Author: Judy

TRAVELING GLUTEN FREE IN EASTERN EUROPE, Part 1

 

TRAVELING GLUTEN FREE IN EASTERN EUROPE, Part 1, GERMANY

EuropeVikingCruise2015 174   gfGermany2

In the spring of 2016, I took a trip to Eastern Europe.  I traveled to cities and countries that were part of the Soviet bloc until the fall of the Berlin wall.  Since then, the cities and countries have developed and modernized financially, culturally, and socially.  Economic advancement and freedom have changed these countries significantly.  Would I find gluten free food easily in my travels?  I had some successes and some disappointments, but, I managed to eat well and even have local dishes prepared gluten free.

Berlin was the first stop on my trip to Germany followed by Magdeburg, Potsdam, Dessau, Wittenberg, Meissen, Dresden, and Bad Schandau.  All cities were formerly behind the “iron curtain.”  Generally, this part of Germany is still recovering from abject neglect under the communist regime.  Run down, shabby houses, farms, and buildings are everywhere.  But, so are new, modern, and refurbished buildings.   Much of this is thanks to the taxes from the former West Germany.  Also, attracting new industry from around the world is providing jobs and a much needed income stream.   Refurbished communist plain grey utilitarian apartment buildings are now sporting balconies, larger rooms, insulation, bright colors, and exterior artwork.  Dubbed “commie condos” by visiting Americans, these housing units dot the landscape everywhere in the larger cities of the former Soviet bloc.

Not surprisingly, gluten free is not easy to find.  You should prepare before embarking on a trip to Germany.  For shopping purposes, Aldis, (a German based supermarket) is found in most of the large cities of Germany (as well in the U.S.)  They have a good supply of gluten free products.  Kaisers, another supermarket chain in much of Germany carries gluten free.  The Apothekes (German drug stores) are plentiful everywhere.  However, unlike the Farmacias (drug stores in Italy) availability of gluten free food is spotty to mostly none.  Smaller towns in Germany are generally very difficult places to find gluten free items to buy as well as restaurant food.  If you are stuck and have to take what is available, find someone in the restaurant who speaks English to translate for you so that you can explain food preparation without cross contamination.  Also, some mom and pop smaller stores will carry a limited selection of snacks and packaged food that is gluten free.  Schar products are found everywhere gluten free products are carried.  Italian gluten free pasta is the most popular and plentiful.  A few American brands such as Bob’s Red Mill, Glutino, and Genius Bread are available.

A note about sausages in Eastern Europe, they are a staple food in the countries I visited.  Many types are made from a variety of meats and are abundant everywhere.   Most restaurants and all stores have them.  But be careful, contrary to much of the sausages, wursts, and kielbasas being gluten free here in the states, this is not the case in Germany and other Eastern European countries.  Rather gluten free sausage is the exception.  Most sausages contain barley or wheat thickening.  Always make sure that the sausage you are served is “glutenfrei.”

Plan to stay in larger, well known hotels that cater to Americans.  Most will serve a large breakfast in the morning that will have many gluten free options.  They will have gluten free bread and a few will also offer gluten free baked goods.  The bread and bakery is usually individually packaged.  You can take some of it with you for later in the day or to supplement your gluten free meal that evening.  Just like the sausages, many of the deli-like breakfast meat slices offered at the buffet may have gluten.  Although bacon is gluten free, the European way is to drain the fried bacon on slices of bread.  Find the chef or hotel restaurant manager to help you determine the gluten free options.  They usually speak English (servers knowledge of English is hit or miss.)  You will have no problem finding English speakers among the hotel desk personnel that will advise you on how to get to the restaurants you have found that offer gluten free.  The larger American based hotel chains offer gluten free in their lobby restaurants.  The staff speaks English and the chef is usually familiar with the diet.  Although a more expensive option, it may be your best choice in smaller populated areas of East Germany.

My hotel in Berlin was situated next the Gendarmenmarkt which was centrally located and was a great shopping area.  There were several restaurants with gluten free offerings near me.  Maredo (Italian) and Cha Cha (Brazilian) were two that had a few other locations around Berlin.  I ate at Augustiner which was a traditional Brau Haus.  There was no gluten free beer, but they did have hard cider.  I had gluten free bratwurst and red cabbage with horseradish mashed potatoes.  Augustiner also has several locations around Berlin and its environs.

