A rare treat

FELLOW food allergy parents will know what a rare treat it is to go out without a sackful of pre-prepped meals for the tot. You get so used to it, it barely registers sometimes – until that moment when you don’t have to do it.

No, I’m afraid I can’t announce a miraculous new dining spot where allergy kids get to eat freely and safely… unless, that is, you come round to my parents’ house for a barbecue one weekend this summer.

It’s taken a while for Mum to get to grips with what Sid can and can’t eat, and to feel confident enough to cook for him in the same way she cooks for the rest of us. It is nerve-wracking, to begin with, and given how many allergies he has of course you can’t help but worry that you’ve missed one.

But what an amazing relief it was to take Sid over for BBQ lunch at Nanny and Nonno’s and have a plethora of goodies laid out for him to pick and choose. That’s never happened before for us, anywhere, and it was wonderful.

He had:

* chargrilled lamb chops

* chicken thighs cooked with lemon and garlic

* beetroot & carrot fritters bound with wheat free flour and natural yoghurt (recipe to come, I promise)

* roast potatoes

* broccoli and rice salad

* marinated aubergines

* egg free homemade blueberry ice cream

and

* fruit salad

Letting Sid tuck into whatever he wanted without fear of the consequences was giddying. And it was his very first taste of ice cream – something he still hasn’t forgotten, a fortnight on. Each time we read him his story about Maisy’s holiday, and get to the bit where she eats ice cream on the beach, he pipes up: “Sidney!” delightedly, knowing that he has had some, too.