Eating Gluten Free in Puerto Rico
THIS ESSAY WAS PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN FOR A DIFFERENT WEBSITE - SOME OF THE INFORMATION CAN BE APPLIED TO PLACES OTHER THAN PUERTO RICO. ITS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER AS SOMEONE WITH CELIAC DISEASE, ANY FOOD NOT PREPARED (INCLUDING PROCESSED) YOURSELF THERE IS A RISK OF CROSS CONTAMINATION.
Celiac disease can be hard to manage even at home. Inevitably those of us with Celiac disease end up joining friends or family at restaurants and taking the ultimate chance with our condition, cross contamination. Suffering with a gluten contamination is bad enough at home, but it’s a much bigger problem when traveling abroad. The last thing anyone wants is to be sick for their vacation! Luckily, gluten free foods are relatively easy to find in Puerto Rico. If you are used to eating gluten free already, taking simple precautions can keep you safe and healthy on your visit. Here are 5 tips to help ensure you are enjoying the views of the island and not the bathroom porcelain...
1. ASK QUESTIONS AND COMMUNICATE WELL:
Luckily Puerto Rico is relatively easy for those from the US (since it is part of it), because most natives speak Spanish and English. Asking lots of questions is simple and necessary if you have dietary restrictions. The restaurant owners are usually always present and happy to talk to visitors. People on the island are friendly, helpful and hospitable, so use this to your advantage when you are asking questions. Let the owner know that you have a severe dietary restriction that can cause you to go to the hospital. Literally as soon as an owner hears the word HOSPITAL (pronounced almost the same in Spanish as in English), she will pay close attention to ensuring that you are ok eating at her place. Let her know that it is so severe that ANYTHING that touches your food such as cooking surfaces, hands, pots and pans all must be thoroughly cleaned to keep you from getting sick.
Some people have a hard time efficiently expressing the severity of celiac without going into a medical diatribe. You can also stress the importance of how sensitive you are by saying things like “less than a crumb can make me sick.” If you are traveling with a significant other, you can say “I can get sick even if he kisses me after eating gluten.” Tom uses this a lot when we go out to eat. He always is sure to tell people how just kissing me can make me GO TO THE HOSPITAL (memorize those magic words). Now discussion of medical distress is a bummer. You can lighten your conversation by adding in jokes or small talk. I like to say stuff like “A crumb can kill me but don’t worry, my head is so hard, its bullet proof” or something super goofy like that. Restaurant owners are often more than happy to retrieve their ingredients so that you can read labels and ensure you are safe. Unlike MANY mainland restaurants, the people genuinely don’t want you to get sick. I say that because in the states, many are suspicious of gluten free eaters. We are often mislabeled as trending trust-funders. American restaurant industry workers often don’t take time to understand that Celiacs are ailed by a serious systemic autoimmune disorder that can have deadly complications such as the lady in this episode of House MD. In Puerto Rico, we discovered that several of the places had servers, management and kitchen staff trained for dietary restrictions including Celiacs. Because they are attentive listeners, they have created a service industry culture that is familiar with gluten free foods. However, that being said – always do your own due diligence. A small oversight by the one new guy in the kitchen can be all it takes to contaminate your food.
2. RENT AN AIRBNB – WITH A KITCHEN:
This rule goes for all long term traveling. It is extremely important that you have access to a kitchen as a Celiac and know where your local grocery stores are. You can’t put yourself in a situation of risking getting sick just because you are so hungry that you don’t know what else to do. Even if you are successful twice a day at finding gluten free restaurant options, which takes time and effort – you still have a third meal to account for. Now, two out of three ain’t bad, but the risk of getting sick increases with every chance you take and multiple contaminations in a row will certainly land you IN THE HOSPITAL – sooo…yeah. Remember, it is entirely possible that you go for extended periods of time where all you have near you are empanada restaurants and pizza places. And did I mention the pizza places? Interestingly, there are a large number of pizza places in Puerto Rico – the islanders loves to grab a slice, but don’t count on being able to find a gluten free friendly pizza place as easily as on the mainland. We were not able to find any gluten free crusts at restaurants on out visit. However, you don’t have to be left out of the pizza party if you are with a group because you can find Udis frozen gluten free pizzas at the grocery store (along with other specialty breads and GF products). Just be sure to plan in advance so that you can cook you pizza while everyone is ordering out. They are small enough to fit in a larger sized toaster oven which you will have access to in your AIRBNB or hotel with kitchenette. If for some reason your kitchenette isn’t all that you thought it would be as what happened to us in E9 – Wal-Mart and even the drug store chains like CVS and Walgreens all have table top ovens and single burner stoves for $20-$40.
3. FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE CUISINE BEFORE YOU GO:
For a Celiac, part of travel is education. Lucky for our tech savvy world, we have access to as much information as we need. Before you go anywhere, research the cuisine. There may be nuances to cultural cooking that make a seemingly safe food, unsafe for you. Be sure that you actually look at recipes of common cultural cuisine to determine what the common ingredients and cooking methods are. This really helps you feel confident when asking questions.
