If Italy is the home of our favourite gluten-filled dishes, pizza & pasta, then Rome is the beating heart of our love affair with Italian food. I was lucky enough to make my second visit to the eternal city this year. It hasn’t changed a jot in 18 years, which I guess is why they call it eternal. Introducing my two teenage boys to sun-baked, history-drenched Rome was marvellous. Even if we did come close to expiring in the shadows of the Colosseum due to the July heat.
Unfortunately due to air strikes – got to love the French eh? – our planned time in Rome was halved t only two days. Sob! I had a long list of places I wanted to eat out. In fact I chose our location for the food, Trastevere, the medieval quarter in Rome is apart from the centre and where all the best restaurants can be found. It’s less touristy than the centre, although it’s clear that tourists have cottoned on to this magical part of Rome more so than 18 years ago. You’ll find traditional Roman food in small cosy osteria, taverna, trattoria as well as ristorante. Here’s a brief description if you’re not aware of the difference:
Osteria – Simple dining, limited traditional home-styled food, usually written on a chalkboard.
Taverna – More like a pub or bar, the primary focus is serving drinks with a small menu offering.
Trattoria – Usually family run with a menu of rotating, seasonal and simple regional dishes. Affordable, no frills.
Ristorante – a restaurant with a more refined and printed menu, extensive wine list. Higher prices, more attention to service.
Sadly, I was not able to try as many places as I originally intended due to our stay being cut short by strikes. As someone with Hashimoto’s disease who is hell bent on improving my thyroid health outcome I am 100% committed to a gluten free diet. If you want to know why you can read my blog Gluten, Should you be Eating it? here. When I eat gluten I feel next level fatigued, my mood drops badly, I gain a lot of weight (mostly fluid due to inflammation) and based on my last experiment, my antibodies go up. I was a little worried about how I would get on in pasta-land. I did some research before I left and was pleasantly surprised to find that Rome had a lot of gluten free options.
It turns out that Italians have one of the highest rates of celiac disease in the world at 1.65% of the population. For reference, Australia is 1.43% which is also considered high. So not only were waiters super gluten savvy but I did not see a single menu without a gluten free pasta option and most had gluten free pizza bases too. Let’s not forget that pizza, although quintessentially Italian in the west, is not an everyday food in Italy. Pizza was always considered peasant food. Generally, Italians eat a Mediterranean diet which is very easily adapted to a gluten free diet. The Mediterranean diet is what I model my daily eating on after all. So you’ll find lots of protein rich meal options (secondo on the menu) with vegetable based side dishes (contorno) to balance out your meal. Primo is the first course and usually where you’ll find the pasta. But if you do want to enjoy some of the best pasta and pizza in the world like I did, then keep reading. So gluten free options abound and I found it exceptionally easy to eat gluten free in Rome, even more so than in Paris.
Coded menus
I had never seen this before and I did find it a bit confusing at first. Frequently, you’ll find a code system utilised on the menu to help customers identify allergens in each dish. Beside each dish listing on the menu you’ll find a series of numbers that correlate to a chart at the back of the menu. So instead of using GF you might find a number or sometimes a pictograph. These were the allergens listed on most menus: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide/sulphites & celery.
The celery surprised me! I work with food allergies and intolerances all the time as a Nutritionist and had never heard of celery being a problem food. But apparently it’s one of the top allergens in Europe. You learn something new everyday! This system does mean you are flapping back and forth through the menu but it is very comprehensive and gives you confidence that the kitchen takes your dietary needs seriously.
Mama Eat
Three Roman locations: The one we ate at was in Trastevere on the Via di S. Cosimato. But they also have a location near the Vatican on the Borgo Pio, as well as one at the Milvian Bridge with locations in Naples, Milan, Florence and Pompeii. The Trastevere location is simple, no frills, but delicious. I wish we had time to visit the other locations.
I’m still thinking about the food at Mama Eat. The pizza! Hands down the best GF base I’ve ever had. They serve Neapolitan pizza style not Roman which is my preference. See my definition below if you aren’t sure what I’m referring to. In summer get there early for a table outside in the cobblestoned street as it is much more charming than the interior. The prices are very reasonable. They have one menu but two kitchens, one dedicated gluten free. You can order ANYTHING on that menu and they will make it without gluten in their Italian Celiac Association certified kitchen. We tried the arancino (a long log), pizza and pasta. It was all outstanding. Note the pasta is properly al dente and not very soft as we are used to eating it in Australia.
I cannot forget to mention that they have a full Italian dessert menu, completely gluten free! My boys and I shared a pistachio tiramisu which was good but too sweet for my liking. I should have ordered the regular tiramisu as it needs the bitterness of the coffee to cut through the sweetness. My only regret was that we didn’t have a few more days to try more of the menu.
Neapolitan pizza – like wood fired pizza in Australia with a air filled, puffy crust and flat centre.
Roman pizza (pizza tonda) – a flat and crispy round pizza with no puffy crust. You’ll also find pizza al taglio which is akin to a large rectangular focaccia.
New Food Gluten Free
Four Roman locations: The Piazza Carlo Alberto Scotti in Monteverde, Ponte Sisto in the centre (where we shopped), Via di Cassal Polloco in Lazio and Via Milano at the Milvian Bridge. They also have a restaurant near the Vatican.
New Food is celiac friendly as a dedicated gluten free kitchen. Take away only. It is both a pasticceria and a panetteria as they sell baked sweet pastries as well as bread, pizza and even arancini. It is perfect for picnic lunch supplies. They sell large slabs of pizza al taglio which are cut and paid for by the gram. Plus a range of Italian treats like cannoli & biscuits. We had cannoli, a pastry somewhat like a giant profiterole, arancini and the pizza. You wouldn’t have known the pastries were gluten free and the pizza was great. The cream puffs looked amazing but it was so hot I was worried about lugging them around for a couple of hours in a back pack.
Grom Gelato
Six Roman locations: You can find Grom all over Rome and in a few international locations like Paris.
I’ve spoken extensively about Grom in my Gluten Free in Paris blog. It’s an Italian based gelateria that is 100% gluten free. Their cookies and cream, their cones, everything. And it’s damn fine gelato. My favourite flavour was the vanilla bean gelato with black cherries, chocolate chips & roasted hazelnuts. Close runner up was the hazelnut gelato with candied orange and chocolate flakes. They are very transparent about their ingredients and their natural approach. No flavours, additives or colours, their gelato is made with ingredients like milk, egg, sugar, chocolate, fruit etc.
Did you know that proper gelato should be stored in flat, stainless steel submerged containers? Grom stores their properly. So all those mountainous piles of brightly coloured ‘gelato’ you’ll find around Rome aren’t authentic. Traditional gelato isn’t served as cold and it is churned more slowly so it has less air and whip. So you aren’t missing out when you can’t have a cone from those tourist traps because the best gelato comes in gluten free cones at Grom anyway!
Rome was a true delight for gluten free fare. Every menu I looked at offered gluten free pasta and most had GF pizza plus a plethora of healthy mediterranean dishes. It’s easy to communicate with waiters and Italy is a very celiac-aware country. As a result I found it even easier than Paris to navigate gluten free eating.
If you’ve been wanting to go to Rome, do. It’s incredible. Don’t let the perception of everything being full of gluten stop you because it’s simply not true. You won’t be gazing through windows at all the things you cannot eat. You can eat like a Queen in Rome.
My only regret is that I didn’t have time to try more.
