This is simply to share what I know about various alcohols and their ingredients, since ingredients labeling currently is not required for alcohol in the United States. I have no expertise, simply some experiences in Seattle, WA. As always, use your own judgment, and please let me know about your own experiences.

Beer and Malt Beverages

Beer itself tends to be straightforward, but can have intriguing things mixed into it. I’m skeptical of beers with names that contain flavors and Christmastime “seasonal” ales (due to added spices and therefore nut).

Hops has a track record of causing contact dermatitis, and both of us find that it unsettles our stomachs. We’ve found Belgian ales to be lower in hops content.

Mike’s Hard Lemonade/Limeade etc – contain malt and other beer-like substances. I have not had a problem thus far.

Wine and the Like

Red Wine – contains sulfites

White Wine – also contains sulfites, but I can tolerate it. I don’t know if you can.

Mead – mead is traditionally made from honey. I’ve tried many meads, but I don’t try the ones that have spices in them or “mulled” meads.

Sake – mostly made from rice. There’s a special kind of mold, koji, that is used instead of yeast to encourage and control the fermentation. Sakes also can contain sulfites.

Vermouth – infused with “botanicals,” who knows what that means. Watch out for martinis, vermouth may be a wine, but it is spritzed over martinis.

Mixed Drinks, Liquor, Liqueurs, etc

WARNING Gin is usually infused with many flavors including nuts. Bombay Sapphire is one I know has almond. Dry Fly is one that I know does not contain any nuts whatsoever (the people at Dry Fly are also very nice about answering ingredients inquiries).

WARNING Maraschino cherries contain almond, and some bartenders like to add cherries or cherry juice unexpectedly. Explain why cherries are a bad idea when ordering your drinks.

Vodka – vodka is a popular drink to flavor, so watch the added flavorings, but what it is made of CAN VARY. Just because you’ve heard that vodka is from potatoes doesn’t mean it all is. I personally have now seen wheat-, rye-, potato-, and honey-based vodkas. Given that though, I find plain vodkas a great starting point when I’m out, one that isn’t scary because they usually are either very plain or the flavor is broadcasted all over the label.

Absinthe – Even now that it is legal again, I have no plans to ever try it. First it’s anise flavored (which is one of my allergies), and second, I don’t have a good way to test my allergies to wormwood first. Thirdly it contains other undefined herbs.

WARNING Chartreuse – contains over a hundred herbal extracts. I’m not interested in trying this, or trying to figure out if I’m allergic to any of them, I’m sure I’m allergic to at least one.

WARNING Jägermeister – also contains a large number of herbs, fruits, spices etc. That’s too many for me. Jäger is common in mixed drinks, especially drinks that have reputations as NOT “girly” drinks. Some people add Jäger to Long Island Iced Tea.

Vermouth – (technically a wine) vermouth is infused with “botanicals,” who knows what that means. Vermouth is spritzed over martinis.

Scotch, Bourbon, Whiskey – usually start from barley, rye, or wheat and are aged in barrels (frequently oak). Sometimes those barrels have been used for other alcohols first (sherry or bourbon – yes, some scotches are aged in bourbon barrels). The grain is usually malted and sometimes smoked – leaving a peaty flavor. Laphroaig scotch usually starts with water from peat bogs, in addition to being smoked over peat. Single malt scotches have a name that they want to maintain, so they’re quite consistent between batches.

WARNING Frangelico – is a hazelnut liqueur. STAY AWAY. This is contained in the popular “chocolate cake” shot – a shot that tastes like chocolate cake but has no cake and no chocolate.

WARNING Amaretto – this is almond liqueur. STAY AWAY.

Godiva Chocolate and White Chocolate liqueur – I had a little bit of a not-so-fun feeling in my mouth on tasting the Godiva chocolate liqueur. Since I don’t know and can’t find the real ingredients I’m staying away.

WARNING Celtic Crossing – I reacted minorly to this. It tasted a bit like almonds. I don’t know what it actually was that caused the reaction.

Kaluah – I’m pretty sensitive to peanuts and tree nuts and I don’t have a problem with this coffee-flavored liqueur. Jason won’t try it though because of his coffee sensitivity and general legume allergy.

