Prague on a wheat-free diet

Discussion in 'Food & Drink' started by rebelbrethren, Apr 2, 2004.

  1. rebelbrethren

    rebelbrethren New Member

    Hi all.

    This is my first post on MyCzechRepublic... I'm travelling to Prague/Praha in June, and i'm nervous about being able to identify foods I can eat. Unluckily for me, I am wheat intolerant - and if i eat foods containing wheat, it will make me too ill to enjoy the remainder of my holiday there.

    I was hoping some people from the boards could recommednd some restaurants or menu choices that would be wheat-free - and, yes, unfortunately for me, that means the traditional dumplings are out :(

    Also if anyone could teach me how to say "does this <menu item> contain wheat?" in Czech, I would be forever in your debt.

    Thanks in advance everyone!

    dave // rebelbrethren
     
  2. racoon

    racoon Active Member

    Don't go there, there is no such a food.
    I'm really sorry
     
  3. Dana

    Dana Well-Known Member

    Hi Dave,

    Welcome to the boards!

    If you're alergic to gluten in general, here's what you can say:

    "Mám alergii na lepek a nemohu jíst jídla, která obsahují mouku a obiloviny (pšenici, žito, ječmen, oves). Máte nějaká vhodná jídla, nebo můžete mi jídlo upravit tak, aby obiloviny neobsahovalo (např. připravit omáčku bez zahuštění, neobalovat maso v mouce a strouhance)?"

    It means: I'm alergic to gluten and cannot eat foods that contain flour and grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats). Do you have any meals or can you prepare a meal for me that does not contain grains (e.g. make my sauce without flour, make my meat without breading)?

    Lepek means gluten in Czech, bezlepková dieta - gluten-free diet. You can write the above sentences down and show them to the waiter.

    You know better than me what foods you need to avoid, but here are some Czech terms that might be relevant to you:

    bread - chléb
    roll(s) - rohlík(y), houska (housky)
    pastries, baked goods - pečivo
    flour - mouka
    dessert - moučník
    dumpling(s) - knedlík(y)
    beer - pivo
    sauce - omáčka
    soup - polévka
    breading - strouhanka (literally "breadcrumbs")


    Eating in Restaurants

    In a restaurant, you can easily have these things:

    grilované maso - grilled meat
    ryba/ryby - fish
    pstruh - trout
    rýže - rice
    brambory - potatoes
    zelenina - vegetables
    zeleninová obloha - vegetables on the side
    (raw or pickled vegetables are often automatically served as an accompaniment).

    Examples of foods to avoid or be careful about:

    Be careful about sauces such as svíčková (vegetable sauce served with dumplings and pork), rajská (special tomato sauce served with dumplings and beef) - they often contain flour as a thickener. You'll be safer if you avoid "omáčky" (sauces) - they're often served with dumplings anyway.

    The same goes for thick soups, such as bramboračka (potato soup), zelňačka (sauerkraut soup), gulášová (goulash soup) and even kuřecí polévka s nudlemi (chicken noodle soup - the noodles contain flour).

    You may want to avoid anything that's breaded and fried since the breading may contain flour. You may see the word "obalený" and its variations on the menu, which may mean "breaded". Some examples of breaded foods are:

    smažený řízek - Wiener schnitzel
    smažený sýr - fried cheese
    smažené žampiony - fried mushrooms

    You can ask to have your meat/fish prepared without the breading: "Mám alergii na mouku, připravte mi prosím maso/rybu bez obalení" (I'm alergic to flour, please prepare my meat/fish without the breading).


    Shopping for Food

    Regarding stores, I have a feeling that if you ask someone in a standard Czech grocery store if they have wheat/gluten-free foods, you're not going to be very lucky. The Czech Republic is not at the stage where different kinds of foods would be readily available for a variety of diets. Most of the time, you don't even find a label on an item telling you the calorie/fat/salt/sugar content. But the good news is, it's getting better! Here is a short list of Prague stores that sell gluten-free and other healthy foods:

    In the center:
    Country Life - vegetarian & health food store with two central locations (Melantrichova 15 and Jungmannova 1, Prague 1), http://www.countrylife.cz
    Evavita zdravá výživa - Opletalova 13, Prague 1
    TESCO - Národní 63/26, Prague 1
    LS-Zetis, Husitská 35, Prague 3 - Žižkov

    Outside of the center:
    Zdravíčko - Sokolovská 58, Prague 8 - Karlín
    Zdravá výživa - Albert shopping center, Plukovníka Mráze 1182, Prague 10 - Hostivař


    Useful Links

    You may want to take a look at these pages:

    http://bezlepku.kvalitne.cz - only in Czech, but it shows the logo that appears on gluten-free foods in the Czech Republic

    http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2003/spse ... psect1.php - a Prague Post article in English about the growing health-food market in the Czech Republic, along with a mention about a wheat-free diet shop called Toulcův dvur in Prague 10-Hostivař (outskirts).

    http://www.coeliac.cz (has an English language version) - look through the site for general advice as well as a list of Prague stores and restaurants offering GF foods

    http://www.coeliac.info/suppboard/viewtopic.php?t=595 - a message board post on coeliac.info that contains a lot of useful information about spending a GF vacation in Prague


    I hope you find enough options and are able to enjoy your time in Prague!

    Good luck,

    Dana
     
  4. racoon

    racoon Active Member

    Dana's answer is just perfect, as ussualy, and I apologize for my "very funny" comment.
     
  5. rebelbrethren

    rebelbrethren New Member

    Hi Dana, Racoon.

    Dana: Thank you so much for the warm welcome and huge wealth of advice! I honestly only posted here on the off-chance someone would chip in with a phrase or two, but it think you have covered about everything I could need! :eek:

    I'm learning a little czech, but I doubt I'll manage all that! Instead, I'll take your advice and print off that text to take with me. By the time I arrive there, I do hope to have at least mastered the basics of "hello", "thank you", and "do you speak english" tho :)

    Racoon: Don't worry, no offence taken. Its a difficult way to have to live, and most peoples first reaction to it is similar to yours - "how do you cope?" Well, its not as bad as it seems (once you get used to it - i hated it at first!), the problematic bit is just when you want to travel anywhere abroad... <sigh> :?

    One more question though - if its not to much to ask everyone - The hotel we are staying at serves breakfast... so what does that normally involve in Prague? Anything i need to watch out for? The hotel's owned by a couple of Swedes, which may make a difference anyway...

    Again, thank you so much for all your help!

    dave // rebelbrethren
     
  6. supershalin80

    supershalin80 Member

    It depends on the hotel. If they cater to foreigners (which they probably do) then they probably serve a variety of food including rolls served with meat, cheese or jam. It might be possible to get eggs, yogurt, and maybe cereal but you can never be sure what your going to get unless you ask. That would be your safest option.
     

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