My husband and I are taking our first trip to Italy in April and one thing is making me extremely nervous. I am a lacto - ovo vegetarian (only consume milk, cheeses and plant based foods). I was raised vegetarian and have never eaten meat of any kind (red meat, chicken or fish). The few times that something has been accidently added to my meal, even something as simple as a chicken broth base I get deathly ill for several days.
I would hate to ruin our first trip by getting sick but would hate to not experience some of the wonderful food that Italy has to offer. Condemning my self to bread and pasta with butter doesn't do justice to this amazing country.
Does anyone have any suggestions of meals that they know are veg friendly or even restaurants that may be. We will be traveling to Venice, Florence, Ascoli Piceno, Sorrento and Rome.
Also in Rome we will be staying in an apartment so if anyone knows of any natural or health food stores around the Navona area I would be extremely grateful!
Thank you all in advance!This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,
I am not of the vegetarian persuasion but, for a beginning, I did a search, using the Find button above and the key words "vegetarian food", and I found quite a few previous discussions on this topic.
And some more here; follow the links starting with the words Slow Travel.
Click on the links above and consider this a start till our more knowledgeable members reply.
Welcome to Slowtrav/Slowtalk. I am also a lacto-ovo vegetarian (and have been for about 40 years) and I have not had problems in Italy.
Now, I should mention that sometimes I've had to be pretty firm about my needs (as in the occasional waiter who thinks "it's only a little bacon ..."), but for the most part it's been a non-event for me in Italy. China was another story altogether, but Italy, even southern Italy, has not been an issue.
I completely sympathize with the illness effects; non-vegetarians don't understand that our bodies no longer produce the enzymes necessary to break down animal fats, so ingesting them does lead to some really ugly consequences, beyond our individual consciousness. I have learned how to ask, in multiple languages, about the preparation of foods (any broth, for example ... many sauces, risottos, etc. rely on chicken broth, as do an awful lot of soups).
Even with my limited Italian, once I've asked my questions, folks seem to "get it", and I've eaten well without negative consequences.
ellen
Posts: 4393 | Location: mahwah, new jersey, usa | Registered: 10 December 2003
Paoli - Doru pointed you in a great direction. I would suggest, too, that you look at this thread; it has a link to more information on natural foods, and a link to a site where you can order bilingual laminated cards describing your food preferences.
TourMama
Posts: 9355 | Location: Berkeley, CA | Registered: 22 March 2005
When you are in Venice check out La Zucca. They started out as a vegetarian restaurant though now they also serve meat. They have lots of veggie options.
Another great pasta to try besides tomato sauce is aglio, olio & peperoncino - oil, garlic and dried pepper. It's so good! Pizza, of course, is another great option and I could personally live on it and wine, if I had to.
I am also vegetarian and always find yummy things to eat in Italy. Grilled vegetables is great for a first course then a pasta or pizza and maybe a salad. Often, menus are posted outside the restaurant so you can see what is on offer. The only tricky thing is with soups, that is when chicken or beef stock might be used. However, since you are traveling in April you may not having soup but you can have delicious artichokes which will be season and they are wonderful in Rome! A must try. I agree with Shannon about La Zucca, delicious and creative food. One time when I ordered a chickpea dish (which I thought might have meat)and I asked the waiter "Carne?" meat? He said no but when it came to the table it obviously had meat. It was an honest mistake on the waiter's,I don't think he knew how it was prepared. There was no problem returning the dish for something else. I think you will enjoy the freshness and variety of the food.
Posts: 111 | Location: Watertown, MA | Registered: 01 January 2008
Contrary to what most people think, there are plenty of things to eat in Italy that does not contain or involve meat. Every restaurant has some options, so don't worry: you'll be fine. As others said, avoid risotti and soups, as they are cooked with broth. Sometimes, however, people use vegetable broth, so just ask. Have fun!
You all have been so helpful and have greatly eased my fears!
Ellen- You explained it perfectly! Luckily I have no problem being firm but also don't want to be the rude American. I have learned to stay away from most soups unless I've seen them made
Shannon - I will have to check out La Zucca, it sounds wonderful and the pizza and wine suggestion is divine!
