Gluten-free by cuisine: where it’s easy and where gluten hides

Every cuisine has its own pitfalls. At an Italian place it’s the pasta water and pizza oven, at an Asian one the soy sauce, at an Indian one the bread from the tandoor. Knowing them tells you what to ask.

Gluti offers guidance and is not a medical device. Its information does not replace medical advice.

Which cuisine is easiest with coeliac disease?

Cuisines built on rice, corn, potatoes or pulses naturally have many dishes without gluten-containing ingredients. These include Indian, Mexican and many Asian cuisines. Italian cooking revolves around wheat, but often offers gluten-free pasta and pizza.

Still, what matters is not the cuisine but how the individual restaurant works. An Indian curry without flour doesn’t help much if the spice is cut with wheat. And gluten-free pasta cooked in regular pasta water is no longer gluten-free.

Overview: what’s often gluten-free, where to be careful?

The table is a guide, not a guarantee. Recipes differ from restaurant to restaurant.

What do I look out for at an Italian restaurant?

Pasta and pizza normally contain wheat. Many restaurants offer gluten-free versions, though. Then two questions matter:

• Pasta: Is it cooked in fresh water, in its own pot and with its own strainer?
• Pizza: Is it baked on its own tray, without flour on the peel and work surface? In an open stone oven there is flour on the oven floor, so a gluten-free pizza is hardly safe there.

Less obvious: meat such as saltimbocca or piccata is often dredged in flour before frying. Risotto is usually gluten-free but may be cooked with a stock that contains wheat. Coeliac disease is very well known in Italy, and many restaurants there are prepared for gluten-free guests.

Is sushi gluten-free?

The rice and raw fish are gluten-free. But gluten often hides in what comes with them:

• Soy sauce is usually brewed with wheat. Tamari often contains little or no wheat, but only what is labelled gluten-free is safe. Some restaurants have gluten-free soy sauce if you ask.
• Surimi (imitation crab), as in California rolls, often contains wheat starch.
• Tempura and panko are wheat, as are rolls with a crispy topping.
• Marinated fish (such as unagi eel) and sweet sauces often contain soy sauce.

Beyond sushi: udon and ramen are wheat noodles. Soba made from buckwheat usually contains wheat flour as well. Miso can be made from barley.

What do I look out for at a Chinese, Thai or Vietnamese restaurant?

Rice and rice noodles are a good base; the problem is the sauces. Soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce and many ready-made seasoning sauces contain wheat. They end up in marinades, stir-fries and dips, even when the menu doesn’t mention them. Fish sauce is usually gluten-free, but not every brand.

Then there’s preparation: everything is often cooked one after another in the same wok, and spring rolls, wontons and breaded food go into the same fryer. Ask whether your dish can be made in a clean wok and without soy sauce.

Vietnamese summer rolls in rice paper and pho with rice noodles are often a good choice, as long as the broth and dip are fine.

What do I look out for at an Indian restaurant?

Many curries, dals and rice dishes are made without flour. Pakoras and bhajis are usually made from chickpea flour, but sometimes mixed with wheat flour and fried alongside samosas. Naan, chapati, paratha and samosas are made from wheat.

A hidden source is asafoetida (hing): the spice is often cut with wheat flour and is used in many curries and dals. So ask about it specifically. In the tandoor, the clay oven, naan is stuck to the oven wall. Meat on skewers usually doesn’t come into contact with it, but ask if you are unsure.

What do I look out for at a Mexican restaurant?

Real corn tortillas are gluten-free, but many restaurants use wheat tortillas or mix the two. Burritos and quesadillas are almost always made with wheat. Ask whether the tortillas are pure corn and whether they are warmed on the same griddle as wheat tortillas.

Ready-made seasoning mixes for meat can contain wheat, too. Nachos and tortilla chips are only safe if the fryer isn’t also used for breaded food.

What do I look out for at a Greek or Turkish restaurant?

Grilled meat, fish, salads, rice and dips like hummus or tzatziki are often gluten-free. Bulgur and couscous are wheat, as are pita, flatbread, börek and baklava.

With doner and gyros from the spit, the meat mixture may contain breadcrumbs or flour. Falafel is sometimes bound with flour and fried in the same fryer as other food. And bread often sits on the plate or on the grill: ask for it to be left off, not just taken off.

What do I look out for in German restaurants and pubs?

The classic pitfalls are sauces thickened with a flour roux, breading on schnitzel and sides such as spätzle or bread dumplings. Potato dumplings and croquettes often contain flour or semolina too. Potatoes, vegetables, salad and grilled food without sauce usually work well. Chips only if the fryer isn’t used for breaded food.

What do I ask, whatever the cuisine?

Three questions cover the essentials in almost any restaurant:

• Is there flour, soy sauce or malt in the sauce, marinade or stock?
• Does anything go into a fryer that is also used for breaded food?
• Is my dish prepared with clean utensils, pot or wok?

More questions and a card to show staff are in the article What to ask in a restaurant. Why even crumbs count is explained in the article on cross-contamination.

How does Gluti help?

Whether the Italian place around the corner prepares gluten-free pizza separately is something the place’s level on Gluti shows you before you go. You should still ask: recipes and routines change.