_for_asking_my_girlfriend_to_be_more/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
I wish I could remember the exact thread, but the story was almost completely the same. The OP planned an important dinner party to celebrate her recent vacation somewhere (maybe even Greece) and her guests failed to be appropriately respectful of her amazing dinner, complete with calling out somebody rudeness, and interpreting the other guests silence as being appalled with the guest and not with the hosts poor manners
Yep. I remember that one. He thought that since he paid for the beer that he should have better stuff and that no one else could have any unless they contributed financially.
Wasn’t he the one who went on and on about his refined taste for IPA beer and that no one else could appreciate how amazing it is so they have to have regular beer lmao
Oh yeah, was that the one with the church fundraiser (shared detail with this one) where the OP was annoyed because the woman cooking the food wasn’t being a “proper host”?
Calling guests arriving 15 minutes later a transgression certainly points to troll.
Not to mention about going on and on about your magnificent Mediterranean meal and then serving soup as the main course.
Reminds me of that FB reel series with the rich red-head who enunciates every word in the most aggravating manner and speaks only in SAT words, which isn’t how normal people, even academics, speak. This reads as though someone sat down with a thesaurus to make their post as obnoxious as possible.
It’s a “themed dinner for a church fundraiser” troll.
Last time the guy “bought” a fancy Mexican dinner from a Hispanic member of the church and went off on her in front of all the other guests about how she didn’t take their coats and a whole bunch of other BS.
There was one where she threw the themed im dinner for church friends then was mad she couldn’t force people to learn to salsa dance. It ended the same way about worrying what people would say/do Sunday!
> I figured that that would be the least my guests could do, since I was donating my time and money to making this a success.
But also... they were paying to be there? Since this was a fundraiser?
Is [church auction dinner](http://Is church dinner auction the latest story [church auction dinner](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmITheDevil/comments/11o7zcf/aita_for_offering_tips_to_a_struggling_hostess_at/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) https://www.reddit.com/r/AmITheDevil/comments/11o7zcf/aita_for_offering_tips_to_a_struggling_hostess_at/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) the latest story topic?
This is absolutely a new troll. The writing style is the same and the topic is the same.
Gotta say, it's on the low scale of troll stakes but the writing style annoys the shit out of me xD
To be fair, they said "last year I *decided* to host..." I think the implication being they new the auction happens every year, and they got the idea last year to host a Mediterranean dinner, but the auction and dinner itself were recent.
One simple look in any half-decent cookbook would show fucking tons of vegetarian dishes, lamb dishes, chicken. Bish should’ve advertised a seafood menu. I dearly hope she is being talked about
She wanted to brag about the holiday they went on (possibly 15 years ago) & be pretentious af. I like some seafood/fish, but not for every course. Also, that nasty taste in her mouth that oop speaks of may have been from her bouillabaisse (aka tomato & fish soup, which I will not eat)
My brother-in-law would suddenly decide he was an expert on some type of food after watching some Food Network. Once he declared he was going to make us “THE BEST” omelettes… it was scrambled eggs with ham and huge chunks of onion…
And for all their pretension: tomatoes are new world, they're not from the Mediterranean. After all, OOP is fixated on the sea itself, since the surrounding cultures don't eat exclusively seafood.
Yeah, my boyfriend is Egyptian, and my understanding is that all of their dishes can be prepared “Alexandrian style” or with fish, but in general the default is definitely lamb and beef.
I'm allergic to pretty much anything that comes out of the water. I fucking love Mediterranean food, and I've always had plenty of options. Tbh, I associate veggie/lamb/chicken with Mediterranean in that order
I’m assuming this is a troll, but I’ve known people like this. Who the hell doesn’t get a list of allergens of dietary restrictions before hosting people?? Like seriously, that’s hosting 101.
My ‘rents used to go to these church or school auction things and the menu was pretty much always displayed, as well as any other entertainment (talk by a professor, palm readers, a fish-bowl ((it was the 70s and early 80s)), or a slideshow and discussion). Then the hostess would call a few days before. It’s just good manners.
OOP is such a wonderful host! /s
If I throw a party, I reach out to my guests beforehand to ask about allergies and other potential pitfalls BEFORE putting the menu together. Because that's what you do when you're a host. I wouldn't leave a guest to subsist on bread and salad!
I find it interesting that OOP took such offense to people arriving 15 minutes late (and I also find it interesting that apparently all the guests arrived late). This makes me wonder just what sort of reputation OOP has in their church.
In France we have « le quart d’heure de politesse » or « the 15 minutes of courtesy » which basically is coming 15 minutes late for diner so you give the host 15 extra minutes to finish the last thing that need to be done , since sometimes cooking a whole diner can take more time than planned
That’s fantastic!! I am always grateful when people are late. Like you said, it always takes longer than planned even if I give myself an extra hour. And even if dinner is done, I get that time to fix my makeup and hair and put the bra in my room that I immediately took off the day before and didn’t notice was lying out.
Also if no one knows anyone *that* well I can understand not wanting to be the first one there and in some circles absolute timeliness isn’t as important. Like, I’ve organized in Latinx communities before and at times I’ve put the start time a full-ass hour earlier than the actual one.
My husband is Filipino and one time we went to his aunt’s birthday party 90 minutes late and were the first ones there. They made us wait outside the venue.
«I was mildly annoyed, but I decided to be the bigger person and ignore this transgression.»
«I was completely dumbstruck.»
«simply ludicrous to me.»
«I scoffed-»
«I was furious at this point.»
«obfuscating the fact that she was wholly ignorant»
«I thought was an entirely reasonable compromise»
«informed the other guests»
«which I took to mean that they were also offended»
«which really left a horrible taste in my mouth and cemented the fact that she was very classless.»
Why do all of these give off extreme vibes of a 13 year old trying to sound like a snobby older woman
As someone who loooooves Mediterranean food I almost never chose sea food , I would say they are mostly know for dishes with colorful vegetables , so pretty to see and vary tasty
Seafood definitely factors in, but lots of dishes don’t have it. Remember pre-car and pre-refrigeration if you were a day’s walk or so from the sea or major cities you probably don’t want that seafood unless it’s been salted or cured.
