Jordan – 7/10

I write this after a week travelling around Jordan with a translation card and zero command of the Arabic language. However, everywhere I went people spoke good English (especially in the capital, Amman) other than some rural petrol stations where we stopped to refuel.

I was a little uneasy when I booked this trip. I’d never been to the Middle East (unless you count a resort holiday in southern Turkey) and wasn’t totally confident that the food would serve my peanut allergy well. Oh, and the morning of my flight I realised I’d lost my spare Epipen – a great start to the trip!

From a peanut perspective the food was brilliant. Most menus had a clear English translation of dishes which included a description which was sometimes at ingredient level, which made me fairly confident when ordering. In more out of the way places I used a translation card and they clearly understood the allergy and found me something I could eat. Middle Eastern food is also delicious so I absolutely loved this holiday once I was confident eating.

Jordan may not be ideal with a severe tree nut allergy. Almonds and Walnuts are common ingredients, I managed to avoid them but I’ll bet I didn’t avoid traces of them.

Verdict – 7/10

I booked this feeling a little uneasy but it was turned out to be absolutely the right choice. If you’re worried, there are many organised tours of the country that would give you a guide to sort meals for you.

Portugal – 7/10

I write this after a long weekend in Lisbon, but also draw on my experience road tripping around the country a few years back.

I really enjoyed the food in Portugal as it offered me a good balance; the cuisine was relatively simple (read: the fewer ingredients in a dish, the easier it is to identify allergens) whilst allowing me to explore new tastes and try almost everything on the menu. 

Eating out was straightforward with the aid of a written allergy translation. Servers spoke decent English in more touristy areas. The only place I saw peanuts was in bars served with drinks.

Eating in was very easy, Aldi and Lidl are both widespread with Portuguese supermarkets also adhering to all the same labelling laws. 

I don’t think that I saw enough to assess how well understood allergies are, or what the standard of health service would be should a problem be encountered. But, I had no problems and ate freely so it’s a solid 7 on my experiences!

Verdict – 7/10

Germany – 7/10

I am writing this after a recent weekend in Munich, but this post also draws on the experiences I’ve had over numerous trips across the country. From a travelling perspective I’d most recommend Bavaria and also the Mosel valley!

German supermarkets have good standards of food labelling and my selection wasn’t overly limited by the dreaded ‘may contain…’ statements. So, eating in or making lunch on the go was straightforward.

Eating out was very comfortable in big cities and touristy areas, due to a good variety of restaurants, widespread English language use and fair allergy understanding. In more remote areas, my basic command of the German language came in handy; I would recommend learning a few phrases or printing off an allergy translation card. 

The local cuisine is great for a peanut allergy as main meals tend to be made up of hearty staple ingredients, but I would say that a lot of the sweets and desserts wouldn’t be suitable for a tree nut allergy sufferer. Peanuts and other nuts (especially Almonds) are popular from high street stalls in the cities, and whilst this wasn’t a problem for me, it is worth being aware of.

Conclusion – 7/10

Note: I’d give a 6 if I had a tree nut allergy

Tonga – 6.5/10

I spent a week and a half in Tonga, visiting the islands of Tongatapu and ‘Eua. 

I’m in two minds as to how my experience was with regards to my peanut allergy. On the one hand, traditional Tongan food uses basic fresh ingredients and every single restaurant I went to (and we tried a few as eating out was so cheap) didn’t cook with peanuts at all, which was fantastic. But, on the other hand, peanuts are clearly grown in Tongatapu in abundance as they are sold fresh in markets and roadside stalls; so I walked past many a mountain of monkey nuts and I’ll admit this made me rather uneasy. The shells are littered everywhere you look on this island also.

I did not see any peanuts for sale in ‘Eua and felt more comfortable there, so I would heartily recommend the trip over on the ferry. 

Everyone spoke good English and seemed to understand the nature of allergies, so I felt fine asking about food in restaurants. From what I gathered, healthcare is free for visitors too (as a last resort!). The food available in shops is poor, but fresh fruit from the market was great and a safe snack.

Verdict: 6.5/10

It’s definitely possible to have an enjoyable but free experience in Tonga! Oh and also – peanuts were the only nuts I saw there at all.

French Polynesia – 7/10

I visited the islands of Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, and Huahine. 

My experience was positive, and broadly similar to visiting France on the food front. I speak a bit of French – and funnily enough am most practiced at discussing my allergy, so communication was not an issue (just use an allergy card if you don’t speak the language). I didn’t see peanuts on menus particularly, although there is a large Chinese population in Tahiti so I did avoid Asian cuisine whilst there. Tree nuts appeared in some French dishes – e.g. some Walnut usage in fancy dishes.

I’m not totally sure how allergy aware restaurant staff were, but they were usually able to confirm that there were no peanuts on site and most things are quite basic and made from scratch – especially on more remote islands.

The supermarkets were all French import shops in essence, with reasonable allergy labelling. 

Verdict – 7/10

I did notice more peanut oil in the shops here than anywhere else -imported from France. But restaurants didn’t seem to be cooking with it due to the price. Always check though.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Huahine was by far my favourite island!! 

New Zealand – 6.5/10

I spent 4 months in NZ and in that time managed a healthy mix of self catering and eating out.

Obviously, with no language barrier, communication was easy. I will also say that understanding/awareness of allergies was as good as the UK. However, I found that a lot of restaurants, particularly in more touristy areas, have at least one satay dish on the menu. This made it hard to find peanut free restaurants at times.

