Tales from my fructose free life
So far Berlin has been treating us with grey skies and proper fall showers. A wonderful excuse to stay at home, sit by the window with a blanket, your favorite mug in your hand, sipping on a hot drink warming you from the inside. For now the space in my mug is reserved for turmeric milk. Naturally sweet and spicy at the same time.
…
It’s been seven months since we left our home in Berlin in an attempt to grow roots in Istanbul. A few days ago we arrived back in Berlin. It’s our first time home since February. I was looking forward to these upcoming three weeks. Looking forward to all the breakfasts, lunches and dinners with friends and loved ones, to happy bike rides in the city and enjoying morning runs in the park close by. Other than that, I must confess, there is not much I missed about Berlin. Who would, considering the numerous hours of sunshine Istanbul provided us with, all the Turkish food and fresh seasonal goods grown on the fertile lands of the rough Black Sea, the thousand plus different views of the Bosphorus or the seemingly endless supply of new and one of a kind impressions. Istanbul has not failed to keep us entertained. Needless to say the Gezi Park protests and the surprisingly violent response by the police caused quite a stir in our daily lives.
…
Traveling is not easy, when suffering from fructose malabsorption. Of course I know that. Still, so far I haven’t starved when hopping on a plane. Usually there is the standard “chicken or pasta” choice. Most of the time I go for the chicken to eat the meat at least. When I’m lucky they serve rice with it or a salad without dressing. I peck around in those tiny serving dishes and eat whatever my body tolerates. This time however, I didn’t want to leave things up to chance. I checked the special menus offered by SWISS in advance. I wasn’t expecting to find a menu low in fructose, that would have been somewhat of a revolution. Instead I opted for a gluten-free meal for my journey from Istanbul to Berlin.
“Let us know your desired special meal when booking your flight or contact one of the SWISS agents a minimum of 24 hours prior to departure.” swiss.com
This is the moment when customer service traveling with fructose malabsorption turn into a nightmare.
Why make it easy for the customer to order his or her special needs meal by providing an online form just for this single purpose, when the whole procedure can be turned into an outright hassle for all involved. SWISS must have thought the same. I was offered the choice between calling some computer assisted hotline or filling out an email form with non-related, trivial subjects to choose from. I chose the latter. A big mistake. Apparently SWISS was not able to process their service mails during the four days prior to my flight. I asked about my special meal order at check-in. Negative. What had I expected. Hence, I relied on the “chicken or pasta”-strategy. Mistake number two. On board we got served cake and pasta, meaning an abundance and “no-way-out” supply of wheat, sugar, tomatoes and onions. Nice. Not even pecking around for the good bits was going to get me out of this one. We asked the stewardess if they had any other gluten-free snack, which she denied. But, surprisingly she offered me an apple or a banana from the crew catering. I guess I was really lucky to have her as a stewardess. I wouldn’t have been too surprised if the other crew members wouldn’t have offered me the same. This banana saved me for the rest of the journey. To make matters worse we arrived late in Zurich, didn’t have time to stop for a snack in between flights and on our connecting flight they served, yay, sandwiches. Thank you SWISS, enjoy your meal yourself.
The lesson is clear: Firstly, do not expect too much service, not even from SWISS. Secondly, don’t rely on others when it comes to food. Thirdly, I will definitely take care of my food myself for the upcoming flight back. Any recommendations for healthy, easy to carry-on food on the go?
My personal proofreader for the written English language just returned from his trip to Switzerland, so let’s continue my recount on going gluten free. From my post last week you already know why I made the decision in the first place. Still you may be asking yourselves what this change actually meant. How did it change my eating habits? How did it affect daily life and more importantly, did it actually make a difference? Did the experiment meet my expectations?…
I know, you guys were probably expecting the follow up on my journey of going gluten free. Unfortunately you will have to wait a couple of days more, as I’m not finished writing yet. There is so much to tell you. So, sorry for keeping you in the waiting line. Speaking of waiting lines, you should listen to this beautiful song by Zero 7.
To make waiting a little more enjoyable, I want to share this delicious, cream cheesy recipe with you. As mentioned before, I turned 30 in the middle of my gluten-free experiment. And I consider myself a really lucky girl that my boyfriend spent a full afternoon in the kitchen to create this fructose friendly, gluten free, creamy beauty for me. I took me a few days to finish it as nobody dared to eat up my special birthday treat. To be honest, I wasn’t too sad about having it all for myself. …