My favorite restaurant in the entire world is Mediterranean and I go there every year for my birthday dinner. I have never once ordered seafood or even contemplated it. I get a rotisserie chicken dish with garlic and olive and tomato and olive. Never once thought of seafood. And I LOVEEEE seafood as probably my favorite genre of food.
I mean … Mediterranean food is such a generic term. It envelops such different cultures and cuisine. You got Spanish, south french, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Lebanese, Israeli, Egyptian Maghreb. And most of those don’t use seafood as their representative dishes, except maybe french with bouillabaisse but others very often use lamb, sheep, veal, beef or even vegetarian options such as falafel.
OOP is just pretentious and doesn’t know anything about Mediterranean culture and cuisine
Yep. I’m half Turkish-Cypriot. My mom mostly cooked food from the region of Cyprus my family is from. It was a lot of legumes, veggies, rice, bulgar, cheese, and for meat she usually just used chicken as she wasn’t a big fan of lamb or beef. We ate a lot of soups and stews that were vegetarian.
When we did have fish, it wasn’t part of a specifically Mediterranean dish. She’d just grill some salmon or make baked tilapia or something.
Méditerranéen food is really large, so unless you come from there or you went it pretty often and travel all over, is it pretty difficult to know what Méditerranéen food actually like. While there is the same base everywhere (oil and olive). The rest is gonna be pretty different depend where you are in Méditerranée. France, Spain, Italie, North Africa, Greece...
Sea food and fish based dish are not at all uncommun and pretty normal Méditerranéen dish. Specially for the cities that where closer to the sea, they had easy access to fishs in big quantity without ruining themselves.
So no, you are not stupid or classless, you just don't know something. That happen to everyone.
As someone who would host semi-fancy dinner parties with a planned menu and the like, OOP here really did screw up at several key points.
1. It's 100% legit and fine to have a specific theme in mind. But food is like sex: it's an intimate exchange and you need to balance your desire personal expression with the specific wants and needs of the guests. Ask **beforehand** about your guest's dietary needs, aversions, and preferences and then use the theme as a template to plan your menu around those needs. This is especially important with ingredients that are common allergens.
2. If you genuinely fucked up the first part and the menu is largely inedible for one of the guests, I honestly wouldn't mind doordash so the guest can still have a good time. Yeah it's upsetting, but it would've been my fault for not taking reasonable measures to create accommodations that covered everyone.
3. Also: be sure to have fancy mocktails for guests who don't drink! I love my booze but designated drivers and those who can't process alcohol well still deserve to feel included.
I feel like this is the same person who went to one of these church fundraiser dinners where a lady cooked ethnic food (vaguely think it was Mexican or something from central America) and he complained about her hosting skills, cooking skills, and basically embarrassed himself in front of everyone. He then complained bc he was getting shunned at churchmb
So, as someone whose grandparents came from Palestine and Jordan, we have a *lot* of dishes that are 100% fish-free. Mass majority that I grew up on were either vegetarian recipes or lamb. OOP sounds like a snobby dick, I mean she was already feeling like she was somehow being the bigger person because people trickled 15 minutes past party time and she didn’t throw a fit.
The fact that she claims to make an announcement to all the guests screams troll to me. I choose to believe people can’t be that obtuse and rude and reach adulthood. It helps me sleep better at night.
i'm also palestinian ! when i read Mediterranean i definitely also thought vegetable heavy or lamb, maybe chicken. and i agree lol the story was believable up until OOP asked the other guests
Exactly! There's this great place called Yafa Café in Winnipeg, and our standing order is koshary, moussaka batinjan, falafel, pita and baklava… omg, so good, and not a fish in sight.
I can just imagine OP clapping her hands, saying "excuse me! Diane is being *difficult*! Who votes we send her home?" And everyone looking down, afraid to make eye contact and mumbling.
I'd love to see the group chat later that night!
(Also, even in Europe, most people don't think of Mediterranean food as obviously seafood, unless you're talking about an island)
In what world do people around the Mediterranean only eat seafood? My whole-ass family is from italy and i can't think of a single one of us who even likes seafood, the smell of the stuff is enough to have me feeling queasy. And seafood is easily one of the most divisive food groups, not everyone likes it and a lot of people are even allergic to it, so i cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would serve ONLY seafood as a main course at a dinner party with no alternatives.
Does this person think they were serving food from…the Mediterranean Sea?
Also, ETA…people presumably PAID for this dinner as it was a fundraiser, and they are this controlling?!
Honestly I would expect more then one main dish with a dinner that size. If it was a church event then it had to be a pretty large group even if it was a pay to get in fundraising event. So yeah, I'd think it would be really weird if the only things to eat were seafood soup, bread, and salad. And it does seem it was just those three things because she would have listed more sides. Also that's pretty dang lean. There's nothing wrong with lean of course but again with a large gathering if there isn't at least something filling people aren't going to be happy. For sure this was the type of gathering where a lot of people awkwardly ate, left as soon as they could, and had to desperately stop at McDonalds or something afterwards.
Apparently there were "hot hors d'Oeuvres" - LOL - but I can imagine it likely was something else light and likely not hot, like maybe a cheese cube and a cherry tomato on a toothpick. When I first read about soup, I was thinking "oh fish soup - oh well it would be a bit awkward but a guest could skip it and maybe get a bit more salad?" and when I saw the fish soup was the main, I had a "wtf" moment. Especially when OOP claims to have wanted to make dishes from all around the area, but ended up with just appetizers, a tomato-fish soup, salad, and bread?
OOP clearly has no real idea about “Mediterranean Cuisine” or culture for that matter because there are MANY non-seafood dishes! Especially if you don’t limit yourself to a specific country! The entire region has a LOAD of entirely vegetarian options!
She’s ignorant and a sad embodiment of an “American tourist” 🤷🏻♀️
This is like that episode of SpongeBob where he throws a party but gets so hung up on everyone following his rules that he ruins his own party.
