<<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.