A happy traveler outside Sagrada Familia
We disembarked the Crown Princess in Barcelona where we stayed for a few days before joining the bike tour in the Costa Brava region. Barcelona is a fabulous food city, even if one is a celiac who mainly eats a pescatarian-plant based diet.
One of our first food stops was the Mercado de Santa Caterina where the restaurant Cuines Santa Caterina is located. Even though Barcelona offers all kinds of yummy options, we were looking for some basic, satisfying food. With that in mind, we ordered a wonderful salad and a rich, fresh, savory lentil soup which we washed down with several glasses of Spanish wine.
Ah, savory Spanish lentil soup.
As we strolled around the elegant, artistic Barcelona, admiring the architecture, we stumbled upon Flax & Kale, a flexitarian restaurant. I instantly felt happy and relieved that we’d easily found our next food stop. At Flax & Kale, 80% of the items are plant based while the other 20% are recipes made with oily fish. All dishes are gluten-free so I had no worries about limited options or cross contamination.
We ordered a margarita pizza covered with a pretty good vegan cheese and a salad. Bliss.
We ate there twice — pizza both times. I left Barcelona happy but frustrated that crusty, delicious gluten-free bread and authentic-tasting pizza crusts are mostly elusive in the states.
Gluten-free Margarita pizza with vegan cheese. Looks good, doesn’t?
After Barcelona, we headed north by express train to the charming, old city of Girona, the beginning point for our bike tour. Since our guides knew about my food restrictions and could interpret for me, I mostly relaxed my worry about food while on the bike tour.
Catalonians eat rice, lots of rice. At first I called their rice dish paella, but was quickly corrected and told in the Girona region, they eat rice. This delicious rice can be made with seafood, vegetables, or meat.
Vegetarian rice
Two nights the group stayed at the Castell d’Empordà, a charming hotel crafted from the ruins of a castle. One evening before dinner at the castle, we sat outside in perfect weather, sipping cava and sharing crudités served with a dreamy Romesco sauce for dipping. This was my first ever encounter with Romesco and I was smitten at the first bite. Back at home I’ve learned to make this tomatoey-nutty concoction.
Luscious romesco sauce with veggies.
On the tour, we often ate dinner as a group but some evenings we were on our own. That evening at Castell d’ Empordà, we enjoyed dinner in the Drac restaurant. I ordered white fish with polenta that was smothered in fresh peas and a creamy dairy-free sauce served with hot gluten-free crusty bread. I love Spain
White fish smothered in creamy peas with polenta. Yum.
After the bike tour, we flew from Barcelona to Lisbon. At that point, we were tired after four weeks of traveling and decided we needed a slower pace. One afternoon, we ate simple tomatoes and gluten free bread in our hotel as we checked emails, plotted possible activities, regrouped and then went to bed early.
The next day, feeling somewhat refreshed, we took the subway toward the port where we searched for the gluten-free friendly seafood restaurant Cais ao Mar.
The restaurant, located on the busy Rua Bernardino da Costa in the heart of tourist activity, draws a steady flow of international customers. Armed with a trusty Portuguese celiac card, I easily navigated the menu with the additional assistance of staff who spoke pretty good English. I asked the server to recommend something and I ended up with the beautifully grilled giant tiger prawn. It was delicious.
A giant perfectly grilled tiger prawn
From Lisbon, we traveled by train to Porto, a wine region in Portugal. At this point in our travels, our interest in food was waning, although occasionally we chatted about food we missed from home. The highlight of our three day stay was a day tour of the Douro Valley wine region. Food may have lost its appeal, but happily wine had not. Our lunch at a winery came with a stunning view and lots of delicious red wine and port.
The impressive Douro Valley, Portugal
Overall, on our five week trip I managed to eat a veganish-pescatarian diet about 95% of the time and the necessary gluten-free all the time. Almost everywhere we visited in Spain and Portugal, I found gluten-free bread but not the mostly tasteless, dry type available at home. Bread in these countries is considered part of a good life and gluten-free bread there reflects that philosophy. I wish that were true in the states.
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