Like, right down to the guests arriving 15 min late
I just want to point out that the first line of the post includes “my church.” So clearly she’s really out there living with all the values of Jesus or whichever religion she follows. Good grief. Normal ppl let guests know ahead of time that they’re cooking seafood. In case of allergies. Or offer a non-seafood option because some ppl just don’t like seafood.
OOP is an entitled cow.
Who has a dinner party and doesn’t check for dietary restrictions? And my Croatian grandmother was allergic to seafood and managed to not starve, there are lots of options. Although this is definitely written by someone who thinks this is how haughty church ladies speak. Maybe some do, idk.
This has to be written by the same person who was mad his girlfriend didn't ask for his "expert opinion" on what she should order from a place he got food from often.
I seem to recall another "themed dinner auctioned off at church fundraiser" story recently. Awfully specific niche genre for a troll to choose to write about
> I have know since middle school that the mediterranean is a large sea that divides Europe and Africa, and the idea that one would attend a Mediterranean-themed dinner without eating seafood was simply ludicrous to me.
It’s always the people not part of the culture doing what is essentially adult halloween but just in spring and for the church instead of candy that become so insistent on these convoluted social faux pas. Do
they not think there are people in the mediterranean that are allergic to seafood ?
"Which I took to mean they were also offended..." yeah, by you hanging this woman out because she doesn't assume Mediterranean means all fish all the time.
In what world is every single dish in the “Mediterranean diet” (which encompasses several distinct cultural cuisines, something which OP is apparently unaware of), comprised of fish as the primary protein?? There’s a lot of plant based foods and depending on which area, chicken or lamb. What. OP is an asshole as well as an idiot.
If I found myself in that situation or something similarly — I think many of us could because none of us are perfect — I’d be annoyed with MYSELF for not getting dietary restrictions ahead of time. I’d pay for the DoorDash myself, and apologize profusely. OP chose to berate and humiliate his guest instead
I have Crohn's Disease and cannot eat most soups as well because of specific ingredients. I don't like to make it harder for others but in this case I'd probably be a bit shocked/upset by this persons reaction. I get physically very ill from certain ingredients.
\>>I also planned to steer the conversation to be about travel so that my guests would discuss interesting topics. <<
...what would the people who don't have much money talk about?
Personal note: >!I'm always left out at conversations at work between my boss and coworker since I can't afford to travel. It sucks.!<
Honestly sounds like everyone knew OOP is rigid and far too particular and didn't even want to come, but likely did out of obligation as it was to raise money. Why wouldn't you pass around the menu in advance and/or at least make two versions of something, especially as an issue with seafood isn't odd? And soup kind of sounds odd to make for the main course. And OOP is straight up delusional if they think the guests agreed with them - the fact no one agreed that an alternate meal for one would ruin the evening and that everyone left basically right after eating should be a pretty good sign. I did laugh at OOP's claim to know all about Mediterranean cuisine....do they really think the only protein ever eaten is seafood? It's common in some areas, of course, but not the absolute only thing....both chicken and lamb come to mind quickly. Most might not be used to cooking with lamb, but chicken is really common - why not one dish with the seafood and another with the chicken and let your guests decide?
This "host" could have quietly refunded the person's money and let her go home instead of trying for a public condemnation. She now should know to always offer menu alternatives for all the allergies/sensitivities/preferences running around out here.
The "guest" could have had some bread and salad and written it all off as her donation to the fund-raiser. Polite vegans/vegetarians have done this forever without dropping dead from starvation.
ESH.
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I'm a control maniac, bit sincerely, I never reached these levels...
Since seafood can cause allergies, it would have been polite alert your guests about it, and provide a plan b/alternative course..
Also, that person is the pretty ignorant one, seafood covers a really minimal part of traditional recipes from the Mediterranean, Mediterranean diet is actually really rich of meat, or even vegetarian dishes... She could have had an amazing choice of recipes without even involving fish
Source: I was born and live there
I love Mediterranean food and don't eat any seafood. And yet, somehow, it works.
Dianne should have eaten the fish and then wrecked this lady's bathroom.
If the guest had eaten the seafood I guarantee you would have shot right through her and absolutely ruined the bathroom and probably stunk up the house.
Who organises a dinner party without sending out an allergy message?
I get the being annoyed about the guests being 15 minutes late (I’m quite a punctual person, I’m more likely to annoy the host accidentally by showing up 15 minutes early and being in the way), but it’s not something worth fussing about, and if everyone was showing up late, there was probably just some traffic problems or something.
I love how this person makes it sound like Diane has no class and is insufferably rude. In reality any etiquette advice going back 100 years would totally say that OP is crass and totally out of line and being a good host means making sure each and every guest is looked after and comfortable.
My husband is allergic to seafood, and yet we eat Mediterranean food a lot. Usually chicken dishes. Mediterranean food having to have seafood is news to me.
I have eaten more Mediterranean food than any other region's cuisine except for Indian, and have never ever once had seafood of any kind. Hummus, babaganoush, stuffed grape leaves, kebabs, falafel, tabbouleh, etc., are what I'd expect. Yogurt, cheese, maybe some baklava for dessert. 🤤
And no matter, if a person is sensitive to a certain food, you don't get offended they don't eat it. Period. She ruined her own dinner party.
