West coast of France

[kickingfrog]

Re: HOLIDAY IN... FRANCE
Posted by Gillm on 25/5/2015
GF board

We have been to the west coast of France every year for the last 4 years. In areas with more British tourists, e.g. around Royan, it was easy to get gf options in restaurants, and staff knew what you meant, but I would not rely on it in other areas.
My son had steak and chips in most places as he doesnt like omelette. He also had steak hache, i.e. burger, in some places. On the west coast there are lots of pancake places who do galettes with buckwheat flour, but many cannot guarantee there is no gluten, i.e. wheat flour added.
It is worth researching the local places on the Dr sschar website, or glutenfreeontheroad. If there is a bio monde (organic retailer) locally they may have gf, but not consistent so not worth making a long detour to find one as it may have nothing when you get there.
Supermarkets are random in the amount of gf products they stock. E.g. Monoprix in the heart of La Rochelle had a huge selection of gf bread, but a massive hypermarket near les Sables d'Olonne had next to nothing. Most have a few gf biscuits.
The saucisse (ordinary sausages) and saucisson (dried sausages) all gf, my son munched saucisson as a snack.
For sandwiches on the go we took own bread and stocked up when we could find some in the shops, tins of tuna, fruit and lots and lots of ice cream.
For meals I did lots of sausages, mince, tinned beans in tomato sauce for flavour, (all the tinned cassoulet had wheat), mince, chilli etc etc. If your family like fish (mine dont) moules frites are cheap option In most places.

European labelling laws apply, so all processed foods well labelled, however, you need to know the french vocab!

There is a useful pdf you can download from this page:

www.afdiag.fr/campagnes-dinformation/cuisiner-sans-gluten-en-collectivite/

which lists types of foods in French, and whether they are gluten free, a very useful source of vocabulary.

[kickingfrog]

Posted by Karen on 24/5/2015

The good news is that food is usually prepared from scratch and has few additives. The bad news is that the french toss a lot of flour about in there kitchens e.g. on steaks before cooking, in sauces, etc. If you are very sensitive then food from a French restaurant. If your aren't overly sensitive then take a restaurant card in french and you should find something tasty to eat that is GF.

The fries are usually OK (but as always do check).
The steak hache is good and often on the menu. (Essentially a beef burger without the bun but always much tastier than here). Omelettes are good.
Salad nicoise is usually good.
Creme brulee and chocolate mousse are good and also often available. As always double check - never assume!
Crepe sarrasin or crepe bretagne is pancake made with buckwheat flour. It's for savoury pancakes but you can usually persuade chefs to use the buckwheat batter for sweet pancakes too. Check that they aren't adding a little wheat flour to the buckwheat flour though.

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Posted by Pam, Dorset on 25/5/2015

Though I agree with most of what Karen has written I have never found flour added to things like steak and the French seem to use it less in sauces than we do here. Also a French butcher I quizzed about his sausages was absolutely horrified that anyone would add bread to them. But as always, do check and if you don't speak French use the translation cards. You will eat really well I promise. Even patisseries often have macarons or Florentines that do not contain gluten and huge meringues, which make up for the gorgeous things that we can't eat.



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Posted by Issi (Gluten Free in London) on 24/5/2015

I'm not sure about eating out, but when I went to France last year there was a decent range of gf foods in the large carrefours, and in Nice in particular, some essentials sold in smaller Monoprix. Also look out for 'bio' health food stores which often sell gf.

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