Germany was where I discovered the lifesaving miracle that is Schar. This was also the first Asian meal of many, many more to come. We were only in Belgium for a night, but I was able to eat a lovely rice and vegetable dish at an Asian restaurant in Brussels where the server actually knew what gluten was and how to keep it out of my food. At one restaurant, I tried to make sure the omelette I was ordering would be made "sans gluten," and the server looked at me confused for a few seconds before responding, "Vegetarian?" I was able to eat a biryani curry at a little place near the Gare du Nord with no problems, where I also found out from Matt's cousins (who are living in Paris) that the French people "just don't have food allergies." I got lucky and stumbled across a health food organic-y kind of store that sold some gluten free products near our hostel, but this was the only time I saw anything that even acknowledged the presence or existence of gluten. Wagamama, a chain restaurant serving Japanese food, has been - in my experience - the easiest with the largest selection.įrance is rather difficult - especially Paris. Every major grocery store has large and wonderful gluten free sections (Waitrose and Sainsbury's especially). Stockpiling the essentials.yes, the majority of that is cereal.Įngland is beyond easy. When you do get lucky and find somewhere that sells gluten free products, STOCK UP! Again, you never know when you will find such a magical place again, so do not let the glorious present pass you by and leave you hungry and miserable when next you crave some gf muesli or a simple slice of gf bread. Always have an emergency stockpile of fruits or trail mix or peanut butter or whatever is available and portable.
Do you want to look like this? Ever? Didn't think so. Matt was kind enough to document my hearing loss, tunnel vision, vertigo, and mental fog with this photo. This lovely picture was taken in Vienna after I had gone a significantly long time without food in the extreme heat wave that hit Europe just as I did. WARNING: this is what happens when you don't PLAN AHEAD! Melodramatic, you say? Ladies and gentlemen, I present this extremely disturbing picture of me on the brink of actual starvation. The most important lesson I learned during my travels: ALWAYS PLAN AHEAD!! As a Celiac, unless you are one of those people who can go for days without eating and not mind (of which fortunate group I certainly am not), you always need to be prepared for the possibility of being unable to find food and/or starvation. I got careless in Belgium and ate some rice cakes I assumed were fine (since, you know, they are by definition made of rice), and only later discovered the label said, "Contient du gluten," or contains gluten in French. While you might not always be able to find specifically gluten free products, a grocery store gives you fruit, veg, dairy, and other options that are naturally gluten free.īe very conscientious of ingredients and learn words to look for in the local language, like weizen, grano, and trigo (wheat in German, Italian, and Portuguese). Eating out is always tricky for a Celiac, but trying to order food in a different language to servers with varying degrees of gluten awareness makes things even more difficult. Generally speaking, finding food at grocery stores or shops is much easier than restaurants. I'll begin with some broader information, and then move into more country-specific observations.
After two sizable introductory paragraphs, I believe it is time to delve into my actual topic.
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