Is a mild Soy allergy a problem in Tobago restaurants?

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James T. Savidge

Is a mild Soy allergy a problem in Tobago restaurants?

Post by James T. Savidge »

Greetings,

As I mentioned in anther thread, my wife and I will be staying at the Beachcomber Cabins.

I have a mild soy allergy, (my symptoms are like lactose intolerance,) and unfortunately the only treatment is to avoid anything made from soy, or ingredients that can be derived from soy. Luckily, Glyn and Caroline's cabins are set up so that we can cook our own food if we have to. \:D/

When I asked about what types of non-soy oil was available in the local grocery stores, Glyn told us the following:
Plenty of people enjoy using the local Coconut cooking oils and there are imported oils without soy I guess.
This is great news because here in the USA, soy is plentiful and pervasive in almost all foods, and is used in most restaurants. ( ... insert USA agriculture policy rant here ... :evil: )

Consequently, we cook most of our own meals and don't eat out much. And this in Dallas, which "... has more restaurants per capita than New York City, ..."

For me, I'm not truly on vacation until I can eat out worry free.

Does anyone here know if the restaurants in Tobago usually use the local Coconut oil? (not counting the USA chain restaurants)

Barring that knowledge, are the local restaurants amenable to questions about their ingredients and/or requests for things such as oil substitutions?

Looking forward to our trip...

James T. Savidge, Monday, December 17, 2007 - Dallas, Texas - USA
Clyde Alleyne
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Re: Is a mild Soy allergy a problem in Tobago restaurants?

Post by Clyde Alleyne »

James, soya oil is a very commonly used oil in Trinidad & Tobago, and there's a good chance that restaurants may be using it in their kitchens. So you should ask what oil they use. On the other hand, olive oil, canola oil and corn oil are also very plentiful in the groceries so you will have no problems finding a non-soya oil for your own use. I don't usually hear about too many people using coconut oil anymore for cooking - all that talk about saturated fats and such. Health-wise, extra- virgin olive oil or canola oil are probably better that coconut oil as they are mostly mono-unsaturated fat.
Clyde
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