lucielou

Hello fellow fodorites

I hope someone can help me out here, my daughter has just been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, we plan to travel to Italy & France, in August/Septmeber, has anyone had any experience with trying to purchase food thats gluten free, and how good are hotels and restaurants at catering for Coeliac's. I've been to Italy and France before, but now things have a whole new meaning for us.
Any help advice would be really appreciated, as its daunting not knowing what we will encounter.

Thanks
Lucie

rbnwdln

We traveled to Italy last year with someone who must eat gluten-free. He always found something on the menu to eat. In fact, in Positano, at a restaurant called Bruno's, they can make all the dishes gluten-free. We discovered this our last day and went there for lunch and dinner. It was awesome.

hanl

Hi,
I was on holiday in Italy a couple of weeks ago (Tuscany) and noticed that in the big supermarkets they had a wide range of gluten-free pasta. I don't know whether you'd be staying somewhere self-catering but it might make things easier and less stressful for you...

Other than that, I think that there would be plenty of restaurants able to cater for your daughter. In Italy she'd be able to order simple grilled meats or vegetables with olive oil, risotto, etc.
In France she should have lots of options too - most cafés serve simple dishes like salads, omelettes, steak-frites or moules-frites, all of which should be free of gluten.

I have a friend with Coeliac disease, who I met when we were both living in Lyon. She always made sure to ask waiters to hold the sauce on any dishes, in case it had starch or flour in.
I'm not sure whether supermarkets in France would sell a lot of gluten-free food, but there are health food stores in practically every town that sell a range of gluten-free products (pasta, bread, biscuits, etc.).

enzian

Hi Lucie---

I have had this all my life and have no difficulty traveling; I just have to savor croissants and such with my eyes alone. In Italy, I enjoy salads, grilled meats and fish, vegetables, risotto, and polenta. No pasta or bruschetta, of course; I also avoid sauces and soups which might be thickened with flour. I eat very well there and do not feel at all deprived.

France is a little more difficult, especially at breakfast, but we try to stay in self-catering places so I can make what I like for breakfast. Lunch and dinner are not difficult, although of course I can't have Croques Monsieur, crepes, etc.

I see from your spelling ("coeliac&quot that you must be from Ireland or the UK, and I'm curious which. I live in the U.S. where it is spelled "celiac", but my heritage is Irish. I am told there is a greater occurrence of this among people of Irish descent here.

How old is your daughter? If it is any encouragement, I will say that apart from this I am healthy as a horse. And my sister, who has it too, just ran the Bostom Marathon in very good time. So it isn't such a horrible thing.

Good luck to you and your daughter with this.

Carlux

Since it isn't easy to explain to the average restaurant owner what a gluten allergy is, or to get gluten free dishes you should check www.celiactravel.com. They provide cards in 37 languages for use in restaurants. For instance, the French version starts with "Je souffre d'une maladie qui s'appelle la maladie coeliaque' - and then goes on to list the things that are allowed, or not.

In addition, any celiac sufferers might find the following site for the Association Francais des Intolerants au Gluten useful. http://www.afdiag.org/index.php On their site (in French) there is a general list of products that are permissible, or forbidden (interdit) By contacting them you can also receive a booklet with fuller information, such as brand names. It wasn’t until my sister, who is Celiac, came to visit me that I realised how many things have gluten in them – virtually any packaged product, including ground pepper, some brands of mustard, etc. So I ordered the booklet from them, and took it when we went shopping. Generally food allergies are not as understood/catered for in France as in North America. They may be not as common, either, since I think our food here tends not to have so many additives.

Demented

I don't have Celiac's but am familiar with it and have my own health issues that require a low carb diet. Plus I recently got back from Paris.

Yes, salads are easy to find in France. The problem? Not enough protein to fuel an active tourist and the to-go convenience salads often had wilted lettuce. I was STARVING the whole time I was in France and ended up having to eat more carbs than was good for me. Food in Paris is very much focused on bread and pastry.

In Paris I felt it was hard to find breakfast. The vast majority of cafes offer the croissant and coffee breakfast, the one omelette I had (after a half hour of looking) was one egg, hardly enough calories for the walking we did. We did see places that advertised omelettes, but never found them when we wanted breakfast. The Holiday Inns we stayed at did extensive and very expensive buffets with eggs and lunchmeats that was really our best bet for breakfast.

