FOOD | ITALY | GLUTEN FREE

The Unexpected Surprise of Eating Gluten-Free in Italy

I was amazed at what was available

I was so excited that I partly ate my gluten-free pizza before capturing this photo! Photo Credit: Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages

Maybe you are like I used to be and think that traveling to Italy is off the list because of your wheat allergy or celiac disease. Thankfully, I’m here to tell you different.

In 2015 my partner and I were on a 6 week journey through parts of Europe, including a 4 day trip to Italy to visit a friend who had moved there from Canada.

I was diagnosed as being allergic to wheat about 20 years ago now, well before gluten-free options were widely available. I had adjusted my eating habits and knew that in Canada, and most countries, I could find things on menus that didn’t include wheat. My choices would generally gravitate to salads as they were usually a surefire bet, minus the croutons, of course.

But what about Italy where pizza, bread and pasta are their main staples?

I was definitely worried about our trip there, but also reasoned that we were only going for 4 days, surely I would survive.

Well, I needn't have worried. In fact, I felt, for the first time, that Italy catered to ME and my issues and I ate my way through Italy with reckless bread-and-pasta-indulgent abandon.