Your gluten free choices in the former West Germany are more plentiful and English is spoken by a greater amount of the populace.  A selection of many more westernized restaurants that offer gluten free is available.  Before leaving for your trip,  google “gluten free Berlin Germany.”  Maps, blogs, and suggestions for where to eat and buy will pop up.  Restaurants may close so make sure you are looking at information that is less than 6 months old.  Two apps that I like to have with me on my tablet (or phone) are Gluten Free Roads  and Find Me Gluten Free.  Both use GPS to find gluten free shopping and eating near your location.  Always carry protein or snack bars with you to insure that you have something to eat.  Another great option are small metallic bags of non-refrigerated tuna or salmon.

One more note on finding gluten free.  On a previous trip to Germany, I visited Nuremburg.  On the main square in the middle of the city is a year round farmers market.  There is a stand that sells gluten free Lebkuchen cookies.  Nuremburg is where the spicy, citrusy Lebkuchen originated.  The gluten free version is plain or covered in chocolate.  Yum!  Look for the cart with the red and white striped awning advertising “Glutenfrei.”

 

 

 

 

Traveling Gluten Free in Italy

italy gf symbol       david

THREE GLUTEN FREE MASTERPIECES FROM FLORENCE, ITALY

An opportunity to travel in Italy for two weeks was an exciting prospect. Now, to travel gluten free in Italy was a daunting prospect. I would be going with a group from my church. Breakfasts and dinners would be pre-planned and only lunches would be on my own. I worried about navigating through hotel restaurants and eateries that would run the gamut from no knowledge of gluten free to a full understanding of celiac disease and cross contamination. So, I plunged into full preparation mode. I prepared with bars and protein snacks in my checked luggage, printed sheets of restaurant instructions in Italian, peppered and pestered the tour company staff with questions and demands, and loaded “find gluten free” apps on my tablet. I prayed that I wouldn’t get sick and flew off to Rome.

“Senza Glutine,” was the Italian for “gluten free” and it would be my “go to” term when I was dealing with food. It was a term I learned first thing after checking into my Rome hotel. The hotel desk clerk and the restaurant manager spoke good English and were surprisingly knowledgeable about gluten free. They assured me that breakfast in the hotel the next morning would have gluten free choices for me.
I was buoyed with confidence and ready to forge ahead. Then I met the tour guide who would be with us for the entire time. She was Spanish, lived in Spain, and was paid to take our tour through Italy (??????) I discussed gluten free with her and discovered that she had no clue and had not even heard of celiac disease. My confidence plummeted as I realized that she probably would think that cross contamination was a process used for hybridizing plants. There was only one thing to do! Educate her as quickly as possible, which I did over my first cappuccino. Ana was a quick study  with her newly gained knowledge.  She told me in accented English that she would gladly run interference for me with all the restaurants and hotels we were to stay in. As an eternal skeptic, I knew that I would be the one explaining and trying to communicate at every stop to get something good to eat that would not make me sick.

No worries!! Italy is a more advanced country than the U.S. in terms of understanding celiac disease. Everybody knows about it! You must be tested for the disease before the age of 6 and the government initially supplies you with vouchers for gluten free food. They consider it a serious medical condition and not a fad. As I traveled, I discovered that all the hotels, restaurants, and even street vendors know what celiac is. You just have to say the magic words, “senza glutine” and faces light up with knowledge about what gluten free is and how it should be prepared. Now, this is not to say that they all provide gluten free. Many restaurants do not and will tell you straight up that they can give you something gluten free, but, it will not be free of cross contamination, or, they cannot accommodate you at all. On the other hand there will be another venue next door or a block away that will provide you with gluten free and they knew how to prepare without cross contamination. They even have specific wait staff that deals with gluten free and will help you with ordering and communication to the chef. I had pizzas, pastas, lasagna, tiramisu, etc. all specially made just for me.

