Had I done my research and known that pistachios and almonds are grown in and a real excellence in Sicily, I would have prepared our family holiday differently.
One reason that could explain why these nuts are loved and so incredibly popular is that their sweet, delicate, and oily taste is perfect as a flavouring in sauces, sweets, pastries, and gelato! They are in everything.
Great for foodies like me and my husband, but terrible for our Son with multiple allergies. Worse thing is that peanuts and pistachios can cause our Son the most severe reaction where EpiPens are required.
Nevertheless, we were mindful to prepare well so we could enjoy a wonderful family trip to beautiful Sicily!
Preparation
If you have little people with multiple food allergies, like our Son, prepare early and make sure you have all the necessary medication and essentials.
For us, medication included asthma pumps, eczema creams, specialist suncream, allergy medication, Calpol, and two sets of EpiPens. For bath time, we took Child’s Farm with us.
Clothing-wise, the following were top of our list:
- Layer-able, breathable fabrics to keep cool by day and comfortable at night when the AC is on
- UV swim/rash vests
- Hats and sunglasses
- Sandals
- Swim nappies
In terms of food, do your research and pack some staples accordingly. Perhaps a mistake on our part, in hindsight, not to book an extra suitcase for our Son’s food. However, we were off to a self-catering holiday home, so agreed it would be okay to buy fresh food to cook for our Son. That way, we could manage his dietary needs and control his food intake, avoiding nuts, egg, and dairy.
As it turns out, this was the right decision as we’ve been able to get all his staples, ensuring he eats well, from the local supermarket. We’ve been able to conveniently buy:
- Oat milk
- Fresh fruit (amazing peaches, nectarines, and plums plus the usual bananas, apples, and grapes)
- Fresh vegetables (carrot, celery, avocados, peas, courgettes, and potatoes)
- Cereal (Cornflakes)
- Bread
- Pasta (of course!)
- Rice
- Meat (minced beef)
- Biscuits (sweet and savoury without milk, egg, and nuts)
- Organic fruit pouches
It has made me sad that my Son’s not been able to enjoy the delights of Sicilian dessert. We, the adults, have of course indulged in Gelato and numerous different cakes and sweet treats! Next time, perhaps our Son will have outgrown some allergies or more plant-based desserts will be available.
Packing
My husband, our Son, and I took hand luggage only, meaning we had three bags between us for a 10-day holiday. Our Son’s belongings went into one suitcase. My husband and my clothes, plus toiletries, went into another bag. And the third hand luggage contained all our vital medications, nappies, a pack of wet wipes, a reading book for our Son, my laptop, and a few essential make-up items for me.
Years ago, I learnt to roll-up pack and have been practicing it ever since. It really is the most efficient way to travel and saves so much luggage space. If you’re unfamiliar with this, simply search ‘roll up packing method‘.
Another tip from me, especially when travelling to a hot country, is to pack all your lightest clothes. Put aside one warm(ish) outfit for those chillier/wetter/cooler days or nights, and wear this as your travel outfit.
For parents of toddlers, you’ll know how incredibly helpful having snacks to-hand are! Especially when you’re travelling – in a car, on a transfer to the airport, at the airport, on a plane, getting off a plane, waiting for luggage (although this didn’t apply to us on this occasion), waiting for a car hire, and in a car to the hotel.
So, remember to put all snacks at the top of your luggage when packing so they’re easily and speedily accessible. I know you’ll know this is a must-do! The only foods we packed were Ella Kitchen pouches, Kiddyliscious veggie straws, and some fruit. These were mostly for the journey and all eaten, as we thought they would (!), on the morning of the flight before we’d even landed in Catania.
Accommodation
While researching where to stay, we came across many types of accommodation in Sicily. Typical properties include hotels, apartments, villas and holiday homes. Because of our Son’s allergies and habit of sleeping well in his own bedroom (my husband and I sleep trained him from about 6-8 months old), we like to stay in self contained apartments or our own villa or holiday house.
