I must admit, I was slightly anxious about the "food situation" after the difficulties I faced on our last trip to Berlin but that wasn't enough to stop me packing my bags and heading off for some April sun!
I had no reason to worry! Ok, the Portuguese may not be completely up to date with the ins and outs of Coeliac Disease and Gluten Free menu's are hard to come by BUT all the people I met were sooooo helpful and kind. They genuinely wanted to help and didn't want to see me go hungry!
Dale and I were self catering which automatically eases the pressure as we had a fridge, hob, microwave etc so the whole range of fresh meat, fish, veg, rice etc that the supermarkets could offer were all at our disposal! I did also go armed with a selection of goodies such as Newburn Bakehouse sandwich thins for brekkie (they are flat and great for packing too), rice cakes, 9 bars etc.
There are 2 main supermarkets that I came across
and
Pingo Doce has a very small GF section which may well alter depending on which branch you visit. Jumbo has a much bigger selection of GF and would be a great place to stock up if you found one at the beginning of your hol (which we didn't!!). GF is clearly labelled as "Sem Gluten"
Another shop to look out for is Celerio which is a health food chain.
They had a surprisingly large selection of GF food as well as lactose free, soya free and vegan.
As you can probably see, it's quite expensive but if you're desperate for choco stars then I guess they are worth €4.10?! Anyway, it's nice to know there are options right?
Dale cooked at the apartment a few times using fresh ingredients from the supermarkets. Don't assume anything though.....I came across several packs of ham / cheese etc that contained gluten. Packaging is fairly well labelled but just because it's ok in the UK doesn't mean is automatically ok elsewhere! We did stumble upon GF pasta which was a bit of a treat!
We also ate out a couple of times. The first restaurant was in the Alfama district, Restaurante Farol de Santa Luzia (www.farolsantaluzia.com). I went armed with my trusty translation from Coeliac UK and the staff were more than happy to help me order my food. I had a zingy marinated pork with rice.
The food was tasty and I would definitely recommend of you are in the area....just check your chicken if you order it as Dale's was a little under done. We would have said something (and I'm sure they would have been mortified) but once we had been through the whole Coeliac palarva we just couldn't face it! A cop out I know but we were trying to be chilled out on our hols lol!
We also ate in an equally traditional and helpful restaurant in the Bairro Alto but I failed in finding the name! It wasn't glaringly obvious as it was only a small place and I can't find the receipt....bad blogger I know!! But, just to give you hope that good food is out there, this is what I had!!
Turkey in a cream, mushroom and garlic sauce with rice (common rice theme going on here....it's easier than "are your chips frozen cos I can't eat re heated potato and if they aren't frozen are they cooked in a separate fryer etc etc" my Portuguese / English translation can only go so far yeah?!)
Sooooo a holiday's not a holiday without an ice cream or two right?! Pre packed branded ice creams are ten a penny in Lisbon so you won't go without. The boards are clearly labelled with "Isento de Gluten"
You can have your usual Magnum's, Solero's and Calippo. However, if you want something a little more home made there are several ice cream parloury places all of which are pretty helpful if you look longingly and desperately ask "Sem gluten?" (while whiping they drool from your chin!), it pretty much gets the point across. The best place I found was in Alfama
The man who served me could tell me exactly which flavours I could have, what the actual ingredients were, warned me away from the cones (which I knew were a no no but it was reassuring that he knew they were a no no too!) and even washed the scoop thoroughly before using on my ice cream (muttering "it's very important" while doing it it....too right it's important!) I could have kissed him.....a man who makes ice cream AND understands the need for strict GF measures......what more could a Coeliac girl ask for right?!
See how happy I am?!.....my needs are simple.....sun and GF ice cream.....winner!!
Well, I shall end with a few little GF snacks I sampled while away....all in the name of blogging you understand....
Chocolate chip cookies
I've come across this brand in Spain. Great mini cookies, got a thumbs up from gluten eating Dale too so must be ok!
Regular readers will know I have a thing for hot chocolate. This is clearly labelled on the ingredients list as Insento de Gluten. Drunk cold or blitzed in the micro it scratched the hot choc itch!
Fairly normal tasting white choc.....cross grain symbol on front very helpful.
Frubis.....weird.....very, very weird! Not unpleasant but a strange eating sensation! Clearly labelled as Gluten Free in English so I thought I'd have a go.
Once you open the pack you are met with freeze dried fruit!
Once you can get your head around crunching (rather noisily) through a strawberry they are actually quite pleasant!
So, that's Lisbon! If you are thinking about it.....go for it! If you've booked it already...hurrah!! You will have a great time and you will eat well (with not a Nando's in sight hee hee!). Go with a good translation of your dietary needs and the people you meet will be more than happy to help! If I can help in anyway please do contact me on Twitter @lizprice79 I would also strongly recommend you have a look at http://glutenfreetraveller.com/ who had some useful tips before I went.
There was just one problem....as Dale tucked into his 3rd or 4th Portugese custard tart I was starting to have a little tart envy....sooo while typing I am experimenting with puff pastry and custard fillings to see if I can produce anything similar....I'll let you know next week.....wish me luck!!! X
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