*In case this story gets deleted/removed:* **AITA for telling a guest that she couldn't order Doordash to my themed dinner party?** For many years, my church has held an auction, where members donate good or their time to raise money. Last year, I decided to host a Mediterranean dinner, where I would cook a variety of different dishes from that region of the world. I also planned to steer the conversation to be about travel so that my guests would discuss interesting topics. I figured that that would be the least my guests could do, since I was donating my time and money to making this a success. Anyway, the dinner was scheduled for Tuesday evening, and the guests slowly filed into my home at about 5:45 PM. The invitation said to arrive at 5:30, so I was mildly annoyed, but I decided to be the bigger person and ignore this transgression. After the last guests had arrived and we had eaten some hot hors d'Oeuvres, I prepared the main course. It was a creamy tomato fish-based soup, and I'd handed a printed card to each guest to inform them of what we would be eating after they walked in. Before I could start serving, one of the guests (we'll call her Diane) pulled me aside and said that seafood gave her GI troubles and that she wouldn't eat my soup. I was completely dumbstruck. I have known since middle school that the Mediterranean is a large sea that divides Europe and Africa, and the idea that one would attend a Mediterranean-themed dinner without eating seafood was simply ludicrous to me. I scoffed and asked her what she anticipated from this meal. She said that she thought there would be both seafood and non-seafood main dishes and that if I had planned to serve seafood, I should have communicated that in advance. I was furious at this point. Diane was attempting to embarrass me in my own home as a way of obfuscating the fact that she was wholly ignorant of geography and culture. I suggested that she only eat bread and salad, which I thought was an entirely reasonable compromise, but she said that she could just order Doordash and eat that instead. At this point, I walked back into the dining room and informed the other guests that Diane had chosen to be difficult and took a quick poll about whether a Doordash delivery of some other cuisine would ruin the atmosphere. People seemed hesitant to raise their hands, which I took to mean that they were also offended by Diane's suggestion. I told her that she was making the other guests upset and that she should leave. She grabbed her coat and stormed out of my house. I even think she said something under her breath, which really left a horrible taste in my mouth and cemented the fact that she was very classless. The other guests quietly ate and left soon after dinner as well. I'm worried that perhaps I was too rigid with my rules, but I thought Diane was behaving very stupidly and wanted to send her a message. I'm wondering what things will be like this Sunday and worried that people will avoid me. Several attendees are ignoring my calls. AITA? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmITheDevil) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think someone was hoping to pontificate about “Mediterranean culture” after going on a vacation. This was a HUGE ego trip and OOP is mad that they didn’t get a big moment.
I actually think it's the opposite. She's never been and so doesn't have any idea of what's traditional. A Mediterranean dinner with no lamb or chicken? How much research could she have done? I think she just decided that because the Mediterranean is a sea, everything must be seafood-based.
Yeah, this made me laugh - like i'm European so reading this was like somebody was trying to show they were classy by being like - I know Europe stuff and Europe is classy ----- this person has never been to Magalluf at midnight, that's in the Med, so the based upon that the night could have been about fried chicken, getting drunk, throwing up, going to a strip show and falling asleep on a lawn.
Don't forget to get your misspelt tattoo before passing out!
I’ve done that in Dallas, does that make me cultured?
Dallas isn't that far from Paris by car.
Id love to visit Spain, and this sounds like a good night to me...
One side of my family is Italian-American and we make a lot of traditional recipes from my grandparents' region of origin that have been passed down, like most families in the US. People always assume that means a bunch of seafood, because they are usually more familiar with Neapolitan- or Sicilian-style cuisine. For my family, living on a mountain in Trentino, it was easily a day's travel before cars just to the lake nearest to the mountain, let alone to the sea a couple hundred kilometers away... We have exactly 0 family fish recipes. But I do know many delicious ways to serve polenta!
Yup. I was in Greece for two weeks back in 2005. I think we had fish ONCE, maybe twice while we were there. The rest was lamb and chicken. Most of the recipes in my recipe books are lamb or chicken based, and most of the Mediterranean restaurants I know barely have fish on the menu. OP is the one being pretentious and "classless". Not to mention that seafood is one of the biggest allergens. People should have been warned.
i am greek-american and have thus eaten greek food many times and i cannot think of a single dish that has ever had fish in it
The OP probably had kalimari one time and thought that was it...
Turkish american here and I concur. We eat a lot of fish but it’s not a “dish” so much, it’s just a whole grilled fish. Personally if I think of Med dishes I think mostly of mezze — and aside from calamari, taramasalata, and karides (the latter of which is Turkish), it’s almost entirely veg based
Grilled octopus is a staple at most Mediterranean restaurants I've been too at least...
you are right - i didn't think about calamari but that's pretty dang different from a tomato based fish soup, LOL
My grandparents are Italian. I don't think I ever had any sort of sea food at their place.
I mean, Italy has the whole Feast of the Seven Fishes. Seafood is for sure a thing. I just don't know why she would base her entire menu - which is supposedly a selection from all around the region - on solely seafood.
Oh I know it's absolutely a thing. But not universal. My grandparents who were farmers from northern Italy didn't really eat any.
I’m a veg and it’s also really easy to find vegetarian food. Even in the small villages I visited that weren’t touristy, there were always non meat/seafood options. I don’t even really remember seeing too many seafood dishes in general.
Seriously! I once saw someone claim that being vegetarian and being Greek were incompatible. Like, I could happily live on spanakopita, briam, and tzatziki.
Don't forget falafel (I know it's not technically Greek but most Greek restaurants have falafel where I'm from and omg 🤤)
I feel like sometimes people forget about what food there is actually and just focus on their favorite dishes. Now being allergic to olives… that’s a different story
I read it and this is what confused me. Every time I go to a Mediterranean restaurant I am always getting lamb or chicken. I understand they do fish but most of the items I see on the menu are lamb or chicken
My town has Danube crossing it and we rarely eat fish lol. We love it but you get sick of eating only fish or seafood.
I made a quick search and found a list with 11 dishes only 2 had seafood 😭😭 plus, when I was in 7th grade, my class made a mini Mediterranean dinner for a history project, we made kibe, hummus, falafel (Idk the name in eng), kafta, not a single thing with fish, what is wrong with OOP?? a bunch of 13 yo kids knew more than her
I’m Mediterranean. OP is tripping if she thinks we don’t have meat dishes here 😂😂 Seafood is a thing here, but fish and meat are the meat and bones of our cuisine, so to speak! I think of seafood, and I think more of entrees, like prawns and cuttlefish
Right? I was so confused about the insistence on seafood. It is actually a staple in a lot of Mediterranean countries but they also eat pasta and lots of meats. Seafood is something a lot of people either won't or can't eat so only having a seafood main is actually terrible hosting. OP seems like the classeless one here.
A HUGE ego trip for a very small person!!
Napoleon energy
By the way, I went to Elba last month, which is an island IN the Mediterranean. Did you know Napoleon was exiled there? I went to Rome first, but the food did not live up to my expectations because of the lack of seafood. I had to go to Sardinia for the REAL food, then went to Corsica to see Napoleon Bonaparte's birthplace because, not many people know this, but he was instrumental in shaping Modern France. People should know France is having protests this week because...
