Because I will go into anaphylaxis if exposed to pine nuts, I stay away from Italian restaurants. My allergy is so sever, that I don’t have to eat the pine nut. My fear is cross-contamination. I’ve worked in the back of the house. I have seen how people handle ingredients.
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Yeah that’s true. I have been also allergic for I don’t even remember how many years. I have been allergic to nuts since I was a kid and also I am suffering from a mild form of lactose intolerance. It has been a really challenging experience, especially when I was a little kid. The first time I got an allergic reaction I was in preschool and it was really scary. I had all those scary symptoms with shortness of breath and itchy skin and I was really scared. My mom when she found out about it she was also very scared and she took me to a pediatrician right away. He sent us to an allergist and he sent us to a private lab to test me for food intolerance and other potential allergens. The results came in fast and I found out what was wrong with me. Of course for a child it was an adjustment but with years I learned to do it and I feel comfortable enough.
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The trip was great. A school friend of mine has a sister who married an Italian and lives in Italy. Raised in CA. She and I worked together on a message to present to restaurants, and then she translated it for me. I printed it on a card and laminated it. I handed it to all the servers before we ordered. They generally took it back to the kitchen to show the chef or manager, and someone often came back to have a little conversation with us. Also, we just ordered smart. We chose foods extremely unlikely to have nuts. Often these were more basic prep (like prosciutto with melon) rather than a more complicated recipe where ingredients are easily hidden. Every gelato shop, we asked for clean scoops. Also, if there was any doubt, my husband and I would nibble at his plate and use our own taste buds before turning it over to our kiddo. No issues at all. But being prepared, ready to deal with the issue head-on, and fairly knowledgeable about the cuisine (due to lots of home cooking and reading), was of course helpful. I.e. I wouldn’t have had the lapse about amaretto…
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Wow, I am not sure, it is the trip to the place I am going for, but the description is great! What travel agent have you worked with? The thing is that after find more info here it is rather complicated to work with the other companies. Not so qualified.
We didn’t work with a travel agent. We got a few guidebooks for Italy, chose some places we wanted to explore, and made our own reservations.
I’m really happy that everything was alright. In each vacation we go my kid gets food poisoning, because he is allergic to dough. Really, he can’t bread, pasta and even donuts.
