Italy - how do you say?
 

I am going to Italy this Friday. I am very concerned that I will not be able to eat much as I envision Italy having cheeses in everything they eat. I thought I would ask them if they do not speak English:

Health reasons - I cannot eat parmesean cheese, other cheeses, vinegar, monosodium glumate (MSG). Can you recommend something else for me to eat?

Bummer for you but there will be plenty to eat. There are plenty of Italian language sites if you need to look up words. Try www.About.com

Depending on where in Italy you will be going you are likely to find that most waiters in the larger city restaurants speak enough English to assist you in making food selections. Seafood is always available and many pastas can be had without cheese. Beef is big in Florence and other areas of Tuscany. Chicken is also readily available. Meals are served in "courses" so you should be able to find plenty to eat that will not upset your dietary restrictions ... if all else fails there are McDonalds just about everywhere!

>...if all else fails there are McDonalds just about everywhere!<

What about MSG?

No, it is not true that in ITaly you put cheese on everything. When you order pasta al pomodoro (with tomato sauce) you can ask the waiter to have it with no parmesan cheese on it (senza formaggio or senza parmigiano). I think there is a lot to eat even if you don't eat cheese, vinegar and this monosodium Glumate (which are the food that contain it by the way: pasta? bread? are you celiac?): meat, green salads (usually they bring you oil and vinegar aside so you can dress your salad as you like), fish, all sorts of veggies, grilled zucchini and eggplants which are delicious...
As an alternative, have a little paper with you with the following thing written on: SONO INTOLLERANTE AD OGNI TIPO DI FORMAGGI, ACETO E A CIBI CHE CONTENGONO MONOSODIO GLUMATO (= I have a food intolerance to any kind of cheese, vinegar and food containing MSG). Maybe they will have a puzzled expression about the MSG, and they will ask you what is it... Tell me which are the food that contain MSG and I will translate them for you, ok?

If you like seafood, then you are safe from cheese. The Italians would NEVER put the two into the same dish. (I have heard that they consider it a poisonous combination). If you eat in real restaurants (not chains) I sincerely doubt that you would ever have to worry about MSG. IMHO you should learn a few words in Italian, cheese and NO! come immediatly to mind

Since MSG is a flavor enhancer used in highly processed food, and Italians are quite justly proud of their tasty regional-seasonal cuisine, I'd be surprised to learn that the additive is used at all in restaurants there.

I am finding most packaged or processed foods have MSG. It's rare to find anything that does not have it anymore. I appreciate your help with translating my situation. I will certainly use it when I go this week!
I hear the food is great and I hope I can enjoy some of it!

I don't get it NB24, forgive my puzzlement but what do you usually eat when you are at home: fresh veggies? meat? fish? fruit? What do you normally do when you go to a restaurant or you are invited at somebody's house in the country you live in? (by the way where you live? I am just curious). I think that if you have managed to eat regularly in your country then you can find the same things in Italy too. Good italian food in Italy is prepared with fresh ingredients. If you feel unsure of what you can eat or not, my suggestion then is to go to one of the many markets in Italy, that sell fresh products and get what you can and want to eat.

Hi NB,

Is it all milk products or only cheeses?

It would be a shame if you can't have gelato.