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Subject:
From:
Ronan Ward <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 11 Aug 1997 19:07:37 +0100
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<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Hi, everyone!

I got lots of very useful replies to my query about staying GF in Spain.  It
really made me realise again what a wonderful resource this list is.  I think
I've managed to reply to everyone who sent me information (sorry if I missed
anyone), but here is a summary for those who requested that I pass on the
info and also for anyone else who is thinking of travelling to Spain.  Excuse
any changes I've made for the sake of editting.

WHERE TO BUY GF PRODUCTS IN SPAIN
...... El Corte Ingles, the big department store found in most big Spanish
cities.
...... Health food stores ...(sell some things, but generally not
many).
...... I would bring breads etc from home if I were you, just to be on the
safe side.
...... You can buy special gluten-free products in shops called 'herbolarios'
(bread, biscuits or pasta).

POPULAR GF BRANDS IN SPAIN
Dr. Schar (flours, pasta, bakery products)
Hammer Mühle (flours, pasta, bakery products)
Harifen (bakery products, milkshakes, pasta)
La Campesina (rice cakes)
Nutricia (Glutafin brand: bread, bakery products, pasta)
Nutricia (Loprofin brand: bread, biscuits, pasta)
Nutricia (baby food)
Sanavi (bread, flours, pasta, bakery)
Singlu (bread, flours, pasta, bakery)
Sorribas (flours, polenta)

SOME USEFUL SPANISH WORDS
gluten free  =  sin gluten
gluten-free products  =  productos sin gluten
wheat  =  trigo
rye =  centeno
barley  =  cebada
oats  =  avena
flour  =  harina
starch  =  almidon / fécula
bread crumbs  =  pan rallado
coated  =  rebozado
fried  =  frito
grilled  =  a la plancha
roasted  =  asado
cereals  =  cereales
Tiene una alergia de harina = He/she has an allergy to wheat
Tengo una alergia de harina = I have an allergy to wheat
Es la tortilla de harina? = Is the tortilla made from wheat?

SPANISH RESTAURANT CARD
Most people said my restaurant card was OK, but a few people
suggested improvements or alternatives.  Here are 2 examples:

1. The restaurant card should say:
"Por razones medicas yo tengo que adherirme a una dieta estricta que
excluye todo vestigio de GLUTEN.  Esto es una substancia que se halla en el
TRIGO, CENTENO, CEBADA, y AVENAS. Sin embargo, puedo consumir MAIZ y ARROZ.
Cono una guia general al comer "fuera", mi dieta requiere:-
SOPA:- solamente si no contiene pan, harina o pasta.
CARNE/PESCADO/VERDURA:- solo servidos sin rebozar, sin caldos, salsas ni
rellenos.
POSTRES:- Fruta, jaleas, arroz, tapioca, ciertos helados y quesos.
BEBIDAS:- se permiten la mayoria de la variedades excepto cacaos y
chocolates a la taza.
Muchas Gracias por su ayuda."

This includes a few changes to make it more accurate and more relevant to
the type of food served in Spain (for example the cheeses, "queso", are not
served with any extra bread).

2. "Soy alergico al trigo, al centeno, a la cebada y a la avena. Esto
significa que no debo ingerir alimentos que contengan uno u otro de estos
cereales en forma de harina, pan o pan rayado, etc"

Another suggestion was to take a look at
http://members.aol.com/zoeliak/spr_info.htm
(This person has listed "restaurant cards" in several languages)

CHOOSING FROM SPANISH MENUS (for GF & vegetarian choices)

......... The main problem is usually the sauces, because although
most of them should not have flour, in practice (specially in cheap
restaurants) they do use it for thickening. But food here is mainly cooked
from scratch, with raw ingredients, so it is not so difficult to spot the
problems and avoid them.

......... it is very common to use wheat flour in sauces.

......... Soups usually contain  bread or pasta.

......... Common first dishes in Spain are lentils, chick peas or beans,
prepared in many ways. Most of these are gluten-free, although some
have bread crumbs in for thickening, so as always, ask.

......... In main courses, apart from the sauces, check out for coated things.
Many fishes, meats and even vegetables are prepared this way.

......... Omelets - remember to ask if theyhave added some flour.

......... Desserts are the main problem. There aren't that many without flour
in them.  Home-made cream caramel or rice with milk, should be ok.
Otherwise stick to yogurt or fresh fruit.

......... Most hotels and restaurants in Spain tend to be ignorant of CD and
unwilling to guarantee GF food. However, much Spanish food is GF in any
case

......... go to the local market and cook your own. When you go to restaurants
just avoid sauces of any sort - stick to the plain stuff

......... Paella, which is rice with saffron - ask for paella sin carne y sin
pescado, and they will give you a vegetarian rice dish.

......... Be careful with paella, they will tell you it doesn't contain
any wheat.  However, if they use a comercially prepared paella spice
mix, it probably does contain wheat to keep the spices free-running.

......... Some suggestions - Paella ( often includes shell-fish),  Menestra de
verduras, Tortilla de patata, Ensalada, Pisto

......... they do not have salad dressings, only vinegar and oil.  Therefore
be sure and ask for either white wine vinegar (vinagre de vino blanco) or
vinagre de sidra de manzana.

