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Hi:
I'll be visiting Croatia and Slovenia this September with my wife and 3 1/2yr-old son. My son is allergic to eggs and nuts so I was wondering what's the level of allergy-awareness in these countries? Do restaurants understand the seriousness of allergies and can I expect a reliable answer when I ask them if a "particular" dish contains eggs or nuts?
Thanks.
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Egg/Nut allergy & Croatia and Slovenia
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This is a tough call because quite often even the wait stuff has no idea what is in the prepared foods.
In any event, I would get someone to give me a number of cards, adressed to the chef and restaurant owner/manager where it is written in the local language as well as in German and Italian that your son has these allergies and that none of the food you order must under any circumstances have eggs and nuts. I have added German and Italian, because quite often the wait staff is bi-lingual. Show the card to the wait staff and insist they show it to the chef/manager/owner.
In my experience, waiters in Croatia will tell you what you want to hear rather than take the time to check with the chef. I would suggest that you make sure to double and triple check and make sure the waiter actually speaks to the chef. Perhaps you can ask to speak with the chef in person. Writing a card in the local language is a good idea. Luckily, most Croatian/Bosnian food is not made with nuts and eggs. Grilled meats and fish are popular. I would just avoid many of the pasteries as they often have walnuts. Some pasta dishes may have nuts as well, like Pestos.
Thanks for the replies.
I think you can expect the same service in Slovenia as you would get in England. The only concern i have would be the mis translation or mis-communication between you and a Slovene... i would suggest heading to the tour office in Ljubljana and asking them to right down your concerns on paper clearly and directly so you can show them to waiters. You could do the same on Google translate but it can be not so reliable. However all that said it is your child and i know that means they are your world obviously take out health insurance
emergency numbers according to
http://www.europe-trips.eu/Useful-information-about-Europe.html
for Slovenia is – 113 for police, 112 for ambulance and fire
Having said all this as it is a bit scary ( however very important with children) Ljubljana is a lovely city .. that i think you and your children will love .
For more infomation on Slovenia visit www.inyourpocket.si
www.dietarycard.com
I have had cards made up for my son in several languages, and you just hand them over when ordering your meals.
Home translations can result in missunderstandings occasionally, so get a proper card. They are like credit cards. There are plenty of other companies providing this service, I just mention the one I used. I have to add here that my son did not have a severe allergy, he was just very gluten sensitive and eating anything containing wheat, even soy sauce, would result in his being unwell for a day or so. With a severe allergy I would not hesitate to take the utmost precautionnary measures available.
I used to take packs of g/f pasta with me when travelling, and had no problems with getting it cooked for my son if need be (in Bulgaria and Italy). I also took other foods he could eat, we found breakfast particularly challenging, and we gotr along just fine in the countries mentioned above as well as France.
In Croatia the food is very often grilled meat and fish, with vegetables and salads, so I would not think you should have a great deal of trouble avoiding the problem foods.
Oh, I see you've already been, and probably already returned!
So please let us know how you got on during your travels - it will surely help other travellers in the future.