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A plethora of gluten-free foods can be found when traveling in Europe. Photo Credit: Jen Harris
It has been a month since I returned from our European vacation. We visited many cities in Germany, Brussels, Belgium, Paris, France, and Prague, Czech Republic. By far the best place to shop for gluten-free groceries was Berlin, Germany.
It is important to know how to say gluten free in the appropriate language just in case you find someone who doesn’t speak English. In German, gluten free is pronounced glutenfrei (gluten fry). I have to say that English must be the second language in Germany because there was rarely a case when I couldn’t find someone who spoke English.
dm stores are basically drug stores like Walgreens, or CVS with a great selection of gluten-free products. I encountered an entire end cap full of Dr. Schar products I had never heard of before, and a product line by Alnavit. I left with Schar’s focaccia with rosemary, crisp bread(knackebrot), biscuits (petit butterkeks), and pretzels (salinis).
KaDeWe is a department store, but it has an entire floor of food that includes a restaurant, fresh meats, cheeses, wine, and of course an entire section of gluten-free foods. Mainly what I found were Dr. Schar products (lasagna noodles, authentic tagliatelli, milk chocolate coated biscuits (ciocko sticks) and sponge cake with cocoa (pausa ciok) . The restaurant in KaDeWe is called Gourmet Wurstkessel and it is a cafeteria-style environment where they label their gluten-free options on the menu boards. I had the best bratwurst I have ever had and their sauerkraut is sweet rather than sour like they serve it in the United States.
One final stop at the Aktiv-Markt in Ramstein yielded more Dr. Schar products (croissants,cupcakes with apricot jam (magdalenas), deli bread, and Milly’s Magic Pops (cereal)). I also purchased a vegetable noodle soup mix from Seitz.
The best prices were at the dm store, so I would highly suggest stopping by one and stocking up, not just on gluten-free food, but on hygiene essentials as they are pretty cheap too.
Have you shopped for gluten-free groceries in Germany? Where did you find them and what did you buy?
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Author Information: Jennifer D. Harris, Atlanta, GA
Jennifer D. Harris, http://www.jenniferglutenfreeingeorgia.blogspot.com
Atlanta Gluten-Free Examiner
Program Chair, Atlanta Metro CeliacsTwitter@jenniferGFinGA
That is interesting. I write a gluten-free food blog and I know that I get a lot of views every week from people in Germany and Russia.