Just got back from 2 weeks in the Dordogne in a mobile home. We had no real GF problems at all. Predominantly self catering does make life easier, there is no doubt and this is familiar to many GF families. We used a roof box on the car and took a fair amount of groceries with us (breakfast cereal and that sort of stuff) We also used an electric coolbox which managed to keep GF fresh bread frozen until we could put it in the freezer when we reached our destination. This worked really well. We also put in some Sainsbury Pork and apple sausages (I think). They were the best GF sausages from a supermarket that I have tried.
We did eat out very successfully in Le Bugue and Sarlat with restaurant staff seeming to understand the GF issue. Niall had steak hache and also a couple of very French omelettes.
On the shopping front we had a very good choice of fresh local produce and a modest shift in the Euro exchange rate even softened the cost. (France is still really expensive compared with a couple of years ago.
We sacrificed the family principles and had a McDonalds on the way back with the staff being really helpful and putting the burger inside a Marks and Sparks roll provided by us.
Another good trip and now back to the grindstone!
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There's an incredibly useful site here -
ReplyDeletehttp://www.celiactravel.com/restaurant-cards.html
where you can get cards explaining gluten intolerance in several languages. The print quality isn't brilliant but if you are prepared to retype the message this isn't a problem, provided the language uses a western script that is.
I have found having simple printed out cards ready to hand over to restaurateurs significantly reduces the fuss and embarrassment that feeding a gluten intolerant can engender. I can tell within seconds whether the caterers are going to be helpful or not.
P.S. If you travel in Spain, the supermarket Mercadona has a huge range of gluten-free products, all clearly marked 'Sin Gluten'. They are among all the other products, and this includes the gluten-free beer in the beer section that retails AT THE SAME PRICE as ordinary bottled beers.
ReplyDeleteThe gluten free bread needs to be refreshed in the oven, but beware the gluten-free bread mix. It just grows and grows, so make sure you make it in small quantities or have some huge bowls and bread tins ready!
Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteMay I advise your readers like me who are coeliacs, or who know someone who suffers from coeliac desease or dermatitis herpetiformis, that food products marked as gluten free or with the crossed-grain symbol are now not necessarily safe for all coeliacs to eat.
Any food or drinks containing wheat, rye and barley is not gluten free but recently (early 2012 I think), the Coeliac Society has allowed oats to be deemed gluten free albeit they were previously considered unsafe for coelics. However, oats contain a protein called avenin and at least 5% of coeliacs cannot tolerate avenin and they should not eat oats.
Sarah Sleet, CEO of the Coeliac Society, confirmed the 5% figure in a recent email to me and stated it was up to GP's to advise patients of the risk of taking the crossed grain symbol and gluten free markings at face value. From what she says, it appears that the only way to find out if you are allergic to avenin is to risk making yourself ill eating oats. I did and was sick for days.
Iain Maddox
East Linton