Brandy, Cognac, Port – all of these start with wine. I said above that I don’t do red wines for the sulfites, but I haven’t had a problem with brandy or cognac. Port sometimes makes me sneeze, but I like tawny port anyway.

Grand Marnier – a citrus-flavored cognac

Rum – I haven’t tried the spiced rums, but both dark and white rum are pretty straightforward. They start from cane sugar, and some dark rums are aged in barrels.

Cointreau – citrus-flavored, but is NOT a cognac. This liqueur doesn’t start with wine. I have no clue what it really is, but I’m not allergic to it and neither is Jason.

Chambord – dark, berry-flavored. That’s all I’ve got. I’m not allergic to it and neither is Jason.

Tequila – is made from agave syrup. This does bother Jason, and if you’re sensitive to cacti or tropical fruits I’d be careful of it. I recommend getting tested or challenging agave before trying tequila.

General Advice

Alcohol impairs judgment. If you have food allergies, alcohol may make it harder to make the right decision about using your EpiPen or taking your Benadryl. Surround yourself with trustworthy friends when drinking and call for help if you’re not sure about something.

I have heard some reports that alcohol can speed up allergic reactions or make you more sensitive than usual. Please be cautious.

Benadryl and alcohol can mix badly as they’re both sedatives, so be careful. Follow your doctor’s instructions at all times. I have found consulting nurses, on-campus nurses, and doctors perfectly willing to discuss what happens when you mix alcohol with emergency allergy medications with me – especially when I bring it up before it happens accidentally. Alcohol is common in our society, and an expected part of many social interactions after a certain age. If you have a quick chat with your doctor before you get into a situation involving more than a sip of wine, then you’ll be prepared and ready (on the allergy front anyway) when you’re offered your first drink.

Cocktail shakers can be used for multiple drinks. Watch out for cross-contamination.

Finally, if you plan to go out with friends and you’re not the designated driver, I advise finding a simple, commonly-available alcoholic drink that you are comfortable ordering in a mixed setting before you go out. This way you always have a safe fallback that most bars will carry and you don’t have to feel put upon when the order comes around to you and you start listing allergies. Tee-totallers do this too – they order plain Coke (looks like they’re drinking rum-and-coke) or 7-up (looks like 7-and-7). Rum and Coke, vodka with a twist of lemon, scotch, etc. Feel free to tell your bartender to mix whatever you want. You know he has Sprite or 7-Up or some kind of safe fruit juice and your favorite liqueur? So what if it’s 7-Up and bourbon? Tell him what you want, he’ll probably do it – you’re usually only paying for the liquor and his time anyway.

Final Notes

You know this already: communicate with your server and the bartender when possible. In my experience these people are even more attentive and able to accommodate requests than restaurant servers and chefs. Perhaps there is less pressure in some of the settings I’ve been in, or perhaps there is some reality in the stereotype that bartenders are there to listen, but whatever it is, I’m glad for it.

I’ll keep adding to this as I learn more and as you leave your experiences in the comments.

From Jenn Purnell

• 1.5 Cup Warm Tap Water
• 1 Package Yeast
• 4 ½ – 5 Cups Flour
• ½ Cup Olive Oil
• 1/8 Cup Sugar
• 1 Tsp Salt

Directions:

Proof the yeast in the water.

Add 2 cups of flour, the sugar, oil, and salt. Mix well. Add 1 cup of flour, mix. It should start coming away from the sides of the bowl.

With the 4th cup of flour flour your hands and the kneading surface. Knead in a little at a time, adding enough to keep the flour from sticking to your hands. Knead very well – develop the glutens – the dough should be elastic,

When the dough is no longer sticky hold the heel of your hand in the dough for 10 seconds. If you can pull it away without sticking it’s right. This whole process should take 5-10 minutes.

Oil a 2-quart bowl, and roll the dough around in the bowl till it’s coated all over. Let the dough rise 30-45 minutes – until doubled in size. Punch it down. (Let it rise again if you want – Jenn thinks it should rise for 2 hours.).

Shape it and let it rise again for 5-10 minutes in shape. Fold the edges over to make the pizza crust

Pre-bake the crust on top rack for 10 minutes, then bake with the toppings for 5-10 minutes.

