Being a Coeliac in Holland
I travel to Holland quite a bit and to Den Haag in particular. In fact, I’ve just come back from a few days in the Dutch capital.
So how do I manage as a coeliac in Holland?
On last Friday, I went for lunch in a cafe in Amsterdam called Puccini. It’s in the Staalstraat fairly close to the Amstel River and the Town Hall and the new Music Theatre. Most of the food was the usual bread offering, but they gave me a delicious salmon salad with no problems. Just remember that gluten-free is gluten-frij or gluten-fry! At least if they know about gluten, you will get food without a problem.
I would say that the level of knowledge in restaurants and cafes in major cities is about the same as in London or Cambridge.
But the biggest help is Albert Heijn. This is the Dutch equivalent of Waitrose or an upmarket Tesco Metro. You don’t have to know your Dutch, as every one of their own label products is labeled with the gluten-free symbol, if that what it is. If you’re still not sure, you can usually check the ingredients, even if they are in Dutch, as food names seem to be similar, even if the spelling is unpronounceable.
The Anonymous Widower 
Hello Anonymous Widower! I’ve just come across this blog and it’s great to see what you’re blogging about. I work for an organisation called LeaveItOut.co.uk, and online eating out guide for people with food allergies and intolerances. It’d be interesting to know what you think of what we’re doing and the website. We’re asking users to review restaurants, and tell us new places to list, but only those in the UK at the moment! It looks like you live in or near Cambridge? I went to university there, just moved to London, and looking forward to visiting Cambridge again in the New Year. Kate
Comment by katesiddiqui | December 14, 2009 |
Thank you – will be handy when we travel to The Netherlands, which we do each year!
Comment by Viv | December 14, 2009 |
If you ever need a B&B in Den Haag, I know of a couple of nice ones. There is also a good health food shop in Den Haag, that has lots of gluten-free stuff, including all of the Dr. Schar range.
Comment by AnonW | December 14, 2009 |
Intersting as I hoe to lure my wife to Amsterdam for an anniversary treat and she is coeliac. gluten-frij incidentally is the Dutch spelling and gluten-fry is the Afrikaans. You can also say Is dit met geen bloem nie? (‘Is dit Met cane blom knee’) meaning is it without flour?
Comment by Quentin | September 10, 2010 |