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Hi everybody,
two months ago I sent a request about gluten-free in Brazil (see end of message). Thanks to everyone who responded! Sorry, I did not have time to write the summary before. Nevertheless, I am now able to add my comments to the summary. The information I received is in quotes, my comments are not.
Topics:
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1) Is coeliac disease well-known in Brazil?
2) Do they pay attention to cross-contamination?
3) Typical Brazilian gf dishes.
4) Introducing dietary supplies into Brazil (custom)
5) Are plugs and electric tension like in Europe?
6) My tiny travel-toaster
7) Any other information
Answers:
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1) Is coeliac disease well-known in Brazil, so that if I go to a restaurant they will know what I am talking about?
All foods are labelled as containing gluten CONTEM GLUTEN or not containing gluten NAO CONTEM GLUTEN (sorry, accents missing). I found this extremely useful. I could buy anything just by looking at the labels. Everything is labelled (even mineral water!).
Besides this, I did not find coeliac to be well known at all (at least compared to Italy).
2) Can I expect that they will pay attention to cross-contamination while cooking, if I explain the cook or the waiter (Unfortunately I don't speak Portuguese. Hopefully I can manage with some Italian, Spanish, and English...)?
"Let you in on a secret...if you can speak French, Spanish or Italian...just speak that but speak it to a Samba..in other words just change the rhytym. Within 2 days you will understand them and they will understand you".
I spoke sometimes Italian, sometimes Spanish, sometimes a mixture of both and a couple of Brazilian words I learnt there. That worked very well. Do not rely on English. I found that almost nobody speaks English there.
"Brazilians are generally very willing and able to help. They might understand the cross-contamination idea to well but I think you can get your point across. Make sure they understand that you might get very sick if you have some cross-contamination. Usually the try to please."
I found a great restaurant card. It is a bit alarming, but it also explains the cross-contamination issue very well:
http://sciencenat.com/gluten/
The card is quite long, so you still have to make sure that they read it all and understand it, and you have to explain the issue as well. After reading the card, once they were surprised that I could eat potatoes (???). A couple of times instead, they said everything was okay; then I pointed out the line on the card about cross-contamination (fry in the same oil, etc.), and they admitted it was contaminated, so not okay. So make sure that they understand the card. Do not rely on the card alone!
Eating out was not a problem. The waiters were very helpful and friendly!
3) Are there typical Brazilian dishes, which are coeliac-friendly?
"Pao de Queijo - Cheese bread - is almost always made from Manioc flour (tapioca) and is available in many bakeries. It is a traditional dish."
In some places it is not gluten-free since they fry it in the same oil as food with bread crumbs, but it is normally baked in a oven. I bought some tapioca flour and some ready mixtures for Pao de Queijo (suggested by a real Brazilian housewife) at a supermarket, to take it with me and bake it when I am back home. (I had no time, yet, but I will bake it soon).
"Check this site for Brazilian cooking - http://www.sonia-portuguese.com/recipes/cooking.htm "
"With the exception of bread, the basic diet in Brasil is gf."
"Most of the typical Brazilian dishes are gluten-free, based on beans, cassava, corn... The more you go North, the easier."
"The food is terrific....before you go check out a Brasilian cook book. Their bbq and fish dishes are really out of this worl."
“Restaurants should be ok - my husband recommends checking a Brazilian BBQ (where the waiters walk around with meat and will slice whatever you want to try). He says that normally they don't use marinades.”
"Other tips - you should be able to get anything you need in a grocery store. A good restaurant for Brazilian BBQ (but I'm not sure about the GF capabilities for sure - so please ask before dining) - Fogo de Chao (pronounced: "Fog-o de Shawn")."
"You will need to be careful of eating "chicken parmejana" or any of the meats with coatings. Most of the coatings are flour or bread cumbs. So just a plain cut of meat will be okay. Might have to explain that it cannot be fried on the same grill as the others that have coatings, etc."
4) Does custom allow to introduce some dietary supplies in Brazil?
"Check the local Brazilian consulate to find out."
"Regarding customs - you can bring food in if it is packaged (commercially) and sealed. So boxes of cereal which is new will work. But a loaf of bread in a plastic bag with twist tie probably won't work. Explain to customs what your issue is. Coeliac (celiac) is "Doenssa Celiaca"."
I brought sealed dietary food and a medical certificate about celiac. They never checked my bags, and I never had to show the certificate.
5) Are plugs and electric tension like in Europe (Germany or Italy)? (for my tiny travel-toaster)
"For the electricty information around the world go to http://kropla.com/electric2.htm"
"Brazilian Voltage is 110V (like the US) and 60Hz. But the outlet is normally two round pins like in Germany but thinner. The square plugs (like in the US) are sometimes used. If you are getting a transformer - get the 100V/60Hz with round thin "Brazilian" Pins. Please note some places in Brazil are 220V. My husband said if you tell us where you are going - he can look it up in the internet to see if it is 110 or 220. But mostly, Brazil is 110V."
I bought an adapter for South America before living. It worked well, but I found the power for my toaster was much less in the place I was staying in Brazil than in Germany or Italy, so that it took much longer to toast my bread, and sometimes I had to take my bread untoasted because I was in a hurry.
6) My tiny travel-toaster
For the people who asked about my “tiny travel-toaster”: It is simply the smallest toaster I could find in a big store called “Kaufhof” in Munich, Germany. It is the toaster TA 2200 made by Alaska. It fits at the bottom of my trolley, which I can take in the plane cabin with me.
Here is a picture:
http://cgi.ebay.it/Casa-Arredamento-ed-Elettrodomestici_Cucina-Elettrodomestici_Tostapane_Toaster-ALASKA-TA-2200_W0QQitemZ220239477077QQptdnZTostapaneQQddnZCasaQ2cQ20ArredamentoQ20edQ20ElettrodomesticiQQadnZCucinaQ20ElettrodomesticiQQptdiZ7285QQddiZ7172QQadiZ7178QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220239477077&#ebayphotohosting
I normally use it to toast bread for breakfast and also to make sandwiches for lunch, if needed. I usually toast Schaer bread "Rustico" with it.
7) Any other information
"There is an excellent travel summary in the archives from with many of your questions answered already Enter Brazil in the search string box and enter 2007-05-07 in the Since box. You'll get some irrelevant entries for NY etc. but the summary and the links contained will be very useful. Here is the search link for future reference.
http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=celiac "
I hope this helps anybody going to Brazil.
Ciao
Maria Paola
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