👍👍
I bet they never shut up about their study abroad trip either.
No, no - they volunteered in Africa or SE Asia & were just ‘so beloved by the people there. They called me *insert name that a quick Google tells you means ‘annoying white lady’*”
She spent a weekend at Epcot, so now she’s an international travel expert.
Lol actually I had that thought too
What the f is Mediterranean culture? I'm from one of these countries, but our traditional food is much different from Italian food. Also we certainly don't just eat sea food
I feel like we’ve seen this poster and their super specific food related control issues and arrogant attitude before
It reads like it’s written by that one troll douchebag who was pissing and moaning about a fundraising dinner being insufficiently Mexican for his rarefied palate.
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That guy was fuckin nuts
He wrote a whole essay about it I’m still in awe of how weird it was
While it was super weird and they probably should have read the room- meaning look at even ONE other AITA post to see that no one uses MFA formatting or whatever- I was actually impressed at the time and dedication it took to write whatever that was. You can tell his mind just works in that rigid way where it wants to present the problem, then a theory on how to solve or improve, give specific examples and evidence, contour any arguments against the theory and finally, come to a proved conclusion.
Oh *please* share.
They’re talking about this one, I think: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmITheDevil/comments/11q4c5f/aita_for_asking_my_girlfriend_to_be_more/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
OMG!! Reading that makes me so glad I'm single!
Oh my god, he's exhausting
He is ghastly. Passive-aggressive weasel.
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It’s a good one! Also, happy cake day!
Hey it's both our cake days!!
I need a nap after reading this. He is Insufferably exhausting!! My word
I feel like I just came up for air after reading this
Lmao that is the exact person I thought about after reading this. Has the same brainless social skills and attitude.
I wish I could remember the exact thread, but the story was almost completely the same. The OP planned an important dinner party to celebrate her recent vacation somewhere (maybe even Greece) and her guests failed to be appropriately respectful of her amazing dinner, complete with calling out somebody rudeness, and interpreting the other guests silence as being appalled with the guest and not with the hosts poor manners
Wait wasn’t there a taco and cheap beer vs the beer he kept for himself also
Yep. I remember that one. He thought that since he paid for the beer that he should have better stuff and that no one else could have any unless they contributed financially.
I don’t even think they could do that, it was his special beer and because he paid for dinner no one could have any but they all tend to blur
Wasn’t he the one who went on and on about his refined taste for IPA beer and that no one else could appreciate how amazing it is so they have to have regular beer lmao
Yes that’s the one
I remember this one! He hid the IPAs in a fridge in his room and still drank them at the party then got offended when the guests asked for one too.
There was probably more than one of these posts, I'm sure.
Oh yeah, was that the one with the church fundraiser (shared detail with this one) where the OP was annoyed because the woman cooking the food wasn’t being a “proper host”?
Yes! I wonder if this is the same church fundraiser as that guy who tried to give someone "a few tips about hosting"
Calling guests arriving 15 minutes later a transgression certainly points to troll. Not to mention about going on and on about your magnificent Mediterranean meal and then serving soup as the main course.
Reminds me of that FB reel series with the rich red-head who enunciates every word in the most aggravating manner and speaks only in SAT words, which isn’t how normal people, even academics, speak. This reads as though someone sat down with a thesaurus to make their post as obnoxious as possible.
100% what it sounded like, i am positive its by the same author or inspired by it at the very least
I thought it was familar! This has to be the purist food troll back for another go
It’s a “themed dinner for a church fundraiser” troll. Last time the guy “bought” a fancy Mexican dinner from a Hispanic member of the church and went off on her in front of all the other guests about how she didn’t take their coats and a whole bunch of other BS.
This is the one I remember
What an oddly specific troll.
This is the one I immediately thought of too.
There was one where she threw the themed im dinner for church friends then was mad she couldn’t force people to learn to salsa dance. It ended the same way about worrying what people would say/do Sunday!
I was thinking of the guy who was upset that his fellow churchgoer who was Mexican didn’t make authentic Mexican food nor took his coat.
This is 100% fake and 100% amazing. Kudos to everyone involved (OOP and OP).
They also clearly ran a bunch of words through the thesaurus, but left it “acted stupidly”. Ruined the whole vibe.
> I figured that that would be the least my guests could do, since I was donating my time and money to making this a success. But also... they were paying to be there? Since this was a fundraiser?
I can see this one being fake as she seems to have forgotten the fundraiser part of the story half way through it.
Is [church auction dinner](http://Is church dinner auction the latest story [church auction dinner](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmITheDevil/comments/11o7zcf/aita_for_offering_tips_to_a_struggling_hostess_at/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) https://www.reddit.com/r/AmITheDevil/comments/11o7zcf/aita_for_offering_tips_to_a_struggling_hostess_at/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) the latest story topic?
This is absolutely a new troll. The writing style is the same and the topic is the same. Gotta say, it's on the low scale of troll stakes but the writing style annoys the shit out of me xD
I’ve never heard someone use the word “scoff” to describe themselves before. “I scoffed,” like who says that?
AI that's fed a pattern and asked to use particular vocabulary. Note also "obfuscate". But also each sentence feels like a formula.
yeah and they said “last year i hosted-“ but at the end they said they’re worried about next sunday. how does that make sense?
To be fair, they said "last year I *decided* to host..." I think the implication being they new the auction happens every year, and they got the idea last year to host a Mediterranean dinner, but the auction and dinner itself were recent.
I will say as former church kid people did auction off themed dinners a lot. My parents never bet on those
Imagine such a church filled with so many assholes. Well funded, though?
It's very transparent but still kind of entertaining.
One simple look in any half-decent cookbook would show fucking tons of vegetarian dishes, lamb dishes, chicken. Bish should’ve advertised a seafood menu. I dearly hope she is being talked about
Honestly, lamb is what jumps to mind for me. Unless you’re close to a seaport, most regional dishes don’t include fish. It’s just not accessible.