Pauline who started Slow Travel is vegetarian. She often recommends Happy Cow website. My husband does not eat meat/poultry but he does eat fish. We found it pretty easy to find options both in pasta but also with the vegetable options as sides (Cortorno). It was fine to order several as a meal. Also nice dishes with gorgonzola or polenta especially as you travel farther north.
I am not a vegetarian, although I do not eat beef, lamb, pork. Because I often have found menus with just beef, lamb, or pork as meat options, I will eat vegetarian. As many others have mentioned, there are always at least a few pasta and pizza choices at most restaurants as well as vegetable dishes and lots of cheeses and fruits.
You may come across a place that does not have a listed menu (just dishes of the day). It will be important to let the waiter know every type of food you do not eat. Often, when I would say I only eat chicken or fish, the waiter would still offer me dishes that included other types of meat in them so you will need to be very clear.
Oh, and La Zucca is my favorite place to eat. YUM!
In Rome I suggest you have a meal at the Arancia Blu restaurant. It's a vegetarian restaurant and a wine bar. It used to be situated in the San Lorenzo area but now they have moved out on the Via Prenestina. If you don't have a car I suggest a taxi to get there. It's worth it! I'm not a vegetarian but I love their food! They really make you understand that veggie food is not boring or dull :-) but just fantastic. And they have a good wine cellar too, if you're in to wines. Enjoy!
Via Prenestina, 396e, Rome Telephone: +39 06.4454105 (to book a table in advance)
A couple of years ago a friend joined us in Italy who has Celiacs (no wheat). She carried a piece of paper, written in Italian, that explained her situation. It was wonderful to watch these great restraunt people work so hard to meet her dietary restrictions. I think you will have no trouble finding food, but it might make it easier on everyone if you carried an Italian note. (Especially with the strong reaction to broths)
Posts: 612 | Location: Idaho and Gaiole in Chianti | Registered: 30 November 2004
Originally posted by Robert Rainey: Are you sure the tomato sauce used in Making Pizza never has meat?
I hope you didn't mean that to be combatative Robert. Certainly none of us has checked the ingredients of every pizza made in Italy to ensure that none are ever made with animal products.
Typically, a basic pizza is not.
More importantly, each of us is responsible for our own diet, and those of us with restrictions, whether by choice or not, are responsible for ascertaining the ingredients of the food we eat.
Obviously, this is a little more difficult when language and/or cultural differences get in the way. A list or description of your requirements, as someone has suggested, is a good thing to have.
As a vegetarian by choice since my early teen years, I'm used to asking the questions, and equally accustomed to fending off, or ignoring, the challenges of people who want to "catch" me being a hypocrite.
ellen
Posts: 4393 | Location: mahwah, new jersey, usa | Registered: 10 December 2003
I'm asking how "they" make the tomato sauce, is it universally without meat?. I know it's possible "they" don't use meat, but how do you know they don't use any? Not combative at all.
I do not care if you or anyone else is a vegetarian, it is quite possible to have a healtly vegetarian diet. But it does take some knowledge of amino acid combining etc.
I often eat vegetarian.
As alluded to above it often takes carefull questioning, no meat may mean no chunks of meat but does it mean no broth or any animal products? RR
The tomato on typical pizzas isn't really a sauce as such: it's just crushed tomatoes, sometimes mixed with a little garlic. You can certainly have meat toppings, on top of the tomato & cheese, but not in the basic tomato layer.
Jonathan
Posts: 4262 | Location: Stroud, UK | Registered: 18 November 2001
I'm asking how "they" make the tomato sauce, is it universally without meat?.
I agree with Robert, there are very typical ways to make Italian meals and probably in most places that is how they are made, but in this situation Paoli reacts to very specific ingedients and I think it is only wise to ask the cook what is in the dish. Italians will do everything in their power to please a customer, so just give them the chance!!!
