Surviving Italy with a Food Intolerance

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 18^th 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