Some of my standard substitutions for Asian-food staples:

• Soy sauce = Maggi Seasoning (no soy, but wheat) never bothers my mild soy allergy.
• Soy sauce = Two friends recommend San-J Wheat-Free Tamari (I’ve never used it – you know, the soy). Another friend recommends Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

• Fish sauce = add a 1inchx2inch piece of cooked salmon (or raw if you’re making soup anyway)
• Fish sauce = add a 1inchx2inch piece of smoked salmon works too
• Fish sauce = (I know the above don’t help you if you have a fish allergy – for you I’d add a good dollop of salt, or perhaps some seaweed if that works) You might even try beef bouillon

• sesame oil = canola oil with a touch of Maggi or “soy sauce”
• sesame oil = canola oil with some spice added, try a grind or two of white pepper to get that “Asian spice flavor”, or a bit of Fenugreek to add the richness of sesame

• “seasoned” rice wine vinegar = usually is seasoned with sugar and salt. Judge for yourself whether it is worth the risk, we have no trouble with it
• rice wine vinegar = white vinegar or apple cider vinegar with a little sugar

• bean sprouts = julienned broccoli stems (crazy, right?!)

• Shiso leaf = peppermint leaf or basil leaf (it isn’t at all the same, but sometimes random weird ideas work)

• bean noodles = rice noodles

From Jason Gift Enevoldsen

• 2 boxes beef broth
• ¼ lb salmon (fresh or smoked, not lox)
• 2 lbs steak
• ginger (cut in thin coins)
• 5 pearl onions
• 2 Tbsp Maggi* (or soy sauce, or wheat-free soy sauce)

Bits to add

• rice stick noodles
• cilantro, shredded
• red basil or thai basil – leaves picked off stems
• scallions, small pieces
• lime wedges
• broccoli stems, cut thin (like for a slaw, we buy them precut)
• Sriracha* (red hot sauce)

Directions:

Add onions, ginger, steak, salmon (whole), Maggi, and beef broth. Bring to a boil, simmer 1 ½-2 hours until steak is tender and cooked through. KEEP COVERED, you’re not boiling it down. (Salmon will have disintegrated completely, but that doesn’t matter).

Soak rice noodles in hot water 10-15 minutes. Boil noodles for 1 minute, strain and rinse in cool water immediately.

After broth is done, cut steak in very thin strips – crossgrain if possible.

(*Listed Sriracha ingredients: Chili, Sugar, Salt, Garlic, Distilled Vinegar, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Bisulfate As Preservatives, and Xanthan Gum.)

(**Listed Maggi ingredients: Water, salt, wheat gluten, wheat, and less than 2% of wheat bran, sugar, acetic acid, artificial flavor, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, dextrose, caramel color)

Related posts: my standard Asian-food cooking substitutes.

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this yet. My go-to actually-for-real-egg-free egg substitute is Ener-G Egg Replacer. It is currently carried by Amazon.

Ener-G Egg Replacer

Their listed ingredients (but check your own box to be sure) are: Potato Starch, tapioca starch flour, leavening (calcium lactate [not derived from dairy], calcium carbonate, citric acid), sodium carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose.

I follow the directions on the back of the box. I always use it in baked goods, and have had luck in things like chicken nuggets as well which I wasn’t expecting.

When that’s not an option I use this recipe:

• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon water (or other liquid)
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network keeps a good list of substitutes on hand as well.

From Jenn Purnell

Photo by Jenn Purnell

Salad

• 4 lbs chicken
• lots of fresh tarragon
• lots of fresh thyme
• 1 head fresh elephant garlic
• 2 red onions
• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• 4 cups cooked mixed rice (we like Rice Select Royal Blend Texmati White Brown and Red which also has wild rice.)
• 1 head fresh celery
• 4 medium steamed zucchinis
• 2 steamed parsnips

Dressing

• ⅓ cup olive oil
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• ¼ tsp xanthan gum (sometimes corn-derived)
• Pinch ground black pepper
• ⅓ cup lemon juice – fresh squeezed

Serving

• Edible flowers (pansies)
• Fresh baby spinach

Directions:

Cook rice. Dice zucchini, parsnips, celery, onions, and finely chop the garlic. Clean and chop the spices. Dice the chicken.

