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If you serve gluten-free chickpea pasta for dinner, do you need to inform your guests that the pasta is not made of wheat?
In this scenario, bread will be eaten prior to the pasta, so hamotzi would cover the need to bless the pasta on its own.
By the way, you don’t mind telling your guests that the pasta is made of chickpeas after they try it. None of them are allergic to any of the pasta’s ingredients. You simply want your guests to taste the pasta before coming to conclusions of whether they enjoy its flavor and texture.
Is omitting the pasta’s ingredients considered a lie?
Thank you
Did you invite them specifically for a pasta meal? Then yes, otherwise no. if you were selling it for sure yes.
We don’t provide the ingredients of ever dish we serve our guests at dinner. If they have a concern regarding their individual minhagim/hashkafah/dietary preferences, they will ask and of course we will provide whatever information they request.
If everyone at the table was expected to wash, as is the case on Shabbos and yuntuf, no need to tell people. However if it is a meal at which not everyone is eating bread, you need to tell people so they know which bracha to make. The same would apply anytime you serve something that looks like bread or mezonos, but isn’t.
Why on earth would you even think you need to tell them? Why would you think they would want to know? Do you give your guests a detailed description of each recipe before you serve each item?! Unless you know one of your guests has an allergy or aversion to chickpeas, there’s no need to ever tell them, let alone before they taste it. (In general it’s a good idea to ask all guests in advance whether they have any allergies or dislikes.)
If Pesach you should as they might be particular about avoiding kitniyos.
The number one topic of conversation at every dinner party I’ve been to lately is which bracha to make over each course served at dinner. Some of these conversations have gotten very animated and the resulting food fights were ugly. In some cases, we take a break and call a well known rav or posek to pasken over the speaker phone. Another reason not to have mixed dinners with sephardeshe and litvish guests…..most recent macholkes was the correct baracha for a sugar loaf with fish bits a little bit of bread crumbs mixed in (aka Ungareshe gefilte fish).
unbiquitin: LB would probably not serve it on Pesach because of maras ayin.
Actually, this may be genevas da’as. The mechaber paskens that a person cannot open a bottle of wine in front of a guest if he was originally going to open it anyway, without telling the guest ‘I was opening this anyway, I’m not only doing it for you’. Event though the issue is all in the guest’s mind, and the owner said nothing specifically.
I see this chickpea pasta case as even worse, since it appears to be something it is not. Let’s not forget that there may be other allergy/digestion issues that the guest may want to be aware of before consuming something they aren’t used to.
Gadolhadorah: “The number one topic of conversation at every dinner party I’ve been to lately is which bracha to make ” — WHICH IS WHY Jews traditionally make bread the first course, so you don’t have to worry about brachos after the ha-Motsi
Actually, this may be genevas da’as.
As in the example you mentioned, the prohibition generally involves
making people think you are being more generous to them than you
actually are.If they don’t eat bread you should. However, b’diavad they would be OK with saying “mezonot” as the pasta nourishes.
I say you should tell because the taste and texture are not exactly the same and you don’t want them to think you botched up boiling a bag of pasta
Of course you should tell your guests, they may have allergies.
Guests with dietary restrictions will ask for ingredients if they are concerned or otherwise advise you of their restrictions when you invite them. If you are using an ingredient typically unexpected in a particular dish (e.g. using real meat rather than tofu or vegetable-based “meat”) you might “volunteer” the special recipe components as in BTW I made the kugel with cauliflower rather than potato. Likewise is you make a dish with ingredients that some might have higher hashgacha standards than your own (e.g. “pre-washed romaine leaves) than also a courtesy to share the information with guests. Otherwise I don’t typically give a detailed printout for each dish served for guests.
laughing: The OP stated outright “None of them are allergic to any of the pasta’s ingredients.”.
They may figure it out on their own once they get a whiff of the new aromas in the room.
Cherrybin: Actually, chicpea pasta is very “global warming” friendly. I won’t aggravate Reb Yosef with musar on the importance of tikun olam (the most recent addition to taryag mitzvos) but within several months, we will he having a debate here on the merits of hashgacha and whether its OK to serve beyond beef burgers or impossible burgers at an otherwise dairy/pareve meal.
Last Shabbos I had a vegan guest, so I made everything except the fish and chicken vegan. I made a potato salad with vegan “mayonnaise”. That guest had a reason to know this; the rest of the guests did not, so I didn’t tell them. I don’t think I did anything wrong. It was simply not their business.
You have to information your guess that your pasta is not made with the regular ingredients because of food allergies , gluten intolerance is fashionable but it is not the only food allergy
Yes, pasta is usually mezonos. Bread is a source of blessing. Doesn’t matter if it’s 2019 or 1719.
BlueLotus:
The OP stated that the guests are not allergic to any ingredient.1: The OP stated it is being servedn as part of a meal where people are washing and eating bread.
I think for social reasons it’s best if you serve food to your guests aka regular pasta.
Pesach: for social reasons it’s best if the host can partake in the food she serves alongside her guests.
I believe LB avoids eating gluten.
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