The one restaurant chain that we found in Paris was Buffalo Grill and they have excellent chicken wings with sauce on the side (not sure if it would be kosher for Celiacs) and offer hamburgers (a bit dry) and steaks.

Dinner was probably the easiest meal, restaurants seemed to have bigger menus at night, except you'll have to watch the sauces, they probably all have flour in them.

I also chowed on almonds and beef jerky I brought from home. Make sure to bring something from home just in case---some vacuum packed tuna or chicken just to make sure you don't starve.

Slovakia, just for comparison, was easy. They are very much meat and potato eaters and they serve generous portions. I just ate the meat and skipped the carbs.

Sorry, but I can't comment on Italy.

All I know is,I found it surprisingly harder than I expected to find food that fit within my dietary guidelines in France.


D

lucielou

Thanks to everyone who answered with your great advice, I feel a bit more reassured now that others have travelled and were able to find suitable foods. Enzian in answer to your question my daughter is 18yrs old, and yes you guessed right i'm Irish. I am not so worried about France, as we are only going to be there for about 4 days, and she is a fruit fanatic, which will help greatly with filling her up! but we will be in Italy a good deal longer and staying in a hotel. I have contacted the hotel in question asking them if they will cater for us, and awaiting a reply. Thanks to Carlux for those websites, they will be very helpful. I am finding this whole thing very daunting at the moment, as she has been so sick and lost so much weight, I just hope now that she has been properly diagnosed she will be eating the proper foods she will flourish. Thanks to everyone.

julia_t

Hi lucielou...

If you type in 'coeliac' here there have been a few threads in the past about this, with some useful information. The one with the printed card is a good one.

One of my sons is very wheat sensitive, and it does pose a problem when travelling. He also has to be careful with dairy. Your daughter is old enough to know exactly what she can and can't eat, and will learn more in time. Is your daughter able to eat oats, because that makes life much easier if she can tolerate them, even is small quantities.

Breakfast is a difficult meal, and I usually take some things my son can eat, such as flapjacks and oatcakes, or other g/f snack bars, or some of his 'special' cereal.

Also a pack of pasta, and I am not beyond asking the restaurant if they will cook it for him separately if he wants to eat pasta - when you explain the reason why people are very accommodating - at least they have been here in the UK, I haven't tried it abroad yet! G/f pasta must be sold in Italy as I buy a very nice g/f spaghetti over here in Waitrose and it is imported from Italy.

It certainly is a challenge, even a rice meal in Wagamama caused problems because of the soy sauce. I think I need to take wheat-free tamari out with us in future! Chinese food is tricky, but Indian food is usually fine because the flour they use tends to be gram (chickpea or lentil) flour. But check before tucking into the naan bread though popadoms are fine.

There is a company specialising in g/f foods based in Dublin, because they do really nice choc chip cookies and lots of other things. When I get home I'll look the name up, along with the pasta brand. Tesco also have a fantastic range of g/f food, with a very wide range of products - their bread rolls are the best, I'm told. Also a very good book is 'Cooking Without' by Barbara Cousins.

Good luck, and as I said, it is a challenge, but you get used to being careful very quickly, and soon find plenty of foods you can eat easily. I have an extra shelf in the kitchen just for the g/f foods. Oh, and falafel are on the menu!

lucielou

Julia

You are so kind to post all that great advice and information for me, thank you so much. In answer to your question , no she cant tolerate oats! I know in time we will all get used to it, it just takes time to adjust i guess, your words have been most encouraging, thanks for your kindness in taking the time to post, and a big thanks to all the previous posters, its good to know other people out there care and want to help with advice.

thanks
lucie

julia_t

I hope some of it was helpful Lucie, it is such a worry when your child is unwell and it seems to be for such a long time before the doctors come up with a solution. I hope your daughter didn't suffer too much. It was 9 months of on and off hospital visits, scans and tests before anyone even suggested coeliac disease and by then I had had him off wheat, barley and rye for so long (my idea, no doctor suggested it) that nothing showed up in his blood. He may be an undiagnosed coeliac, who knows, but he is a happy healthy active boy again, and that is what matters.