Much like Australia, there is plenty of Asian influence in the restaurants. I have rated NZ slightly better than Australia as the supermarkets were more nut allergy friendly – especially New World which has excellent allergy advice even in its bakeries.

verdict – 6.5/10

The Cook Islands – 7/10

I spent a week in Rarotonga, and did not manage to visit any of the outer islands.

Self catering: the shops offer a poor selection of food, as it must all be imported, but that selection was no more or less allergy friendly than I am used to. If flying from NZ I suggest bringing supplies!

Eating out: I ate out at a couple of eateries and at both the big weekend market and the Muri night market. Everywhere seemed understanding of my allergy, spoke fluent English, and due to the basic nature of island ingredients the dishes are less fancy than in NZ (for example) which means less satay! 

I did spot a stall at the market which did Thai curries inc. peanuts so I steered well clear. I saw no evidence that peanuts are grown on the island.

Verdict – 7/10

Kofte Kofte – 4/10 (down from 7!)

I first tried Kofte on holiday in Turkey a few years back and was sold right away! Obviously there can be huge variations but in my experience a good lamb Kofte can be one of the tastiest and most flavourful meat dishes out there.

I found Kofte Kofte online when trying to find an Auckland replacement for my beloved Taka Taka back home in Bristol. I emailed ahead to query about my peanut allergy and was assured that there are no peanuts on the menu or in the kitchen. It was a bit of a drive out to Hobsonville (there is also a branch in Orewa) but totally worth it! The flavours are a league above similar places I’ve experienced (at $12.50ish it’s also reasonably priced) and it made for a great lunch stop.

There definitely are tree nuts on the menu, and I wouldn’t say the allergy advice I got seemed particularly clued up – but my good experiences with Mediterranean food in the past helped set my mind at ease. I’ve been a few times now with no problems and surprise surprise I’d recommend the lamb Kofte!! 

Verdict – 7/10

Edit: I have been back 3 times. The chicken was great and particularly the chicken avocado bun. However on my most recent return one of the salads (which regularly change) was a peanut salad with peanut sauce. The cooking area is small and the salads are out in the open so cross contamination risks are high. I feel this shows a real lack of allergy awareness that they would assure me the menu is fine without mentioning the regular changes which unfortunately one week could have ended badly had I just ordered and eaten without checking the salads (after 3 safe visits I was quite relaxed eating there and my stomach dropped when I saw the peanut salad)

The U.S.A. – 8/10

I have visited the USA a number of times over the years and it has been interesting to see how my opinion on it with regards to my allergy has evolved. I first visited as a child in 2005, and back then I found their understanding of nut allergies to be well ahead of the U.K. If you’d asked me then I’d have given a 10/10 rating – I felt that I could eat out anywhere, and to an extent this is still true now.

 My most recent visit was in 2015; during that decade the UK restaurant industry has made up a lot of ground with allergy awareness. With regards to my allergy I would say there are two main differences between the UK and USA:

1) Waiters/waitresses are more responsive to my allergy queries in the USA. I personally think this is partly because tipping is much more of a thing and therefore servers seem to be much happier to put effort in which makes eating out more enjoyable on the whole anyway. I would also say that in the UK a lot of servers speak English as a second language and seem to understand my questions less.

2) Peanuts are more common and popular in the USA (just try going to a baseball game – they’re everywhere). 

So, I would say that eating out is slightly better for me over the pond on the peanut front. But this is negated by the popularity of peanuts – ie I feel I can go longer in the UK without even seeing or thinking about the dreaded things. I would also say that the cost of healthcare in the USA makes it a nightmare destination to need medical attention (travel insurance is a must for any holiday for me but comes at a premium for both the allergy and then again to cover the USA).

Verdict – 8/10

I found a lot more blogs listing nut free restaurants over there which was a great help! And was the inspiration for starting my own.

Scandinavia – 9/10

I have visited Scandinavia on a number of occasions both for skiing in the winter and some summer backpacking as it tends to be cheap to fly to from the UK thanks to SAS youth fares (25 years and under from memory). My allergy experiences have been pretty consistent throughout this area of Europe, so please note that this post covers Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. 

Food labelling in shops is very consistent in the region, but there are a number of different (but somewhat similar, bar Finnish) languages spoken so I just downloaded translation apps onto my phone for each language when I did a big trip across Scandinavia in 2014. 

I found that traces of nuts seemed less common than back home, which was great and essentially meant more choice for me in the supermarkets! Though in fairness I probably actually had less choice as the shops are smaller but it felt good being more free to choose. Even bakeries were fair game, as in my experience most of them didn’t have peanuts on site – they just don’t seem to be that popular this far north. This proved to be most true in more remote locations, and less true in large towns/cities.

I have eaten out in quite a range of restaurants in Scandinavia as I’ve been there with family and also as a backpacker. I had no troubles anywhere, as I found that everyone spoke a very good level of English and were reasonably allergy aware. Another bonus is that I didn’t find any nutty local dishes so I was able to enjoy a lot of local cuisine and delicacies (rotten fish may be nut free but I’d still recommend avoiding it!!). 

The cost of food is high in these areas, but the quality is good and for me it’s a very safe bet for a holiday both with my allergy and other socioeconomic factors.

Verdict – 9/10

100% will visit again (I’m hoping to head up to Finland and maybe Sweden for some skiing next Easter)

My apologies to anyone irked by my grouping all these nations together.