Lost in translation – I have been wracking my brains for something for this months travel link up with Kelly, Rebecca, Emma and Sam and I just couldn’t think of anything. Normally if I am out of the UK I am either with colleagues that take the lead or worse still the locals guess I’m English before I even get the chance to stutter out some rusty French! The only time I can remember getting it really wrong was on a drive across Europe – going through passport control on the border somewhere along the French border I was completely thrown by what the language might be!! But I had a good go at greeting the customs officers in French, German and Italian! We got through – so I must have said something in the correct language!
When in Paris…. One must eat crepes?
And then I remembered that what is most frustrating to me when travelling is when food allergy needs are lost in translation – as then I end up feeling rotten and grumpy! An allergy to dairy is quite an easy one to manage from home, but dining out or eating pre-prepared food, it sneaks in everywhere! In fact – we have just had a weekend in Paris and I chose to take lactase tablets before meals. Much as I don’t like the idea of taking something to help me digest the dairy, and certainly wouldn’t do it more than once in a blue moon, it did make life much easier (and I have to say I enjoyed the crepes and croissants immensely!).
Friendly bread in Abu Dhabi
We have had some funny experiences over the past few years – but the most amusing relate to bread! Lots of bread has milk powder in it to make it fluffy (I didn’t know that until a few years ago either) so it can catch a kitchen out if they don’t realise. Twice on our trip to UAE we had more bread on the table than we knew what to do with if we wanted to save space for our food! At Suhail at Qasr al Sarab the food was incredible, but what was hilarious was the frequency with which the waiting staff kept appearing with some more bread they had just ‘found’ that I could eat. It was exactly the same at Ushna in Abu Dhabi where bread kept arriving throughout the meal! Fortunately at neither of these was bread whipped away from the table from us – which has happened before!
Anyhow, with all my allergy musings, I go back to the basics – if McDonalds can get an order correct then there really is hope that allergy woes won’t be lost in translation forever! I’ve yet to see a difference from the new ‘allergy law’ but time will tell I’m sure!
The cheese is sadly the best bit though!
I wrote before about the challenges of traveling with a food allergy, but a revisit was needed because of the amount of anecdotes I come across! Here’s just a few that with hindsight make me chuckle, especially because it is easy to cook without dairy!
- A room-service supper as I wasn’t feeling very well, there wasn’t anything on the menu that I could say with certainty would be dairy free, so I decided that surely they must have sausages – so we ordered the fish, chips and peas but asked for sausages instead of fish, stating the reason for good measure. When the meal arrived, the sausages came deep-fried and we had to peel the batter off them! Lesson learnt – clearly as well as saying ‘dairy free’ we should have said that the sausages shouldn’t come with batter like a fish would!
- A working lunch in Winchester – we pre-ordered sandwiches and my dairy free requirement was noted. Now, I don’t know if the restaurant though that beef is ‘dairy’, and chicken and goodness knows what else from the sandwich selection wasn’t… but for some reason I got lettuce sandwiches! Neither tasty or filling!
Bat and Ball view – pub lunching on the South Downs
- Lunch in the New Forest or South Downs (I can’t remember which) – I ordered the cheese burger option because I was able to select goats cheese having explained the allergy – success! Fortunately I looked inside the burger before my first bite. There sat a nice slice of cheddar stuck to the top of the bun with relish – clearly the buns were pre-made, so they hadn’t taken the cheddar out! Mr P had two tops to his bun and I had to bottoms, so he got double cheese!
- A client supper at Quince in Mayfair. When I told them about the allergy the first response from the waiter was to inform me that they couldn’t guarantee anything… Digging deeper I worked out what he meant was that there might be traces given the kitchen served dairy – which is of course to be expected, but his initial response left me thinking chef would just ignore my polite request! For starter I ordered the scallops – after I had eaten one the plate was swept away from me because of a kitchen error and swiftly replaced! For my main course I ordered the steak and asked to have whichever sauce didn’t have butter or cream in it, I thought the easiest way was to leave them to do whatever was easiest! As it happened, easiest was to give me a dry steak! Ketchup came on request! Classy!
- British Airways are very mixed which is frustrating as when the get it right they do it so well. But on 2 recent long haul flights my special meal breakfasts weren’t ideal. One – clearly labelled ‘no dairy’ – came with a yoghurt which was clearly produced with cows milk. Another came with apple puree rather than the fruit platter, whether they gave me the baby meal by accident?
- While I’m talking about planes, American Airlines don’t offer dairy free as a menu choice in business class. In fact their isn’t even vegan which I would use as a second choice for peace of mind. But I did get good advice from AA on twitter…
And of course there are some shining lights where nothing is lost in translation. I should be clear – I don’t ever expect to be able to eat everything is on the menu and normally feel incredibly fussy asking if chef can confirm a dish will be ok for me. Thankfully my allergy isn’t one that can do me major harm if an error is made, but notwithstanding a lot of trust is put in the hands of the waiting staff and kitchen to remember a request. So when a restaurant goes out of its way to serve, well it is incredibly good customer care:
The Black Rat – we visited just a few weeks ago and their attention to detail and their ability to alter a dish is outstanding (as was the finished product).