The company in Ireland is actually in Cork and is Heron Foods. Their products are generally quite nice (but we found the stuffing mix revolting! Now I just keep the crusts from the DS bread (see below,) whizz them up in the food processor, store them in the freezer and make stuffing and bread sauce with them).

http://www.glutenfreedirect.com/

I have emailed them with a few questions and they were very helpful.

The spaghetti brand is Salute, made in Italy and imported by LDH (La Doria) Ltd of Huntingdon, no website given on the pack. "Pasta Dieteticia senza Glutine" are the words to look out for.

We also use a lot of products by Dietary Specials - a yellow and purple label with the letters DS. Especially their bread which is based on rice flour.

www.dietaryspecials.co.uk

And there is always rice and potatoes! Millet, Quinoa, buckwheat (from the rhubarb family, no connection with wheat at all).

If I can think of anything else, I'll post back. It was almost a year ago that I had to start cooking and shopping in a new way, although it wasn't until Christmas that we really seriously took it on board after another serious bout of illness which lasted for the whole of January because we slipped up once or twice over the festive period.

Take heart though, it will soon become second nature, and in fact I find avoiding gluten much easier than avoiding lactose/dairy. I wish your daughter all the best for a healthy life on her new diet regime. And Happy Holidays!

Christina

I think I wrote some French phrases for this on the prior thread, if that shows up.

I don't have it, but have never had a problem finding omelettes in French cafes like Demented. I don't understand that at all, they are a staple of French cafes and are served both for breakfast and lunch and are usually very good. I've never had one that was only one egg (I make them at home from 2 eggs, so I know the size). They are usually fairly large -- at least 2-3 eggs -- wherever I have eaten them in France. I'm mainly talking about Paris, of course, but so is Demented. I just don't understand that at all (having trouble finding cafes serving omelettes). I agree you might have trouble in the evening, but they are real common at lunchtime.

highledge

I can't stress enough printing out the card in French and Italian. I have taken a fre trips with a friend who has coeliacs. The card has been a life saver! A few times the waiter took it to the chef and we went from there.
SHe also brings her own tamari with her when we eat asian.

lucielou

Julia

Thanks so much for all that information,i have saved the websites and will keep checking back. Thanks also to highledge and Christina.

I really appreciate all the advice everyone was kind enough to take the time to post, your kindness will not be forgotten.

Many thanks

Lucie

lucielou

Hello Everyone

I've been looking through the boards and thought i'd let you know your collective advice was marvellous in Italy and France. Highledge, I cant tell you how helpful it was to have those cards printed out to take with us, they were absolutely brilliant, many thanks for your advice.

We got along just fine in Italy and everywhere understood the condition very well. France was easier than we expected, but again, we were able to hand waiters the cards we printed out and it all became clear to them.

Thankyou to everyone for your advice and kind words and reassurance, I really appreciate it very much.

Our daughter is getting along well with the new diet, she hasnt put on much weight but she feels a lot better.

We had a wonderful time in both countries.

Many heartfelt thanks to all.

Lucie xx

julia_t

Thanks for posting back Lucie, I was thinking of you only the other day and wondering how things were going with your daughter. I'm glad to read that she is feeling better and managing well.

I have just made a Christmas Cake and Christmas Pudding using (Doves)gluten-free flour. I had a tiny taste from the underside of each and cannot detect any difference than if I had used normal flour.

I think we will cope well with Christmas, but I am slightly more concerned about how we will manage in Bulgaria over New Year (we are going snowboarding/skiing). I have had a card printed up in Bulgarian, and shall probably take a pack of G/F pasta and cereal for breakfast, but it is the bread issue that bothers me most. He won't starve in a week though, and I'm sure we will be OK.

But it was very nice to hear from you and know that our future travels to Italy and France will cause little trouble. Good luck with it all, and BTW Sainsburys have expanded their Free-From range and have some lovely English muffins, pancakes, mince pies, etc.

plafield

My daughter has celiacs (and type 1 diabetes!) and has traveled extensively in Europe, including living in France for 6 months. She was 11 when daignosed with diabetes and 19 when diagnosed with celiacs.