Posts: 612 | Location: Idaho and Gaiole in Chianti | Registered: 30 November 2004
I'd think that the bigger problem with Pizza for Vegetarians is not the sauce but the cheese as many if not most contain rennet which is an animal product (taken from stomachs of calves and other young animals). There are vegetarian alternatives but I doubt that they are that common in Italy or elsewhere.
Originally posted by Marie in Rome: In Rome I suggest you have a meal at the Arancia Blu restaurant. It's a vegetarian restaurant and a wine bar. It used to be situated in the San Lorenzo area but now they have moved out on the Via Prenestina.
Via Prenestina, 396e, Rome Telephone: +39 06.4454105 (to book a table in advance)
Yes, I was going to recommend that one as soon as began to read this post!
If you want a special treat while you are in Rome, the food at the http://www.ilmargutta.it/ veggie restaurant is to die for. Not cheap but well worth the money. I've been veggie for 50 years and I never have problems finding food in Italy. Mind you, we spend most of our time in self-catering places, which makes life a lot easier, as we can stroll round the grocery stores and read labels. For me, it is a special treat to have pasta there because fresh is the norm and where I live we can only buy dried. Night and day difference. And so much variety! The bread is better too. Give me ciabatta hot from the oven, drenched in really good olive oil, a bit of goat or sheep's cheese a good salad, a few olives and some local wine and I am in Italian Heaven.
Arancia Blu does look nice, but it's kind of far out for the typical tourist; it winds up being a "destination" restaurant for those staying in the centro storico.
I haven't been to Il Margutta in years. They used to have a pretty decently priced wine list, which kind of offset the food prices. Also, at lunch time when I was there they only offered a buffet, which I don't care for.
ellen
Posts: 4393 | Location: mahwah, new jersey, usa | Registered: 10 December 2003
We spent a couple of weeks in Italy and had no trouble at all eating vegetarian. except one place in Pompeii. We said we didn't eat "carne" and the dish came with pig. I guess carne means cow. We finally got it straightened out. In Venice we really enjoyed a place in the Ghetto. It was run by a Lebanese guy.
You can also try Il Canestro. They have 3 stores in Rome.
Another restaurant to try is the beehive cafe – "organic, vegetarian, Mediterranean, local & seasonal".
There is a chain of natural food stores in Italy called NaturaSi. They carry a wide selection of foods for vegetarians, vegans and those individuals who want to find gluten-free products.
I have written a blog entry titled, Info About, For or On Rome, Italy that you and other readers of slow travel italy may find of interest. My wife and I just spent 2 1/2 weeks there and I am in the process of updating this entry that I originally wrote a few years ago.
One more blog entry, Info on Vegetarian Eating in Italy . I had written this one for my daughter a vegetarian and her boy friend who is vegan.
My wife's a vegetarian and has had no problems in Italy. Not to be different, but our dinner at il Margutta was one of the most overpriced and awful meals we have ever had in Italy. Maybe we both chose the wrong thing, but it was a bad night. Arancia Blu is wonderful.
I am a vegetarian also and for the most part didn't have any problems when my husband and I went to Italy two winters ago. There are always vegetarian options on the primero (first course) menu. I ended up eating lots of truffles 8-), with polenta, gnocci, risotto, etc. I also discovered pasta fagioli (pasta and white bean soup in a red broth) and ribollita (rustic tuscan soup). Of course, you'll need to confirm that something is vegetarian, but that wasn't a problem for me. Enjoy. I was changed forever by Italy and its food!!!
Posts: 1 | Location: New Mexico, USA | Registered: 10 June 2006
Things are changing. When we have guests, it is common that one is vegetarian or more. Not only that, those who are not vegetarian are now more admiring vegetarians, I wish I were.... more than making up jokes. We have cooking classes now where more than half are vegetarian, and the interesting thing is that we have requests of vegetarian tuscan cooking class from non vegetarians. The reason is that nowadays, as I said above, it is common to guest vegetarians and you would want to know how to please everyone without cooking something different which is embarassing. In Tuscany you might find severa recepies that are vegetarians as Tuscan tradition uses meat once a week. You might have difficulties in hunting areas, like Montalcino or Maremma, where the idea of going out is to celebrate and have meat.
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