Tracking down gluten free bread in Publix and Walmart in the US turned out to be sadly fruitless on my recent trip.  One worker in Publix told me it was in the diet section, but when I got there they only had diet shakes and protein bars.  Yes gluten free food is a special diet, but no I am not on it to lose weight.

I was a little dismayed at the gluten free selections in both of these supermarkets, but it was okay because as I mentioned in a previous post their Mexican sections had lots of stuff I could eat.  However this was no time to be a cornophobe and corn chips and corn tortillas can only take a person so far.  I would be really happy to hear what other options American coeliacs have. It seems that the range of gluten free food in Australian supermarkets is far more comprehensive or is it just that I didn’t know where to look?

I did find some yummy gluten free sandwich cookies in the health food section of one supermarket and lots of great fresh produce as well.  Mmm I fell in love with Floridian oranges and californian strawberries and you can get  prepared chopped vegies to snack on as well.

It wasn’t until after two weeks in America when I arrived in New York City that I was able to locate gluten free bread at Trader Joe’s.  The manager was exceptionally helpful and printed out a five page document listing all the gluten free foods they carry. Unfortunately most of the listed items were out of stock or, they advised me, were not carried by their Brooklyn store. 

I located some gluten free English muffins, which were quite delicious toasted with some fresh garlic, Mexican salsa, melted Monterey jack and cheddar cheese and served with a kosher dill pickle on the side and a glass of cranberry juice. The pickle inspiration came to me from a trip to Crispers.

Crispers is an American healthy fast food (you are forgiven if you  thought that was an oxymoron) restaurant serving soups, salads and sandwiches.  It was  interestingly the most empty fast food restaurant we found ourselves in and they serve you a quarter of a giant pickle in a plastic bag with your sandwich. It’s not really something we do here in Australia, but I like pickles and I think it’s a super idea! In a proud American father voice “good job” Crispers.