Last May, when I was in Paris with her and my other daughter, we found a boulangerie in the 7th that makes the most fantastic gluten free bread if ordered ahead of time. I can't remember the name at the moment but will look it up and post later.

Awareness of gluten allergy has become quite prevelent in recent years and my daughter finds it fairly easy to eat almost anywhere. She has learned to ask detailed questions (pre printed cards in foriegn languages is a great idea for traveling!) and she often brings what she needs to supplement. Being a diabetic as well, she has to eat carbs to balance her insulin so simple grilled meat and a salad won't work for her. She's learned to carry gluten free cereal bars and other foods to supplement if she can't find enough carb laden foods that she can eat. In Italy she ate a lot of risotto in restaurants. Our favorite GF pasta is an Italian import as well!

It is an adjustment to give up so many things we take for granted and love to eat, but it is so much easier now than it used to be. There are many fabulous GF products out there and lots of support groups and information, especially online.

So glad you guys had a wonderful trip. I'll post tomorrow with the name of the boulangerie in Paris for anyone interested.

lucielou

Julia

I wish you good luck in Bulgaria, maybe you could take a few loaves of bread with you, they seem to have a good shelf life on them so maybe they would last the journey ( they are rubbery enough anyway)!

I've bought lots of the Tesco "free from range" and she loves them, I got lovely mince pies just the other day and they tasted like "normal" ones, we were very surprised!

Plafield, it would be very nice to have the name of the boulangerie in Paris, as we usuall stay in the 6th and 7th.

Thanks guys for your great interest and support

lucie x

moolyn

Lucie, I missed this thread when you first posted because I was in France at the time, happily traveling gluten free. Except for breakfast, I find France one of the easiest countries for a celiac because chefs take food quite seriously and regard making it gluten free as a challenge rather than an insult. Also, they make things from scratch so they know exactly what is in everything they serve. I’ve heard from other celiacs that Europe on the whole is quite celiac friendly because cooks don’t rely on prepackaged sauces like in North America. With preprinted cards explaining the gluten free dietary restriction in whatever languages, travel for celiacs is becoming easier every year.

I always travel with food such as rice cakes, jam, walnuts, almonds and dried fruit that can become a snack or even a meal in an emergency. We try to stay at self-catering places whenever possible so that I can make my own breakfasts and lunches. I’ve found that hotels will even let me store my cheese in their refrigerator if there isn’t one in the room. Rice cakes with a thin scraping of jam and some local cheese plus fruit or yogurt afterwards is my travel staple. I love the thin, square, Kallo brown rice cakes available in the UK and bring a case of them home to Canada whenever I visit. I’d much rather depend on rice cakes than search for GF bread when traveling.

Although I didn’t find nearly the variety of gluten free products in French supermarkets that there is in the UK or here in Canada, I ate very well as you can see in my Dordogne trip report: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34839073

I’m very glad that everything went well for your daughter and that she is starting to flourish. If she has lactose intolerance as well this may improve too as her small intestines return to normal and the enzymes reappear.

Oh yes and I have some Irish ancestors too. Thanks for posting!


Playfield, it’s not unusual to have both celiac disease and diabetes but I’m sure it must have been a challenge for you and your daughter initially. McMaster University Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada now routinely tests children for celiac disease if they are diagnosed diabetic. I’m hypoglycemic and try to avoid simple carbs and not go too long between meals to maintain an even blood sugar level. I’d love to know how to find the boulangerie in Paris that makes GF bread if ordered ahead so please post it here.

lucielou

Moolyn

I agree with you , its always very good to have the old rice cake option, we are never without them now since our daughter was diagnosed!

Re: the Irish ancestors, where do they hail from?

Lucie

moolyn

Lucie, I have two Irish branches.

On my fathers side, a group known as Covenentors settled in County Antrim and Londonderry for a hundred years then moved on to New Hampshire and then Nova Scotia.

My mother's father's family came to Liverpool from northern Ireland in the 1800s but were probably originally from the south because of their name, Keefe. I'm quite sure that this grandfather was a celiac although he was never diagnosed.

In my research for our Dordogne trip I came across a hotel in the northern Perigord that caters to people with special diets, mostly Brits. Here's the link: http://www.chateaudevillars.co.uk/