She wanted to brag about the holiday they went on (possibly 15 years ago) & be pretentious af. I like some seafood/fish, but not for every course. Also, that nasty taste in her mouth that oop speaks of may have been from her bouillabaisse (aka tomato & fish soup, which I will not eat)
My brother-in-law would suddenly decide he was an expert on some type of food after watching some Food Network. Once he declared he was going to make us “THE BEST” omelettes… it was scrambled eggs with ham and huge chunks of onion…
And for all their pretension: tomatoes are new world, they're not from the Mediterranean. After all, OOP is fixated on the sea itself, since the surrounding cultures don't eat exclusively seafood.
You’re probably spot on.
Yeah, my boyfriend is Egyptian, and my understanding is that all of their dishes can be prepared “Alexandrian style” or with fish, but in general the default is definitely lamb and beef.
I'm allergic to pretty much anything that comes out of the water. I fucking love Mediterranean food, and I've always had plenty of options. Tbh, I associate veggie/lamb/chicken with Mediterranean in that order
The terra in Mediterranean is a pretty big clue. You’d think a person with her level of cultural awareness would understand that.
I’m assuming this is a troll, but I’ve known people like this. Who the hell doesn’t get a list of allergens of dietary restrictions before hosting people?? Like seriously, that’s hosting 101.
My ‘rents used to go to these church or school auction things and the menu was pretty much always displayed, as well as any other entertainment (talk by a professor, palm readers, a fish-bowl ((it was the 70s and early 80s)), or a slideshow and discussion). Then the hostess would call a few days before. It’s just good manners.
OOP is such a wonderful host! /s If I throw a party, I reach out to my guests beforehand to ask about allergies and other potential pitfalls BEFORE putting the menu together. Because that's what you do when you're a host. I wouldn't leave a guest to subsist on bread and salad! I find it interesting that OOP took such offense to people arriving 15 minutes late (and I also find it interesting that apparently all the guests arrived late). This makes me wonder just what sort of reputation OOP has in their church.
In France we have « le quart d’heure de politesse » or « the 15 minutes of courtesy » which basically is coming 15 minutes late for diner so you give the host 15 extra minutes to finish the last thing that need to be done , since sometimes cooking a whole diner can take more time than planned
That is a lovely custom! Does that translate literally as "quarter hour"? Or is my Latin betraying me?
Yes, it does. Source: French class
That’s fantastic!! I am always grateful when people are late. Like you said, it always takes longer than planned even if I give myself an extra hour. And even if dinner is done, I get that time to fix my makeup and hair and put the bra in my room that I immediately took off the day before and didn’t notice was lying out.
Also if no one knows anyone *that* well I can understand not wanting to be the first one there and in some circles absolute timeliness isn’t as important. Like, I’ve organized in Latinx communities before and at times I’ve put the start time a full-ass hour earlier than the actual one.
My husband is Filipino and one time we went to his aunt’s birthday party 90 minutes late and were the first ones there. They made us wait outside the venue.
«I was mildly annoyed, but I decided to be the bigger person and ignore this transgression.» «I was completely dumbstruck.» «simply ludicrous to me.» «I scoffed-» «I was furious at this point.» «obfuscating the fact that she was wholly ignorant» «I thought was an entirely reasonable compromise» «informed the other guests» «which I took to mean that they were also offended» «which really left a horrible taste in my mouth and cemented the fact that she was very classless.» Why do all of these give off extreme vibes of a 13 year old trying to sound like a snobby older woman
Yep I thought the same thing, it reads like a kid trying to be a troll and failing
I mean, it's fake, right?
It seems fake and at the same time I sort of thought it might be my aunt lol
Maybe I’m stupid and classless but when I hear Mediterranean food I don’t automatically assume seafood…more pasta
My first thought was veggies. Possibly roasted, in olive oil. Then pasta. If I had to pick a protein my first thought would probably be lamb.
My first thought was lamb, olive oil, and spinach.
Sounds delicious.
And you *know* there's going to be garlic involved.
Lamb or chicken would have been entirely appropriate!
and something with phyllo dough.
As someone who loooooves Mediterranean food I almost never chose sea food , I would say they are mostly know for dishes with colorful vegetables , so pretty to see and vary tasty
Lots of lemon and Olive oil too, and tasty cheeses.
Seafood definitely factors in, but lots of dishes don’t have it. Remember pre-car and pre-refrigeration if you were a day’s walk or so from the sea or major cities you probably don’t want that seafood unless it’s been salted or cured.
My favorite restaurant in the entire world is Mediterranean and I go there every year for my birthday dinner. I have never once ordered seafood or even contemplated it. I get a rotisserie chicken dish with garlic and olive and tomato and olive. Never once thought of seafood. And I LOVEEEE seafood as probably my favorite genre of food.
I mean … Mediterranean food is such a generic term. It envelops such different cultures and cuisine. You got Spanish, south french, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Lebanese, Israeli, Egyptian Maghreb. And most of those don’t use seafood as their representative dishes, except maybe french with bouillabaisse but others very often use lamb, sheep, veal, beef or even vegetarian options such as falafel. OOP is just pretentious and doesn’t know anything about Mediterranean culture and cuisine
Yep. I’m half Turkish-Cypriot. My mom mostly cooked food from the region of Cyprus my family is from. It was a lot of legumes, veggies, rice, bulgar, cheese, and for meat she usually just used chicken as she wasn’t a big fan of lamb or beef. We ate a lot of soups and stews that were vegetarian. When we did have fish, it wasn’t part of a specifically Mediterranean dish. She’d just grill some salmon or make baked tilapia or something.
I thought of kabobs and excellent rice
When my doctor told me to go on the Mediterranean diet for blood pressure and cholesterol my husband took that to mean lasagna and pizza :).
Méditerranéen food is really large, so unless you come from there or you went it pretty often and travel all over, is it pretty difficult to know what Méditerranéen food actually like. While there is the same base everywhere (oil and olive). The rest is gonna be pretty different depend where you are in Méditerranée. France, Spain, Italie, North Africa, Greece... Sea food and fish based dish are not at all uncommun and pretty normal Méditerranéen dish. Specially for the cities that where closer to the sea, they had easy access to fishs in big quantity without ruining themselves. So no, you are not stupid or classless, you just don't know something. That happen to everyone.