Steam the zucchini and parsnips. Sauté garlic and onions in oil until soft. (Leave the celery aside)

Add chicken to garlic and onions along with tarragon and thyme. Sauté on high until outside of the chicken is white all over, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Stir every 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Whisk dressing ingredients together. Serve on side.

Mix rice, veggies, chicken. Serve over spinach, top with flowers. Add dressing to taste.

From Alice Enevoldsen and Jenn Purnell

Photo by Jenn Purnell

Bottom:

• 1 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup (or light Karo – Karo will add corn!)
• ¼+ cup boiling lemon juice
• ¼- cup boiling water
• ½ tsp baking soda
• Several drops rose extract (or rose-flower water if that’s all you can get)
• As many pansy flowers (violas) as you have cupcake molds.

Top:

• ¾ cups flour
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ⅛ cup palm oil

Directions:

Make pie crust, put in silicone cupcake papers. Make top crumbs by mixing flour and sugar, then cutting in palm oil until it loosely clumps together. Set aside

Measure syrup in 2 cup glass measuring cup. Boil water. Boil lemon juice in a glass measuring cup in the microwave. Add baking soda to hot water.  Add water and lemon juice to syrup measuring cup and mix thoroughly.

Assemble pie by alternating layers of the liquid and the top crumbs – 3 layers of each.Bake at 375F for 20-30 minutes.

When cool, top with one pansy each. These are a great egg-free replacement for lemon bars. The texture is somewhat similar, and the flavor is pretty close.

CONTAINS WHEAT AND SOY, and I don’t know the source of “sugars” so that might be corn or it might not. They do produce some foods that look to contain nuts, and I don’t know their factory practices preventing cross-contamination.

It seems that Washington State has declared April Disaster Preparedness month, which got me thinking again about the problem of emergency rations for us food-allergic folks.

I finally found and tried a ration that is safe for both my husband and I, but it contains wheat and soy – so if those are your allergies (and I know there are many of you) don’t get your hopes up. I’m sorry.
Seven Oceans 2500 Calorie Food Ration is made in Norway and carried by Prepare Smart in Redmond (link to purchase).

The ingredients are appropriately simple:

• Wheat flour
• Vegetable soya fat
• Sugars
• Malt
• Vitamins C, B1, B6

It tastes like a dry undersweetened piece of shortbread. I may start taking some to work to keep in a drawer for those days when the lunch I pack doesn’t go quite far enough.

We tried them last night and today, no reactions even with our super-anaphylactic reactions to milk, eggs, nuts, peanuts, and most legumes (beans and peas).

For those of you who haven’t found an appropriate emergency supply yet – I have been trying to keep enough boxed/canned soups and beef jerky on hand to get us through the worst of a situation. I have to rotate those more often though, so usually my supply dwindles.

I haven’t actually put my kit together yet, I’ve been slowly adding to a pile of stuff over the last few years. Crank flashlight and an out-of-state emergency contact was all I had in the “disaster kit” for the longest time. Maybe this year I’ll actually put it together.

From Alice Enevoldsen

• 2 Carrots
• 3-5* Tbsp Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar
• 2* Tbsp Olive Oil
• Fresh Basil
• Prosciutto (watch out for weird ingredients)
• Thin-sliced Smoked Turkey (watch out for weird ingredients)
• *Measurements approximate.

Directions:

Shave the carrots into nice thickish shavings – about 2-3 inches long. Toss them with the rice wine vinegar and olive oil. Let sit for 15-20 minutes.

Separate the prosciutto and turkey into individual slices, and slice in half.

Wrap a basil leaf and 5-15 carrot shavings in a cold cut. Lay out on a pretty platter.

Eat.

From Jason Enevoldsen

• 1 tsp pepper
• ½  tsp mustard
• 1 tsp celery seed
• ⅛ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp clove
• ½ tsp cardamom
• ⅛ tsp ginger
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp (or more) bay

Directions:

Grind up all the spices as fine as possible (or as finely as you have the patience for), then mix together.

As Old Bay seasoning has nutmeg and all-spice, it isn’t an option for us. Here’s something that smells the same and is tasty in similar recipes.