The Chewton Glen – smooth service with staff either offering a different option immediately or confirming immediately if a dish would need to be altered or not
The Kinsterna – incredible attention to detail and real care from the kitchen about the food they are serving. One night the chef made his favourite dish for me as he thought it was better than anything I could have off the menu!
I can understand that this must be a difficult situation. I have enough trouble ordering and I have no allergies and nor am I fussy eater. i remember in Paris just pointing at something on the menu. It came out and I tasted it and it was wonderful. But ..it looked a bit different so I got my translator on my phone out and found out it was a blood tart. Yes, I am a hypocrite but I couldn’t do it. So, for you it must be so hard and you’re not even a hypocrite like me.
Author
Oh my goodness – blood tart… I’m not sure I could have eaten it knowing… But that’s the same as haggis I suppose? I used to be fussy – but now not so, if I want something then generally me or Mr P have to make it at home!
I do feel for you travelling with food allergies – and just having them at all, obviously. It must make life a lot more difficult and certainly means you have to think everything through. Glad to hear that plenty of restaurants are starting to take this seriously, but it must be next-to impossible with street food I guess? The tip about the phone translation is a good one; I’ve read how advanced these are becoming so you should be able to at least communicate the issue in the future. Are there any apps for allergy-sufferers or databases with allergy-friendly places to eat?
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We normally ask a native-speaker for the lingo before we go! I think there is a lot online for gluten as it is more common and problematic, dairy needs to catchup! Especially given it should be so easy!
Wow! You’ve had some bad luck with ordering food. The lettuce sandwich sounds the worst!
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Yes – I was certainly hungry after that clanger…
That doesn’t strike me as great PR on the part of American Airlines. I don’t know anything about running an airline, but how much would it take for them to have some gluten or dairy free options on the menu for customers paying a few grand per ticket… as you quite rightly say, should you have to bring your own food on board when paying a good whack for business class?
Author
No – I agree and I don’t understand how they cannot see that. Of course – taking own food has its issues as you it isn’t possible to put it in a fridge on the plane as it may contaminate the other food… What’s better, warm chicken sandwiches or dairy!!
I have both coeliac disease and a nut allergy so eating out while travelling can be a challenge. I do masses of research before I travel and usually have options on where might be safe to eat. However, flying is difficult. Although most airlines (including American Airlines) offer a gluten free special meal they cannot offer both gluten and nut free meals. Nor can they offer gluten and dairy free meals or any other combination e.g., gluten free vegetarian meal.
I’m really saddened by the reply from AA you received on Twitter. What terrible customer service. And the fact they do not offer dairy free meals. That’s a big surprise. I guess it’s worth making sure you’re on a BA code share if you need to fly AA again as they can offer dairy free.
Author
You will know what is most frustrating is how ‘almost there’ many dishes are, airlines will not consider how a small amendment could help customer satisfaction! And allergies are only getting more common. This was actually a BA flight on an AA plane, but unfortunately the BA service and offering doesn’t carry across (the seats were better though!)
I definitely feel your frustration – especially the lettuce sandwich. Just what? ?
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I know – the ingenuity of the chef, outstanding!
Have you heard of SelectWisely.com? They do allergy cards in many languages. Doesn’t look like they have dairy but they do special orders.
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thank you for the tip – I will have a look now!
Wow, what terrible customer service from AA!!! All you want when you’re on a long haul flight that you’ve forked out a big wad for is not to have to worry about the essentials. Ie. sleep and food!
I’ve just nominated you for a Liebster award because I love your blog. Check out my post here!
Polly xx
Author
Thanks Polly – weekend reading, mutually appreciation for sure, really enjoy yours too!
I feel your frustration. Especially with American Airlines-talk about a big FAIL with customer service. I travelled to Turkey with a family that had a severe nut allergy. The mom had the words translated before she left and showed it every time we went out to eat, but I was terrified someone would slip up. I have the diet restriction of not eating meat. It’s amazing how many people will say-“So chicken is ok” !!?? Like you said-Lost in Translation….
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It is so frustrating isn’t it – but scary with a nut allergy. So much trust is passed across to the caterer whereas at home we do it all ourselves!
You should never feel fussy checking for allergens in a restaurant!
The restaurant recommendations are great, will keep them in mind when eating out with friends who have allergies.
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Good point well made – thankyou! Fair point, and one that is often easy to forget as so many serveries make it such a drama!
I love that tweet from AA – seriously how rubbish are they!! Your response is priceless xx
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I didn’t really get any traction… annoying as it is One World
It’s great to visit your blog. It really gives me some insight into this subject.