If you have a food intolerance to the likes of wheat, gluten
or dairy, it can be hard enough negotiating the restaurants in your own
country, let alone trying to work out what you can and can’t eat in a different
country with a language you don’t speak. For you, Italy may seem like an
impossible place to visit and enjoy as, of course, it is famous for its pasta,
pizza and cheese!
Or is it…
It may surprise you that Italy also enjoys culinary love
affairs with rice, potatoes and polenta, all of which are gluten-free. And most
reputable Italian restaurants cook dishes to order, which means you can ask the
chef to prepare the dish to your taste; for example, without cheese.
Let’s take pizza as
an example. It is generally considered that the pizza was born in Naples, when
the poor people of the region began adding tomatoes (which, up until the 18th
century, were thought to be poisonous) to their flat bread. Cheese was not
added and the cheese-free original pizza is still popular around Naples today
and is called a “Marinara”. It has a
topping of tomato, oregano, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and, typically,
basil. This pizza is also vegetarian and vegan and, thanks to the freshness of
the ingredients, tastes absolutely divine! So, if you’re planning a trip to the
Campania region, Bellarome highly recommends trying a Marinara at Pizzeria Da Franco, which is an
authentic pizzeria situated in Sorrento’s bustling town centre. Even those
preferential to lashings of mozzarella on their pizza won’t miss the cheese on
this one! Rice is particularly popular, possibly even more so than pasta, in north Italy to such an extent that they even have a festival to celebrate it called the “Fiera del Riso”, which takes place in April in the province of Cuneo. Risotto, in some form, features on most Italian menus and is a safe option if you’re wheat intolerant. Bellarome recommends risotto with asparagus or mushrooms and also look out for “Risotto alle fragole”, which is risotto with strawberries – it sounds crazy but it works!
Although potatoes
took a while to catch on in Italy, they are now more popular than ever and
favoured dishes are “Patate alla Griglia”
(grilled potatoes with extra virgin olive oil and fragrant sprigs of rosemary),
“Patate Tartufate” (truffled
potatoes, which usually contain dairy) and “Patate
Ripiene” (potato skins stuffed with beef). Each region has its own
specialty baked potato too so look out for these on the menu.Polenta, aside from the cake form, is not common on a UK restaurant menu but it is tremendously popular in Italy, where it is known as “Paiolo”. It is, in short, cornmeal and it is a staple food in the north, outshining even pasta. It can be served in all manner of ways from chips to stews and even as bread. Polenta itself is gluten-free but the dishes may contain dairy.
On your holiday in Italy, don’t be afraid to order “off
menu” as any reputable restaurants will be happy to prepare something fresh for
you. A good tip is to scan the menu for ingredients and then create something
from what you know they have in the kitchen. For example, if they are serving a
pasta dish with sundried tomatoes and olives, a beef steak with polenta chips
and there’s a side salad option on the menu, you could create a gorgeous
Mediterranean salad with sundried tomatoes and olives topped with polenta chips
and a drizzle of olive oil. Yum!
What’s more, if you choose to book through Bellarome, we
can contact the restaurant on your behalf to let them know you have a special
dietary requirement, taking the stress out of eating out!
Useful phrases
I have a gluten
allergy/intolerance
|
Ho una allergia/un intolleranza
al glutine
|
I have a wheat
allergy/intolerance
|
Ho una allergia/un intolleranza
al grano
|
I am allergic to dairy
|
Io sono allergico al latte
|
I have an allergy/intolerance
|
Ho un'allergia/una
intolleranza
|
I am vegetarian
|
Io sono vegetariana
|
I am vegan
|
Io sono vegano
|
Do you have a vegetarian menu?
|
Avete un menu vegetariano?
|
Does this dish contain dairy?
|
Questo piatto contiene
latticini?
|
Does this dish contain wheat?
|
Questo piatto contiene grano?
|
Please can I have the pizza
without cheese?
|
Posso avere la pizza senza
formaggio per favore?
|
Please can I have this dish
without cheese or milk?
|
Posso avere questo piatto
senza formaggio o latte per favore?
|
That is not what I ordered
|
Non avevo ordinato questo
|
