| If you're going to brave the steamy jungle of | | | | unless they also do jacket baked potatoes. |
| catering - whether you're getting a takeout or | | | | Virtually everything else on the menu will be |
| eating in - you need to take a bit of care, and | | | | based either on pizza dough or pasta. If you get a |
| alert the suppliers to your dietary needs. | | | | potato, ask whether flour or wheat has been |
| Most of us like to go out for a meal or get a | | | | used in any topping before ordering it. Avoid the |
| take out once in a while. But for coeliacs and | | | | cheese, which is likely to have been bought ready |
| others on a gluten free diet, buying food ready | | | | grated and coated in flour. |
| cooked can be a bit of a minefield. | | | | Burger outlets, such as MacDonalds, Burger King |
| For starters, most take away food will be a | | | | and so on are best avoided. Even the chips are |
| problem. For example, even if you avoid the egg | | | | likely to be glutened. |
| noodles (which are wheat based) in Chinese take | | | | If you're going to your local egg and chips cafe, |
| aways, virtually everything will contain soy sauce - | | | | stick to eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and chips. |
| and the likelihood of this being gluten free is just | | | | The baked beans, sauces on the tables, sausages |
| about zero. You may find something on the | | | | and burgers are all suspect, not to mention the |
| rather limited English menu many Chinese take | | | | toast and fried bread, of course. You may be ok |
| aways offer, but that's probably about it. | | | | with hash browns (ask to check the label), but |
| It goes without saying that your local chippy is | | | | tatty scones are off the menu, I'm afraid. |
| unlikely to give you much choice. The chips will | | | | Moving upmarket a bit, Italian restaurants may |
| probably be ok (though you should check that | | | | have risotto on the menu (as well as the pasta |
| they aren't coated in flour, as some prepacked | | | | which you can't eat). Alternatively, you could take |
| chips are), also the chicken - if it is fried without | | | | along a pack of gluten free pasta and ask the |
| batter or other coating - and you could have | | | | chef to cook that for you. Check that the sauces |
| pickles to go with it, if you like. If you have a high | | | | are not thickened with flour if you decide to take |
| sensitivity to gluten, even food cooked in fat | | | | this course. |
| which was previously used to fry something in | | | | Greek food may come with a thickened sauce. |
| batter will most likely set your symptoms off, so | | | | Ask whether any dish you wish to order contains |
| you may be best to avoid chip shops altogether. | | | | flour. |
| Having said this, some chip shops have a gluten | | | | Like Chinese food, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese |
| free night once a week or so, and one I've heard | | | | cooking is all likely to contain soy sauce, making it |
| about (the Greenisland in Congleton) offers gluten | | | | off limits. Since it is mainly cooked fresh for each |
| free fish and chips every day. | | | | customer, however, you could take some gluten |
| You should get more choice in the Indian. They | | | | free soy sauce along and ask the chef to use it in |
| don't use soy sauce, and so long as you avoid the | | | | your food. How well this would go down, I have |
| breads (chapatis, parathas, nans and so on), most | | | | no idea! Obviously if you do this, choose rice or |
| of the food SHOULD be gluten free. Do check | | | | rice noodles, not standard Chinese noodles. |
| that they don't use wheat flour as a thickening. | | | | Nepali is similar to Indian food. Avoid the breads, |
| Even the bhajis should be ok, as they are made | | | | and ask about the wheat content of any dish |
| with gram (chick pea) flour, though you need to | | | | before ordering. However, the choice of food you |
| double check this. Similarly, poppadoms are made | | | | can eat is likely to be quite good. |
| from lentil flour, so these should be fine. Pickles | | | | If you have friends who are also gluten intolerant, |
| are just various fruit and vegetables in oil, and | | | | ask them where they have been to, and what |
| dips are mostly made from yoghurt and | | | | their experience was. There are lists of eating |
| seasoning, so you can even have these. | | | | places online, but none of them is very large, and |
| Don't even bother going to the local pizza house, | | | | most seem to only cover a small area. |