Living Gluten and Lactose Free in Egypt

About

I am not here to preach the benefits of Gluten Free living. Nor am I going to go into how Gluten can actually be seen as a political issue in Egypt today. I am going to assume that you have come here because you, like me, are living in Egypt and your lifestyle requires you not eat gluten or lactose.(Please remember you should NEVER EVER cut anything out of your diet completely without taking advice of a Doctor). This is an attempt to collect as much different useful information, recipes and experience of day to living strategies for the Gluten and Lactose Intolerant specifically relevant to the Egyptian experience.

Hello! I’m Leila, I’m lactose intolerant  (all my life) and gluten sensitive (a recent development). I have always ignored food recommendations and eaten whatever I wanted until late February 2012 when after feeling particularly ill I decided enough was enough and I was going Gluten and Lactose free, FOR GOOD (or at least 6 months). Explaining this to Egyptians usually earns me shocked looks and horrified comments, one friend’s reaction was, “How did you survive evolution?”

Well I did and I was surprised by the number of people I found in the days that followed who live in Egypt with these issues and ignore them. People who are consequently often ill and all because they have never been able to find or understand substitutes. I love and have always loved ‘faffing with recipes’, as my family puts it, so decided to make this blog and I hope that it is somewhat useful to you.

Please bear in mind, I do not have Coeliac (Celiac) disease so I cannot account for cross contamination risks in the substitute flours I personally use from Egyptian factories. In cases where I am using that type of flour and have not found an Egyptian source of GF flour it will be noted on the post . Gluten Free is (GF) and Lactose Free is (LF).

If you have any experience to share of GF/LF living in Egypt please feel free share.

Happy Hunting!