justretired

I have a shellfish allergy and find that eating out is a challenge, particularly in restaurants while traveling. Many of our trips are to Italy, France, or Spain because my husband speaks those languages and we are traveling to Spain this September.

In our trips, we have found it difficult to convey to the wait -staff the problem. Part of the issue is that various people interpret “shellfish” in different ways. For example, in France, one waiter did not consider mussels to be shellfish or perhaps he just did not realize that mussels had been used in the preparation of the broth. Luckily, we found out about it before I ate the dish.

Now, in preparing for our trips abroad, my husband makes cards to hand out at restaurants in the language. Here is one he prepared in Spanish.

Soy alérgica a mariscos: crustáceo (camarones, cangrejos, langostas) y moluscos (almejas, ostras, mejillones).

También, debo evitar comida preparado con utensilios que han tocado a crustáceo o moluscos,
o comida con caldo o estratos de crustáceo o moluscos.

Gracias por su cooperación.

Do any of you have suggestions on either how to deal with this problem or correctopns on the card?

nukesafe

My only suggestion would be to highlight the consequences of your allergy on the card. If, indeed, the reaction could be life threatening you should emphasize that in large print at the top of the card, as well as what actions to take should you start to display symptoms.

What I am saying is that you need to catch the attention of your server so he will convey the seriousness of your situation to the chef and management.

kerouac

It seems to me that if you avoid seafood dishes, you will not have a problem being accidentally served shellfish products.

If you order a grilled fish it should not be a problem either.

justretired

nukesafe, that's a good suggestion. Margie does carry an epi-pen, and I'm almost always with her and know how to use it.

kerouac, sometimes the problem can be a dish with regular fish that seems perfectly safe, but that contains something like clam broth. In southern France, for instance, there are many versions of <i>soupe de poisson</i>, and the waiters can't always be sure that they don't contain clam or mussel broth. This makes Margie nervous, and it's hard to enjoy your soup if you're worried about it. But in one high-end restaurant, the chef assured her that there was no way there were any shellfish products in the soup, and she loved it.

As for grilled fish, it's possible that the same grill was also used just before for a shrimp dish. Now to tell you the truth, I suspect that the heat of a grill will denature any proteins, and negate any allergy problems. But with potentially serious allergies, one always errs on the side of caution. At Legal Seafoods, here in the Boston area, when Margie has fish, they always take care to grill it on a separate pan. To quote the Monty Python "Restaurant Sketch", "No, Mungo. Never kill a customer." But in fact, in Europe, Margie does eat a lot of grilled fish, and has never had a problem.

By the way, I love the way Fodor's, above, changed the Spanish word "o" (which means "or") into bullet points (I assume that's what it was doing when it broke my sentence into separate lines).

- Larry

ekscrunchy

My only comment relates to asking the restaurant to insure that utensils that have been used to prepare shellfish in the past will not be used in the preparation of your dish. That seems like a real stretch.

For example, if the stock pot has held shellfish broth last week, and this week it is used to make chicken broth that will be used in the preparation of a dish that you order....does that mean that you will get sick? If so, honestly I think you are taking risk eating in ANY restaurant. You might want to think about editing that phrase; I think short and sweet will have a better chance of being read by wait staff..

justretired

No, forget the bullet points - experimentation shows it was just an accident.

- Larry

cls2paris

I had a shellfish allergy also (thankfully it went away) and I when I traveled to Italy, I had a card made that said roughly - I am allergic to shellfish (shrimp, lobster, etc). I cannot eat these foods or eat foods that have been prepared using the same pans or utensils as the shellfish. If I eat shellfish (list them again), I may die in your restaurant. Then the back had the instructions for what to do if I went into anaphylactic shock. After showing the waiter the card, I would indicate what I wanted to order and ask if it was ok. I think the cross contamination was just as much of a worry, and it really restricted what I could order from a place that grilled everything. I am so happy that the allergy went away!

Here's the Italian version in case it helps someone:
INFORMAZIONE IMPORTANTE PER IL RISTORANTE

Sono gravemente allergica ai crostacei (aragosta, gambero, molluschi, mitili, granchio, ostriche, ecc.).

Si tratta di una condizione medica molto seria. Potrei morire dopo aver ingerito questo tipo di cibo, cibo preparato con utensili che hanno toccato crostacei, cibo con olio di crostacei, estratti, brodi, ecc. E’ importante ricordare che questo ingrediente potrebbe essere presente anche nei cibi comprati gia’ fatti.

Se mangio crostacei o qualunque cibo che è stato cucinato con crostacei o che ha toccato crostacei, avrò bisogno dell'attenzione immediata medica.

La prego gentilmente di non darmi cibo che potrebbe contenere o che ha toccato crostacei.

If you have an attack:
AIUTO! Sto avendo una crisa di shock anafilattico. Per favore, chiamate subito un’ambulanza

kerouac

I would never order fish soup if I had a shellfish allergy, not matter how much they claim that there is no shellfish in the soup. That would be like believing the owner of a Chinese restaurant who claimed there were no pork products in the dishes.

nytraveler

Agree to highlight the possible consequences. The waitstaff may not be familiar with severe allergic reactions.

Also, I would insist that the waiter take the card directly to the chef to read as well.

nukesafe

There are a number of sites on the web through which you can order laminated cards that explain your allergies in many languages. Here are two:

http://www.selectwisely.com/

http://www.faiusa.org/?page_ID=D52D2...D667C23A000523

Aduchamp1

I will also respond on the pintxos/tapas topic but one word of warning to an analagous situation.

Many Spanish restuarants have an elastic definition of vegetarian. To some it just means less pork. I am not sure they would know the provenance of a stew pot.

I would stick with the chicken and pork dishes. The beef in most places is still lacking.

The good news is that the Spanish are very gracious when a non-spaniard speaks Spanish and that a sense of humor goes a long way.

cigalechanta

Margie, is it ok if I order oysters sitting next to you?
looking forward to tapas at the Rendezvous.

ashcanannie

I too, am allergic to shellfish. I can react to "hidden" offenders found in sauces and on utensils. I take translations with me and I try to order something that is obviously not likely to be contaminated. I've not visited Spain, so no help there. You might write on the card, "Please show this card to the chef." The waiter may not realize what the chef does.

djdemetri

Most people with a shellfish allergy will not be allergic to mollusks(oysters, clams, etc.) but the only real way to manage is to stay away from restaurants that serve shellfish completely...The guy in the video in this article claims to have cured his shellfish allergy in a very odd way...You may wanna try it: http://myshellfishallergy.com/is-the...h-allergy-cure

Landseaair

Thank you for posting this thread. It is very timely as I too have a shellfish allergy and we will be traveling to Italy and Switzerland this fall. I will have my epi pen with me but sure don't want to have to use it!
I had not idea there were websites where I could order some laminated cards. Will definitely do that!