Listen to “258. Strategies for Traveling with Dietary Needs in Italy” on Spreaker.
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Do you have specific dietary needs but long to savor the delights of Italian cuisine? Traveling to Italy, a country celebrated for its culinary abundance, can feel challenging when managing food preferences or restrictions. We explore how to navigate Italian dining with ease, offering tips for handling allergies, intolerances, or simply maintaining your dietary choices while indulging in the finest Italian flavors. Get insider advice for stress-free dining, from communicating your requirements and discovering suitable dishes to enjoying a scoop of gelato bliss!
Summary
We welcome back a podcast favorite in this episode – food tour guide, chef and food enthusiast Nesim Bekalti, the mastermind behind Full Belly Tours. Nesim grew up in the Testaccio, the kitchen of Rome, and having lived and worked all over the world as a chef, in recent years he returned to live in his old neighborhood and loves sharing the best of Roman food and drink in his unbeatable Testaccio food tours.
What you’ll learn in this episode
- While Italy offers some of the world’s most celebrated foods, its cultural approach to food and dining doesn’t always accommodate special diets
- Honest conversations – Nesim emphasizes the importance of honesty when communicating dietary preferences at restaurants
- Plan ahead for dietary restrictions – researching what’s available in your destination will save time and stress and learning key phrases can help convey your dietary requirements. A quick phone call or message can save you a lot of trouble
- While more restaurants are offering gluten-free options, they’re often newer establishments catering to tourists, not locals. Tourist-focused restaurants tend to lack authenticity, and their food quality may be mediocre compared to traditional spots
- Embrace simplicity – you’ll find naturally safe dishes – traditional, un-processed grains that are easy to digest. Fruit-based gelato can be a go-to dessert for those with a variety of dietary restrictions
- Some cured meats may contain nuts like pistachio and be aware of the risk of cross-contamination in mixed-use kitchens
- Explore regions whose cuisine suits your dietary needs – for instance, there is less meat and dairy in southern Italy than you will find in the colder north
- It is well worth making friends with whoever is serving you – let them know in advance, honestly, what your restrictions are and it can be worth double-checking when dishes arrive
- Top Tip: buy cards that have key phrases related to your allergy translated into Italian like these
Timeline Overview
- 00:01 Italy traditionally struggles with special dietary needs
- 06:20 Italian cuisine is regionally diverse
- 15:25 Plan ahead, research and reserve for your dietary needs
- 16:41 Heirloom wheat in Europe is easier to digest
- 22:58 Seafood allergies risk in Italian coastal dishes
About our guest – Nesim Bekalti from Full Belly Tours, Rome
Nesim was born in Washington DC to a French-American mother and Tunisian father. At the age of 9 months, his parents went back to Rome, where they’d previously been living for 4 years as conference interpreters for the UN.
He grew up (and currently lives) in Testaccio, the neighborhood that gave birth to traditional Roman cuisine. It is known as the culinary heart of Rome, and it’s where Romans from all around the city come to eat.
After graduating high school he realized his passions in life were cooking and traveling. To him, this meant that if he became a cook it would pay him to travel the world, and he ended up spending over fifteen years working in restaurants around the globe.
He has a degree in Hotel and Tourism Management from New York University and has lived in Brussels, Madrid, Barcelona, Oaxaca, San Francisco, and New York City. He is fluent in French, Spanish, Italian, and English. He also obtained a sommelier certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers while living in California.
His passion for cooking came from being raised in Italy, where absolutely everything revolves around eating. He moved back here 7 years ago where he’s been working ever since as a food tour guide.
Being raised in Italy by multicultural parents makes him both a foreigner and true Roman simultaneously. His background and travel experience allow him to entertainingly bridge the gap between guests and locals, easily explaining their cultural quirks and intricacies to you, and yours to them!
Ultimately, his passion lies in taking care of people (especially in relation to food), and ensuring their experiences are truly memorable and lots of fun!
Follow Nesim here
Italian places, foods and concepts mentioned
Food / Drink
- pesto alla genovese – traditional recipe includes pine nuts
- caponata – pinenuts and/or almonds
- brutti ma buoni – hazelnut cookies
- torta della nonna – often containing a nut-based crust or filling
Words / Concepts
- senza glutine – gluten-free products. Widely available in pharmacies (and increasingly in some supermarkets)
- “Salve, sono allergico/a a…” – “Hi, I’m allergic to…”
- “Salve, sono severamente allergico/a a…“ – “Hi, I’m severely allergic to…”
- “Ci sono piatti che devo evitare?“ – “are there dishes I should avoid?”
- “Questo piatto contiene…” – “Does this dish contain…?”
- AIC – the Associazione Italiana Celiachia
- Associazione AILI – the Italian association for allergies and intolerances
- Mangia: How to Eat Your Way Through Italy, – book by author and Untold Italy podcast guest Maria Pasquale
Related content on Untold Italy
Podcasts
- Ep 248 – Mangia! How to Eat Your Way Through Italy with Maria Pasquale
- Ep 231 – Roman Pizza – What to try and where to taste
- Ep 211 – Eating Out In Italy – Etiquette Tips and More
- Ep 181 – A tale of Roman pastas part 1, and part 2
- Ep169 – How to find authentic restaurants in Rome
Articles
- 40 Delicious Italian food facts
- Rome Travel Guide
- Best Place to Stay in Rome: Districts and Neighborhood Guide
- 3 day Rome itinerary
- 5-day Rome itinerary
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