Gluten Free Denmark

At the moment I am in Copenhagen, Denmark. Every time I travel I get nervous about what I am going to eat and the possibility of getting sick in front of strangers. This happened once on the streets of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and I will never forget the humiliation. But as I write this drinking my Somersby Pear Cider, I am very content and have no fears about my month stay in Copenhagen. 

My first reassuring moment was the plane ride over. I flew Scandinavian Air and they were wonderful with accommodating for my diet. When we made the plane reservation we requested a gluten free meal. I didn't have high hopes. The last time I flew to Denmark we flew Icelandic Air, for the flight there we had forgotten to request a gluten free meal, so I brought some extra snacks and went without the meal. For the flight back to the states I did have a gluten free meal, but the dinner consisted of a plain piece of chicken and a small salad. The breakfast was a rice cake with my coffee and juice. But on Scandinavian Air the chicken had a delicious sauce to accompany it with asparagus and a salad, pudding for dessert, and they even gave me a gluten free roll! For breakfast I received a rice cake again but this time with butter and jam and a yogurt. I was very impressed.

Living in Copenhagen is pretty easy too. The grocery store right down the street carries a lot of gluten free options. The main gluten free brands in Denmark are Schar and Barkat. Schar makes delicious breads and they have a lot of mixes for baking. Right now we have a loaf of bread and baking flour from Schar and muffin mix and pretzels from Barkat. 

While brainstorming about meal options for me my sister in law found the website for Schar products which also has a lot of extra information, it gives a few ideas about how to use their products - making croissants with the bread mix or cake using their "lady fingers". It also has a link to an "adult summer camp" for celiacs in Europe. What I have gathered is it is a little like a summer vacation, but with gluten free food galore, and you are surrounded by other celiacs! I wish I was going to be in Europe for a little longer because I would definitely take a side trip to check it out. Hopefully next year! 

I just gave the Schar website another look and I absolutely love it, it is chock full of information! So please check it out! http://www.schaer.com/en/ 

It is really reassuring how aware most people have become of celiac disease, traveling a couple years ago it was much more difficult to find gluten free options, so much so that I hated to go anywhere. Now, my options are almost limitless!