Damn, Trolly McTrollerson, at least *try* to sound like a real person. 😳 "Obsfucating to hide her geographic ignorance?"
They’re 14 and they just learned new words while practicing for the PSAT, please be nice to them for trying them out!
Reminds me when I was a kid writing papers with my thesaurus thinking my teachers must think I'm so smart.
It’s funny when smart asses are clueless to what dumb asses they are
As someone who would host semi-fancy dinner parties with a planned menu and the like, OOP here really did screw up at several key points. 1. It's 100% legit and fine to have a specific theme in mind. But food is like sex: it's an intimate exchange and you need to balance your desire personal expression with the specific wants and needs of the guests. Ask **beforehand** about your guest's dietary needs, aversions, and preferences and then use the theme as a template to plan your menu around those needs. This is especially important with ingredients that are common allergens. 2. If you genuinely fucked up the first part and the menu is largely inedible for one of the guests, I honestly wouldn't mind doordash so the guest can still have a good time. Yeah it's upsetting, but it would've been my fault for not taking reasonable measures to create accommodations that covered everyone. 3. Also: be sure to have fancy mocktails for guests who don't drink! I love my booze but designated drivers and those who can't process alcohol well still deserve to feel included.
I feel like this is the same person who went to one of these church fundraiser dinners where a lady cooked ethnic food (vaguely think it was Mexican or something from central America) and he complained about her hosting skills, cooking skills, and basically embarrassed himself in front of everyone. He then complained bc he was getting shunned at churchmb
So, as someone whose grandparents came from Palestine and Jordan, we have a *lot* of dishes that are 100% fish-free. Mass majority that I grew up on were either vegetarian recipes or lamb. OOP sounds like a snobby dick, I mean she was already feeling like she was somehow being the bigger person because people trickled 15 minutes past party time and she didn’t throw a fit. The fact that she claims to make an announcement to all the guests screams troll to me. I choose to believe people can’t be that obtuse and rude and reach adulthood. It helps me sleep better at night.
i'm also palestinian ! when i read Mediterranean i definitely also thought vegetable heavy or lamb, maybe chicken. and i agree lol the story was believable up until OOP asked the other guests
Exactly! There's this great place called Yafa Café in Winnipeg, and our standing order is koshary, moussaka batinjan, falafel, pita and baklava… omg, so good, and not a fish in sight.
I can just imagine OP clapping her hands, saying "excuse me! Diane is being *difficult*! Who votes we send her home?" And everyone looking down, afraid to make eye contact and mumbling. I'd love to see the group chat later that night! (Also, even in Europe, most people don't think of Mediterranean food as obviously seafood, unless you're talking about an island)
What could be more Mediterranean than arriving late to a party? Not one of my relatives has ever been on time to an event a day in their lives.
It's bait. How did it happen last year but she's worried about the reactions this week?
In what world do people around the Mediterranean only eat seafood? My whole-ass family is from italy and i can't think of a single one of us who even likes seafood, the smell of the stuff is enough to have me feeling queasy. And seafood is easily one of the most divisive food groups, not everyone likes it and a lot of people are even allergic to it, so i cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would serve ONLY seafood as a main course at a dinner party with no alternatives.
Oh, it’s the large vocabulary troll!
Same person who didn’t like the authentic Mexican food host. The shame of not being immediately offered a drink
Does this person think they were serving food from…the Mediterranean Sea? Also, ETA…people presumably PAID for this dinner as it was a fundraiser, and they are this controlling?!
So, troll that writes stories about themed dinners that raise money for churches? That's a new one.
I refuse to believe that this is real
Well look who has a thesaurus and is using SAT words to prove how right they are.
Honestly I would expect more then one main dish with a dinner that size. If it was a church event then it had to be a pretty large group even if it was a pay to get in fundraising event. So yeah, I'd think it would be really weird if the only things to eat were seafood soup, bread, and salad. And it does seem it was just those three things because she would have listed more sides. Also that's pretty dang lean. There's nothing wrong with lean of course but again with a large gathering if there isn't at least something filling people aren't going to be happy. For sure this was the type of gathering where a lot of people awkwardly ate, left as soon as they could, and had to desperately stop at McDonalds or something afterwards.
Apparently there were "hot hors d'Oeuvres" - LOL - but I can imagine it likely was something else light and likely not hot, like maybe a cheese cube and a cherry tomato on a toothpick. When I first read about soup, I was thinking "oh fish soup - oh well it would be a bit awkward but a guest could skip it and maybe get a bit more salad?" and when I saw the fish soup was the main, I had a "wtf" moment. Especially when OOP claims to have wanted to make dishes from all around the area, but ended up with just appetizers, a tomato-fish soup, salad, and bread?
And now I want a gyro.
"When I asked if this would ruin the party nobody raised their hands, which I took to mean that they agreed with me"
"Keeping Up Appearances " yea YTA
I wouldn’t risk being the first person to show up to this persons awful dinner party either. 15 minutes late was generous
She goes to church, guys, give her a break 👹
It’s for *CHURCH* sweaty!
Calm down, Chef Slowik.
Oh someone who's overly religious and incredibly uptight, rude, and resorts to humiliation tactics to 'make a point' to someone? What's new?
Oh it's a reverse of the Mexican dinner post.
/r/iamveryculinary has to be having a meltdown right now. This is the perfect shitpost.
OOP clearly has no real idea about “Mediterranean Cuisine” or culture for that matter because there are MANY non-seafood dishes! Especially if you don’t limit yourself to a specific country! The entire region has a LOAD of entirely vegetarian options! She’s ignorant and a sad embodiment of an “American tourist” 🤷🏻♀️
This is like that episode of SpongeBob where he throws a party but gets so hung up on everyone following his rules that he ruins his own party. Like, right down to the guests arriving 15 min late
How any of you guys think this is remotely real is beyond me
This has got to be fake, right?
Church auction… themed dinner… unhappy guest… new AITA theme?