In Sicily, we holidayed with my husband’s sister and her husband, our brother-in-law, so it made more sense to get a place where we could spend time together, enjoying our own space.
As well as the benefits that a holiday home brings to a family (e.g. private garden, communal kitchen and living space etc.), the best thing for my husband and I is our ability to cook and feed our own food to our Son.
This was particularly important in Sicily because, as we discovered and you’ll see below, most dishes at restaurants contain nuts (pistachios and almonds being favourites), egg, and/or milk.
When researching where to stay in Sicily with a toddler, it was clear that as a whole Sicily’s great for families with young children. However, the place that comes up time and time again, as rated and recommended by parents, is the east coast by Syracuse and Noto. This is where we stayed and one of our favourite beach locations was Sunset Beach Lido di Noto. A wonderful family-friendly beach location and superb seafood!
A day-in-the-life of a toddler with allergies
So what did a typical day in Sicily look like for us and our Son?
Morning
- Breakfast – cereal (cornflakes), oat milk, banana, breakfast biscuit (Italian style)
- Beach fun – suncream, cover-up, hat & shades. Fun in the sand
- Beach snack – fruit (plum, peach, nectarine), fruit ice lolly
- Beach fun – suncream, cover-up, hat & shades. Fun in the sea
Afternoon
- Lunch (if eating at restaurant) – pasta with garlic and olive oil, bread dipped in olive oil, cherry tomatoes, or focaccia oven-baked bread/pizza. Everything else on the menus and all the dishes us adults ate contained some kind of nut, egg, and/or milk. For example, restaurants did not have plain tomato sauce, only sauces made with nut (usually pistachios or almonds). Dessert was also difficult as even the sorbet is made with egg white. Luckily, fresh fruit was abundant and our Son enjoyed mouthwatering pineapple and watermelon!
- Lunch (if eating at home) – pasta bolognese or pasta with vegetables tomato sauce, peas, and fruit
- Beach fun – suncream, cover-up, hat & shades
- Snack – corn or potato chips or savoury biscuits, fruit (grapes, apple), carrot sticks
Evening
- Dinner (eating at home) – rice, vegetables stir fry, or pasta with a minced beef, courgette, and tomato based sauce
- Bath time – Child’s Farm and eczema cream
- Bedtime – oat milk, and medication as needed. On a couple of occasions, our Son’s breathing was laboured at bedtime so we gave allergy syrup and used his asthma pump.
We suspect he’d picked up an allergy during the day at lunchtime, potentially from food contamination at a restaurant (for example from traces of nuts in pasta or chips fried in contaminated oil).
Shopping
As you’ve probably gathered, eating in was fine for us while eating out was slightly more problematic.
After the first couple of days watching our Son eat plain bread, pasta, and chips, while we ate huge plates of seafood pasta, gnocchi, and salads (all containing nuts, egg, and/or milk), it upset me greatly.
However, once we went shopping and filled our fridge in the holiday house with fresh produce and started cooking properly for him, things improved.
I’m so pleased we’ve been able to buy most of our Son’s staples in a local supermarket (not a large town supermarket). The only thing I can think of, which he loves at home and is probably missing, is Oatly strawberry yoghurt.
All in all, I am however grateful he got to eat some cooked food in restaurants. He particularly enjoyed focaccia oven-baked bread/pizza with garlic and olive oil, and fresh cherry tomatoes.
Communication and translation
One final tip on the translation front, if you don’t have friends or family who can help, is to use Google translate. Things on the food allergies front is a little different to what we’re used to at home. So, we’ve made an effort to communicate our allergies and requirements clearly, in Italian, to make sure we get things right.
You can prepare this ahead of time and save your translated text as a screenshot on your phone. It will make a huge difference, when you’re shopping or in a restaurant, and help you and your whole family enjoy the full delights that Sicily has to offer!
