I was a vegetarian for about six years, but knew when I moved to Hungary I would integrate meat back into my diet. Meat is a big part of Hungarian cuisine and I did not want to offend people or miss out by not experiencing what is typically a big part of a country's culture. So after one brilliant year of eating anything and everything that was handed to me (regardless of whether I knew what was in it or not), my dreams of being an adventurous eater were crushed. This past October I was diagnosed with Celiac disease, which for those of you who are unfamiliar, is an autoimmune disease of the small intestine that reacts when gluten is consumed. There is no cure, so the only solution is to live a completely gluten-free diet. What I thought would be the hardest part - resisting my favorite foods like bread, pasta, pastries, etc.- has actually proven to be the easiest part. It is obvious that there are gluten in those items, so I've just gotten used to doing without, or I get creative with my cooking and find new ways to make my old favorites. What's most difficult is trying to determine what foods contain gluten and what foods do not...all while in a country where you speak little to none of the language. Foods you would never suspect to contain gluten often will, due to additives, how they are manufactured, or how they are cooked.
Eating gluten-free in Hungary is not too challenging since I can make all of my own food at home and have learned all of the Hungarian words for ingredients that I cannot consume. I just make sure to read the packaging on anything I hope to buy. There are also some specialty stores that carry lots of gluten-free products and flours, although the prices are quite high. Things are drastically different when on the road traveling though. I am incredibly tempted by all of the new and tantalizing food that I know I can never eat because it either contains gluten or I have no way to know for sure that it doesn't contain gluten. I never realized how much emphasis and excitement Bill and I put on trying all the local foods when we traveled until I could no longer take part in that. Even the simplest of things like that quick roll I used to grab in between museums as a cheap way to curb my hunger is no longer an option. I find myself being constantly hungry while traveling because of there being a lack of food that I can safely eat. There are only so many carrots, apples, and snickers I can eat before I go a little crazy hoping to finally have a full meal that can actually fill me up.
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| Surprisingly this actually makes sense to me |
I encourage Bill to try everything we normally would so he can at least tell me what it tastes like (and of course enjoy it himself). There is no use for both of us to miss out. I have gotten quite good at using my sense of smell and touch to try and imagine what something I cannot eat must taste like (and luckily Bill lets me mutilate his food in order to have this experience). It is sad to think that I will never get to taste many of the traditional cuisines of the world, and will never again get to eat some of my favorite foods that I have eaten to date.
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| No more delicious street food :( |
It's important for me though to focus on the fact that I am trading in all of these gluten-filled foods in exchange for a healthier existence, including a near extinction of my almost daily headaches. The support I have gotten from friends and loved ones has helped me a lot. Bill has embraced my quest to find the perfect gluten-free pizza dough (we're at four recipes and counting); my colleagues are always quick to 'protect' me when 'unknown' foods come my way; and friends visiting from the U.S. are kind enough to throw a couple of suspicious looking bags of gluten-free all-purpose flour in their suitcase for me (and we all know how quickly those free 50 pounds can fill up). This new lifestyle has definitely added a challenge to traveling and living abroad, but not an insurmountable challenge. I unfortunately have become the dietary pain in the ass that I so diligently tried to avoid being when I brought meat back into my diet. For those of you out there who have no dietary restrictions, the next time you are traveling and contemplating whether or not you should try that food being sold on the street corner or choosing that mysterious menu item that makes no sense because you don't speak the language, just do it, because there are those of us who have no choice, so please eat and be adventurous for me.
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| Home-made gluten free pizza |
