The Risotto Experience

The Risotto Experience
Eating out as a celiac can have the potential for frustration
It is really useful if you have a general idea of what dishes
contain before choosing as it is really frustrating to get your
mouth in the right shape for a particular dish and then find out
it isn’t suitable
Asking the waiter or waitress to find out from the kitchen as
you are passed the menus what is gluten free is often very
productive
If you are booking in advance try sending them letter template
in “Live Well – Eat Well With Celiac Disease” which outlines the
things you can eat and clearly states what you need to avoid,
before you go Another strategy is to keep a copy in your purse
or wallet so you can offer it when you arrive Be mindful that
in a pressurised restaurant I can’t guarantee they will read it
and take it in
If it is a place you use regularly it is worth making a time to
talk to the chef during their quiet times Give them the What
You Can And Can’t Eat sections of the ebook or suggest they
purchase a copy of their own for future reference
Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security, you can come
unstuck
Twice in the last month I have had the same experience when
eating out
I looked at the menu and saw a risotto as a starter- I really
fancied it A risotto should be perfectly safe if made by
traditional methods When the waitress in the first restaurant
returned from checking what I wanted it was not included in the
list I asked her to check it out, she came back with the reply
– “It has rice in it so you can’t have it”
Now as you know if you have read the book, all types of pure
rice are gluten free As the customer you now have to decide
whether to chose something else or to challenge their
understanding of gluten free On the first occasion there was
something else on the menu I liked the look of so I let it go
A week later in a different restaurant the same thing happened
but I decided to take it further and asked her to get a list of
ingredients It turned out that rather than using homemade stock
they were using a bought in mixture which contained wheat flour
Always check things out because you never know
For those of you who like risotto and would like to make it at
home Ann has created fantastic risotto recipe for this month’s
newsletter Enjoy!

Tags | celiac, disease, dishes, letter, menus, occasion, restaurant, result, security, sense, shape, times, waiter, wallet