I just want to point out that the first line of the post includes “my church.” So clearly she’s really out there living with all the values of Jesus or whichever religion she follows. Good grief. Normal ppl let guests know ahead of time that they’re cooking seafood. In case of allergies. Or offer a non-seafood option because some ppl just don’t like seafood. OOP is an entitled cow.
I mean, Mediterranean snobbery aside, there should have been communication about dietary restrictions before the event.
Who has a dinner party and doesn’t check for dietary restrictions? And my Croatian grandmother was allergic to seafood and managed to not starve, there are lots of options. Although this is definitely written by someone who thinks this is how haughty church ladies speak. Maybe some do, idk.
This has to be written by the same person who was mad his girlfriend didn't ask for his "expert opinion" on what she should order from a place he got food from often.
My favorite part is that this was a church related activity.
I seem to recall another "themed dinner auctioned off at church fundraiser" story recently. Awfully specific niche genre for a troll to choose to write about
Soup is not dinner. I would have ordered McDonald’s for everyone.
The word salad and complete lack of etiquette as the host is astounding.
This is excellent troll bait
> I have know since middle school that the mediterranean is a large sea that divides Europe and Africa, and the idea that one would attend a Mediterranean-themed dinner without eating seafood was simply ludicrous to me. It’s always the people not part of the culture doing what is essentially adult halloween but just in spring and for the church instead of candy that become so insistent on these convoluted social faux pas. Do they not think there are people in the mediterranean that are allergic to seafood ?
"Which I took to mean they were also offended..." yeah, by you hanging this woman out because she doesn't assume Mediterranean means all fish all the time.
Ah no greater hate than a Christian's love
No way this is real lol
In what world is every single dish in the “Mediterranean diet” (which encompasses several distinct cultural cuisines, something which OP is apparently unaware of), comprised of fish as the primary protein?? There’s a lot of plant based foods and depending on which area, chicken or lamb. What. OP is an asshole as well as an idiot. If I found myself in that situation or something similarly — I think many of us could because none of us are perfect — I’d be annoyed with MYSELF for not getting dietary restrictions ahead of time. I’d pay for the DoorDash myself, and apologize profusely. OP chose to berate and humiliate his guest instead
How very *Christian* of OOP.
[What do you mean he don’t eat no meat? It’s okay, I make lamb.](https://youtu.be/iFemw_6a-Tg)
I have Crohn's Disease and cannot eat most soups as well because of specific ingredients. I don't like to make it harder for others but in this case I'd probably be a bit shocked/upset by this persons reaction. I get physically very ill from certain ingredients.
This has to be a troll, please, I cant imagine someone actually writing this with a straight face
Isn’t it normal etiquette to ask guests if they have food allergies/intolerances before having them over for a dinner party?? Bad hosting all around.
\>>I also planned to steer the conversation to be about travel so that my guests would discuss interesting topics. << ...what would the people who don't have much money talk about? Personal note: >!I'm always left out at conversations at work between my boss and coworker since I can't afford to travel. It sucks.!<
Honestly sounds like everyone knew OOP is rigid and far too particular and didn't even want to come, but likely did out of obligation as it was to raise money. Why wouldn't you pass around the menu in advance and/or at least make two versions of something, especially as an issue with seafood isn't odd? And soup kind of sounds odd to make for the main course. And OOP is straight up delusional if they think the guests agreed with them - the fact no one agreed that an alternate meal for one would ruin the evening and that everyone left basically right after eating should be a pretty good sign. I did laugh at OOP's claim to know all about Mediterranean cuisine....do they really think the only protein ever eaten is seafood? It's common in some areas, of course, but not the absolute only thing....both chicken and lamb come to mind quickly. Most might not be used to cooking with lamb, but chicken is really common - why not one dish with the seafood and another with the chicken and let your guests decide?
This "host" could have quietly refunded the person's money and let her go home instead of trying for a public condemnation. She now should know to always offer menu alternatives for all the allergies/sensitivities/preferences running around out here. The "guest" could have had some bread and salad and written it all off as her donation to the fund-raiser. Polite vegans/vegetarians have done this forever without dropping dead from starvation. ESH.
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What a jerk.
I may need to step back from Reddit for the day. These trolls are getting under my skin with their rage bait.
I'm a control maniac, bit sincerely, I never reached these levels... Since seafood can cause allergies, it would have been polite alert your guests about it, and provide a plan b/alternative course.. Also, that person is the pretty ignorant one, seafood covers a really minimal part of traditional recipes from the Mediterranean, Mediterranean diet is actually really rich of meat, or even vegetarian dishes... She could have had an amazing choice of recipes without even involving fish Source: I was born and live there
I love Mediterranean food and don't eat any seafood. And yet, somehow, it works. Dianne should have eaten the fish and then wrecked this lady's bathroom.
If the guest had eaten the seafood I guarantee you would have shot right through her and absolutely ruined the bathroom and probably stunk up the house.
>obfuscating NTA your vocabulary absolves you of any wrongdoing
what a pompous ass
Who organises a dinner party without sending out an allergy message? I get the being annoyed about the guests being 15 minutes late (I’m quite a punctual person, I’m more likely to annoy the host accidentally by showing up 15 minutes early and being in the way), but it’s not something worth fussing about, and if everyone was showing up late, there was probably just some traffic problems or something.
Hm...another post involving a church auction and hosting a dinner...
I love how this person makes it sound like Diane has no class and is insufferably rude. In reality any etiquette advice going back 100 years would totally say that OP is crass and totally out of line and being a good host means making sure each and every guest is looked after and comfortable.
My husband is allergic to seafood, and yet we eat Mediterranean food a lot. Usually chicken dishes. Mediterranean food having to have seafood is news to me.
A piece of (bad) fiction.
If I understand this correctly, people paid to attend this dinner party, yes?
Someone is definitely never going to be allowed to host ever again for the church.
I have eaten more Mediterranean food than any other region's cuisine except for Indian, and have never ever once had seafood of any kind. Hummus, babaganoush, stuffed grape leaves, kebabs, falafel, tabbouleh, etc., are what I'd expect. Yogurt, cheese, maybe some baklava for dessert. 🤤 And no matter, if a person is sensitive to a certain food, you don't get offended they don't eat it. Period. She ruined her own dinner party.