Adapting to Spain's culinary landscape with dysphagia.
A travel guide for pilgrims with special dietary needs after head & neck cancer.
My Google Translated Elevator Pitch …
Side effects of head and neck cancer treatment means I have trouble swallowing food & drink.
It’s happening.
I am about to navigate 6 weeks of eating on the hoof, away from my kitchen and most importantly, away from my country of origin. I am travelling half way around the world to walk across the Pyrenees and Spain. The Camino Frances
I have experience of course, two previous Caminos under my belt, my very first Camino hand selected based on the food alone. The Portuguese Coastal way, think soft fleshed fish, BBQ vegetables and soup instead of crusty bread, cheese and meat, like ham & bacon. The perfect bacon I had all but given up on, presented itself on the buffet at the hotel I first stayed in Porto. Unlike failed attempts to eat “bacon” in Australia, it was soft, flavourful and seem to disintegrate on impact. I put it down to the pig, the way it was raised, my attempts in Australia was akin to chewing shards of glass, little joy in any of that.
That was the plan, it worked well and I ate fish soup, a lot of garlic bread and plenty of beautiful fresh fish with steamed potato and sometimes mayonnaise. I had a lot of stunning coffee (cafe branco) and pastries filled with sweet custards dusted with icing sugar. I consumed tuna and fish pastries and quite unexpectedly I did not choke, sneeze or gag much, if at all. The pastries had enough fat to slide and if and when they caught, I had coffee and or water on hand. Stunning pocket sized morsels that kept me going kilometre after gruelling kilometre.
I chose the Portuguese coastal way as my first Camino for no other reason than my expectation of the food on offer. It turned out that I could manage quite a variety of food, including some breads, some cold meats and definitely the beer and the Portuguese wine - mental note to self, don’t talk yourself into not being able to eat something.
I talk about the food here to some length in takes you to my You Tube channel.
Eating in Portugal go to time stamp 3 mins where I speak directly to thoughts as to why I could manage something like bacon in Portugal but as to why it varied between establishments.
I also love the ocean and the two combined made an ideal active holiday for me. The first one since head and neck cancer treatment and my first in Europe. I spent the majority and most of my adult life in Australia and South East Asia, so to experience Europe in Portugal whilst walking a spiritual path was the perfect introduction for me.
In Portugal I noticed olive oil was served with most things, little acoutrement packages of oil, mayonnaise, mustard, sauce - every where I went that meant I could add a little moisture to food that I sampled. I was surprised with what I could manage and as my confidence grew walking, so did my food repertoire.
The only meal I had which caused me some problems was smoked salmon and avocado in Lisbon. I carefully selected what I thought I could manage off the menu but it came smothered in a seeds and the avocado was too unripe for me to manage.
I couldn’t chew it, break it down nor swallow it easily, it also came with lettuce and we all know how that turns out.
I went hungry that night and there was no kettle in my room so I couldn’t prepare a cup of soup or a cup of tea. Be aware, Spain and Portugal don’t as a rule have kettles in rooms so preparing soup in a cup or noodles when desperate was not possible.
Spain - what’s next.
I am excited and filled with anticipation as to how Spain will unfold. I am only in France for a few days and I suspect that will be a different culinary experience again.
My first two Caminos gave me an enormous amount of food confidence, food confidence I had not realised had been eroded from many months of Peg tube feeding, my relationship with food had changed dramatically and the process of walking and eating became symbiotic and the process to which my new life began.
I don’t panic about what I can eat, I know that there will always be something I can manage even if I can’t communicate internal radiated fibroids in Portuguese or Spanish but what I can say is this …
Los efectos secundarios del tratamiento del cáncer de cabeza y cuello significan que tengo problemas para tragar alimentos y bebidas.
Translated means
Side effects of head and neck cancer treatment means I have trouble swallowing food & drink.
What Spain will provide is part of my food learning journey, I will not pack any additional preconceived food fears, I will pack healthy optimism and the knowledge that I must try to eat at least 3000 calories a day to compensate the 25-30 kms of walking. I know there is considerable amounts of meat available and often selecting any vegetarian options are just easier from a dental hygiene (ORN) and time perspective (eating with others).
I have lost weight on previous Caminos and chocolate, Portuguese custard tarts (Pastel de nata) and wine became a staple in my daily eating and main calories (mostly empty calories) so I try to maintain weight and energy with eggs, potato (frittata), dairy, yoghurt, butter, oil, soups, fish and orange juice. Fruit and salad is always challenging, I miss fresh fruit and things like berries, apples and melon are very challenging for me. Hotel buffets come into their own here and being able to choose across a selection is often the best way to start the day.
Hotels don’t take kindly to pilgrims stocking up their daily meals at their breakfast buffet which I totally appreciate and understand, I have in the past explained my situation and offered to pay for additional food (cheese slices, small tubs of fruit yoghurt, bread rolls I know I can eat, bananas, sauce, mayonnaise satchets) and put these in a clip lock snack bag for the day’s walking. I do lament the almond cake which is often served with coffee, I don’t bother for I know that will be like trying to mix a bag of cement powder with an eye dropper of water.
Mental and Emotional Preparation
As I draw closer to my departure date, I start the mental preparation of the journey. The practical packing, booking and payment processes have been done, now is the time to run through the trip and set myself up for success.
Sometimes the biggest challenge food wise is the flights over (from Australia it can be up to forty hours if not days to get to the destination) and airports in my experience often pose the biggest food challenge. I am prepared with snacks in my carry on luggage I purchased in Australia, teabags and of course dark chocolate.
On international flights I have tried pre ordering Halal, vegetarian and all sorts of special food. For me just sticking to the routine in flight meals often prove to be most successful. Dysphagia is not recognised by airlines as a ‘special needs’ meal and often to compensate for blandness of vegetarian meals it will be over seasoned with something that will make me cough, choke or sneeze.
Always carry your own extra water and I have learnt a nice cotton hanky for such occasions.
I am determined to pave a better food path and better life for people suffering the side effects of head and neck cancer treatment. I hope you come on the journey with me.
Want to find out how I started eating again after PEG Tube feeding for 15 months?
The Complete Guide and how I started that long journey can be found at Gum Road.
Eat Well.