Can you enjoy being gluten free in Belize? Having Celiac makes most Travel a little difficult add in a spinach allergy and it can become even more complicated. I am always nervous about traveling as I have a huge fear of not having anything that I can actually eat. This has even happened to me here in Newfoundland. I go with friends and the only thing I can have are drinks (which happened recently to me on an outing with family). The other thing I find hard is having my only option as a salad as most have Spinach. It can become extremely depressing trying to eat in restaurants.
I began researching the foods of Belize the minute Raymond sent me the flight itinerary because my anxiety had already taken over. An intense internet search provided minimal help regarding gluten free. I did find some local recipes of dishes that did not look to contain gluten. I was also very happy to see most places served corn tortillas and not flour tortillas. The restaurants that I researched had grilled food as options and not everything was deep fried.
Once we arrived I found most of the food on my list of must-tries turned out to be good for me to eat. I did have to be careful with ordering and chose my words carefully as a couple of times what was served I could not eat. No point of getting upset over it I just ordered something else that did not have breading or gravy. Going back to the main question. Can you eat gluten free in Belize?
Yes, You can. Being careful in what you ask for and ask a couple of extra questions and you should be fine. Avoid foods that are fried. Go for the grilled options or ceviche because the ceviche was delicious. I lived on Rice and Beans and stew chicken. I should add by choice to that though. Absolutely loved the rice and beans. Go to the Market and pick up local fruits and veggies. I was able to order salbutes from the market. They were delicious and one of the only things deep fried.
Guava Limb in San Ignacio offers a flourless chocolate cake if you are looking for sweets. One Mall in Corozal had some items marked gluten free. I even found some seltzers that were gluten free. I found the easiest thing to do was just ask. More of the tourist areas knew gluten free and were very helpful in finding something for you to eat. We went to Crave and they brought out pita I kindly asked the bar tender if we could order a side of corn chips and he looks at me and asks if I am celiac. I found this surprising. He went and brought us out corn chips. I was so happy that there were no issues with the request. We ended up having a wonderful afternoon having a couple of drinks and talking to the bartender.
If you are looking for cakes or cookies I would advise packing something with you. I could not find that sort of thing. If you like dark chocolate most locally made stuff does not have flour added to it and is completely safe to eat. My opinion on this was that there were so many delicious fruits and vegetables that I didn’t even mind not having bread, cakes, or cookies on my visit. You can definitely enjoy your stay in Belize being celiac.