......... there are a lot of olives, in the salads, cooked in the food or served
as appetizers.  Make sure that they are not stored or cured in the wrong
type of vinegar.

......... the milk in Spain is often powdered, then reconstituted and put
on the shelf.  It is bought in one liter boxes that have a shelf life for
up to six months.  Make sure and get your milk fresh (lecha fresca) or it
might have preservatives.

......... Caution: don't rely too heavily on its (restaurant card's) effect.
The Spanish tend not to take health issues very seriously.  It is possible
that a cook might, instead of confronting you, just tell you that the food
is wheat-free.  This would not be done maliciously, it's just a cultural
thing.  So be careful.

......... Go to vegetarian restuarants whenever possible.  These are generally
run by younger more health-knowledgeable people.  In my experience, the
waiters are very understanding and helpful, and never act insulted
because you are making specific request.  Of course, there are not
the many vegetarian restuarants in Spain, unfortunately.

......... I think it will be difficult for you to find suitable restaurants
for a gluten free and vegetarian diet. The best option could be to
try to find the vegetarian restaurants in those places, and then ask
for gluten free dishes in these restaurants, but is not easy to find
vegetarian restaurants either

......... Spain is not an easy country for vegetarians.
You'll find tuna in your salads and bacon with the cauliflower.

......... Quote - "the most common vegetable in Spain is ham!"  Quite true -
but you can purchase at the market all kinds of great fruit - Barcelona
has great markets

......... We usually take 2 dishes for dinner, the second being a meat or fish,
but for the first course you can always have vegetables, like: Judias
verdes, Guisantes, Alcachofas, Coliflor, Repollo, Ensalada de pimientos

......... The word vegetarian is the same - vegetariana.

......... We suggest you to ask for boiled vegetables, salads, and fruit.

LANGUAGE
....... The official language is Spanish even in Basque and the Catalan.  Your
restaurant card will be understood by both Basques and Catalans. If Spanish
fails you when in Barcelona try French.

....... Everything is (generally) written out in both Spanish and the local
language.  Everyone you meet will speak Spanish, although they may prefer
speaking their native language.  Very few people speak English unless you
are in the highly touristic areas.  Have a Spanish dictionary, find the
word in Spanish, and point to the word.  Don't be shy or embarassed.
People here are generally very friendly and helpful.

....... younger generation more likely to be able to speak English, however
everyone will speak Spanish (Castellano) though they may speak with heavy
accents from the Basque and Catalan background.

....... look for "we speak english signs in stores and resturants," but don't
count on everyone knowing it.

FURTHER INFORMATION RESOURCES
1) For information on coeliac groups and contacts in Spain, send an email
to [log in to unmask] with the message
GET CELIAC GROUPSIN
2)You can contact the Spanish list as follows:
Send an e-mail to [log in to unmask] with nothing in the subject line,
but in the body of the message write  suscribir celiaquia  This will get
you subscribed, then to send a message send an e-mail to
[log in to unmask]
It would help to have your message in Spanish as well.  Try the following:
"Hola, soy (your name)  Vivo en (your country) y tengo celiaquia.  En (when
you plan to visit) voy a pasar mis vacaciones en (the exact areas you will
be spending time)
Por favor, tienes informacion sobre estos sitios?
        Lo siento, pero no hablo Espanol y no tengo amigos que hablan
Espanol.  Si es posible, puedes enviar la informacion en Ingles.  Si
no, puedes enviarla en Espanol muy basico.
        Muchas gracias por toda la informacion."
This asks for information, preferably in English, but if that is not
possible, then in very basic Spanish.

MY OWN EXPERIENCES IN SPAIN
Armed with all the information I had gathered from both this list and the
Spanish list plus a Spanish dictionary and my revised restaurant card, I
felt much more confident and relaxed about the trip.  As we were travelling
in our own car, I was able to bring quite a lot of my own GF supplies and
as we were camping, I was able to self-cater most of the time.  When we did
eat out, however, I noticed that, though people were very helpful and
friendly, waiters seemed to think that my requests were somewhat funny (in
some cases they made a big production of flourishing labels in front of me
so that I could read them).  I found that I got lots of co-operation so
long as I went along with this pantomime-type approach and joined in the
fun.

I had overestimated the GF supplies I would need, so I didn't need to buy
more.  However, I had a look in the specialist food section of the
hypermarkets and found that diabetics were very well catered for but not
coeliacs.  I was glad that I had all my information re GF shopping ready
just in case.

THANKS AGAIN to everyone who replied to me.  I appreciated the anecdotes as
well as the GF info.  It all helped to make the holiday more enjoyable.  I
was really overwhelmed by the generosity of many of the responses.  Some
people sent me names and addresses and even directions to help me find
specific shops or restaurants in the areas I was travelling. I can pass on
this info if people email me privately.

All in all, we really enjoyed our holiday and would love to return to Spain
again in the future.

Happy GF travelling to everyone else,
Liz (Ward), Dublin, Ireland.

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