Many beloved Puerto Rican dishes are unfortunately not gluten free. These foods include empanadas, alcapurrias, rellenos de papa, pastalles, pastelon, and tostones
All of these dishes, feature breading or pastry as part of the dish. Be aware that MANY restaurants that have these items often FRY GLUTEN FREE FOOD like fried yucca in a SHARED FRIER WITH GLUTEN. This is a major no-no for Celiacs! Several traditional dishes are TYPICALLY gluten free. If you really are a foodie that loves to dine for your cultural excursions, then you are usually safe with one of these dishes. Again, be sure you double check with the restaurant owner to ensure that proper care is taken during preparation and that there are no surprises.
Here are some Puerto Rican dishes that you are likely able to enjoy:
MOFONGO – a green plantain dish served with meat
PERNIL - a roasted pig.
ASOPAO DE POLLO- a Caribbean rice and pigeon pea dish
The Puerto Rican favored spices are also usually gluten free. The most popular brand GOYA of these spices is definitely gluten free:
ADOBO
SAZON CULANTO Y ACHIOTE
ANNATTO
For the sweet tooth, these dishes are gluten free:
FLAN – a creamy custard
ARROZ DE DULCE– a sweet rice pudding
TEMBLEQUE– a Coconut based dessert dish
For cocktails, COQUITO is often gluten free as long as the rum used is gluten free. Rums that are Gluten Free include: Bacardi (except Silver), Brugal, Bundaberg, Captain Morgan, Contessa, Cruzan, Havana Club, Madiera, Malibu, McDowell’s No 1 Celebration, Montilla, Mount Gay, and Myer’s. Sometimes flavored or spiced rums of these brands contain gluten, so be sure that you double check with the company’s website before partaking. Also, the fast food chain Pollo Tropical has a easily accessible nutrition/allergen information and great gluten free . They have them in Miami as well, so I am familiar with their options. I always get the pork Tropichop bowl and they are very good.
4. DOWNLOAD A TRANSLATOR APP:
If you are on the go, like we were in E9, driving the scenic highways you may have to rely on convenience stores and grocery stores for your food. Almost all food labels in Puerto Rico have labeling in English and Spanish since they are part of the United States and food falls under FDA regulations. However, just in case you need to read a label and you aren’t fluent in Spanish, download an app. We like Google Translate! While we were on the go, we were able to find snack type stuff – basically the sort of stuff you would pack in your kid’s lunchbox…meats, cheeses, chips, fruit, juices, and gluten free chips of all types: corn, potato, yucca and plantain.
5. VISIT THE MARKET AND TRY FRESH PRODUCE:
A lot of amazing produce is grown on the island. One way to enjoy the taste of Puerto Rico is to purchase locally grown fruits and veggies. We actually were fortunate enough to find a small bistro with an amazing view in Fajardo whose lovely owner grew all of the fruits and veggies used in her cuisine. She featured an amazing fruit salad with papaya, starfruit, banana, coconut, and other native fruits. The fresh tropical fruits taste a million times better than what we get mainland and should be enjoyed in their purest form! Lucky for us, fresh fruits and veggies are always safe. Fruits are amazing because they don’t require cooking so are easy to enjoy on the go.
6. ALWAYS CARRY SNACKS;
If you plan to venture out and attempt going to a restaurant with friends, its important that you are prepared with snacks JUST IN CASE you have to bounce from one place to the next or are unable to find anything you feel safe about. Be sure that you bring enough for you and your travel buddy, as most buddies aren’t going to eat at a place that you cannot. Since we rented a car, we always had a backpack stuffed with fruits, nuts, and other snacks that we could access anytime we needed. This really brings the pressure to find food in a rush down significantly. Food sought in a rush is more likely to be compromised in safety.
When we visited Puerto Rico (featured in #Renovationship E9 and #Renovationship E10), our menu varied wildly depending on the time and plans for the day. On days that we were on the road, we depended on quick solutions like hard cured meats (pepperoni, gluten free jerky), cheeses, chips, nuts, and juices. We also did our fair share of cooking. We actually had an odd challenge of having to cook on a holiday (Thanksgiving) when most stores were closed! We ended up going for bangers and mash made in a microwave (the first AirBNB in fact did not have the kitchenette we expected). We were able to find an amazing Puerto Rican sausage and plenty of rum and tropical juicy drink mixes to make our occasion festive. After Thanksgiving was over and it was back to business as usual, we did enjoy Mofongo in San Juan and Pernil in Rincon. We also found a wonderful sushi restaurant in Rincon that had an extremely knowledgeable staff. We indeed still had to supplement meals eating out with meals cooked at the AirBNB. We were able to find rotisserie chicken at the grocery store as well as that awesome Udis gluten free pizza I mentioned. Overall, finding gluten free food in Puerto Rico was fairly easy. It’s true that there is a lot of cuisine that Celiacs are unable to try; however, there is still plenty to enjoy. Some people get bummed out when they realize that they cannot eat things like empanadas however, ultimately the best way to enjoy the island is to enjoy the serene views, adventurous outdoor activities, and kindhearted people of Puerto Rico. I hope these tips help you if you are Celiac and trying to travel.
I am not a medical professional and am not giving medical advice. I am just a girl diagnosed with Celiac disease over a decade ago that is trying to stay healthy. I hope that these tips are helpful but please consult a medical profession for any medical questions! Let me know if this helps you out! Be sure to check out out adventures on YouTube.