Ana proved to be invaluable in preparing restaurants and hotels (who knew?). In her flawless Italian, she doggedly called ahead several times to each place we went to and upon arrival sought out the manager, chef, owner etc. to make sure that they had gluten free ready for me. All the hotels and restaurants we went to dealt with tour groups and had a protocol in place for gluten free. I only had 2 “standard” meals consisting of a baked, dried out chicken breast, no dressing salad, limp overcooked vegetables, and an orange for dessert. However, I had many meals of sautéd, sauced, meat and vegetables as well as pastas, risottos, cheeses, sausages, and desserts. With accompanying wine (this is Italy after all) at every lunch and dinner!! This was my idea of traveling gluten free!!!

Restaurants made their own gluten free bread products, but it is a different story at hotels especially for their breakfasts. They still provided many bread and cake products, but they were purchased and pre-wrapped. Italians enjoy croissants and cappuccinos for breakfast as their usual. Hotels provide large non-Italian breakfasts for travelers especially from the U.S. who expect meat, eggs, pancakes, etc. I had no problem at any of the 5 hotels we stayed at as they always served me too many packages of gluten free items like cereals, breads, crackers, cakes, and cookies. Most sausages and eggs were made gluten free. For lunches which were on our own, I ate at cafes in the larger square areas of cities. I always found one that could accommodate me. And, there was always someone there that spoke English. They all had a special waiter completely familiar with what they offered gluten free who served me.

In every large city, small town, any shopping area throughout Italy there is a local farmacia. It is a cross between a drug store, health store, and medical supply. You can get prescriptions filled, leg braces, herbs, supplements, and GLUTEN FREE FOOD. Ana took me to the nearest farmacia to our hotel in Rome soon after I educated her on gluten free. She said that if any place would have gluten free, it would be the farmacia. I soon discovered farmacias everywhere we went. They all had some gluten free food. The larger farmacias had freezers full of prepared pastas, meals, breads and desserts. I also checked out some small “mom and pop” grocers on my walks in Rome. Most had some gluten free packaged food and they could tell you what cheeses, sausages, and prepared meat products in their refrigerated cases were made gluten free. Schar is the predominant product however, there are many Italian made pastas and bread products. The national symbol for gluten free is a red wheat stalk within a red circle slash. All gluten free products in Italy must be labeled with the symbol and say, “senza glutine”.

Gelato (Italian ice cream) is a treat not to be missed in Italy. Many of the flavors are gluten free. I even had gelato in a gluten free waffle cone. Stay away from street vendors and go into the free standing stores. Many have the gluten free gelato in a separate freezer case, individually wrapped cones, use special scoopers, and change their gloves to serve you. Gluten free bakeries are rare except in the larger cities. My favorite was found in Florence, a city-wide chain called Starbene. They had both sweet and savory from savory pizza, calzones, and ciabatta bread as well as sweets such as croissants, cream puffs, and tiramisu. I bought several apricot and chocolate croissants to enjoy for breakfast the next few mornings. As others in my party were shocked to see me enjoying croissants with them at breakfast, I quickly let them know that they were from the gluten free bakery.

Among my great experiences in Italy, I stopped into a local grocer in Lanciano and inquired as to their gluten free offerings. At the sound of my, “senza glutine?” two customers at the counter began speaking to me in Italian. They were very excited and animated. I tried to tell them that I could only speak English, but they were undeterred. They followed me out into the street chattering away, gesturing, and pointing everywhere. I caught the word “farmacia” and knew they were directing me to the nearest one. Intuitively, I knew they were also telling me about family members who had celiac and were relating their medical histories/symptoms. Upon encountering us in the street, my husband remarked, “I see you are making gluten free friends in Italy!”

Another memorable experience happened while my husband and I were lunching on the square in Sienna. When my gluten free pasta was delivered to me by a different waiter than the one who took the order, I asked him if it was indeed gluten free. He answered in accented English, “I’m not really sure. I’ll just watch you eat it and wait for your reaction!” After seeing the stunned speechless expressions on the faces of me and my husband, he quickly reassured us that he was joking and the dish was indeed gluten free as he was the waiter who took care of all the gluten free customers. So much for Italian humor! The pasta was gluten free and delicious.

Besides a multiplicity of souvenirs in my suitcase, I brought back all the bars and protein snacks that I didn’t have a chance to eat because of the fabulous availability of gluten free Italy has to offer.