Help from Americans and speakers of Spanish!

[alias_sqbr]

Our trip to Anaheim/LA is coming up, we leave on October 9. Something I'm not looking forward to is navigating my food intolerances in a new country, especially since it seems like a moderate number of people primarily speak Spanish. So! I'd love it if you guys could help.

1) Did miss any foods that are named differently in the US:

None: dairy, coconut, unfermented soy, chili, alcohol, raw apples or pears

Minimal: caffeine, cocoa or cocoa butter, artificial sweetners, acid (this includes fruits like plums and citrus, fruit juice, salad dressing, pickles, soda, and vinegar), green onion/leek/watercress/chives, peppermint, paprika/red pepper, fat (ie deepfried stuff), mustard, kidney beans, pine nuts, gluten free flour (it's the vegetable gums), whole wheat, raw carrot

2) Is anyone able to translate this list to the relevant kind of Spanish (Mexican Spanish, I think)? Worth a shot :)

3) Any suggestions for local food that sounds me-friendly? Horchata and paletas sound promising, and I'll keep an eye out for fancy vegan concoctions. I expect to mainly stick to japanese and steak with steamed vegetables like I do here, sigh.

4) Any other recs/advice welcome too! Current plan is Disneyland, Universal Studios, La Brea Tar Pits and nearby stuff to that (farmer's market, art museum, The Grove mall), and maybe the science centre and African American museum (which are near each other in a different part of the city. LA is HUGE) Travel between Anaheim and LA is looking like Amtrak + metro trains, which claim to be accessible.

Comments

[flamebyrd]

Horchata is very tasty (I love it) but sometimes includes cow milk as well as rice milk, so you may need to check before ordering.

I'll check with a Mexican friend of mine to see if she can help out with your translation :D

PS: HAVE FUN!

[alias_sqbr]

Thank you! I'll keep an eye out for milk. And do my best to have fun :)

[ursula]

I lived in LA for two years, and the fact I don't speak Spanish was never an issue.

[alias_sqbr]

Thank you, that's nice to know!

[aris_tgd]

Americans tend not to use "fat" as a catch-all cooking word, the noun tends to only refer to the stuff you trim off meat. "Low-fat" (and "high-fat" or "high in fat") tends to be used more often, and then we just separate out oil and butter and lard and don't talk about them as a category. People should be able to work it out, but if you get a confused look that might be what's going on!

Since it sounds like you're going to have to avoid Mexican food (No dairy, no chili, and very little lime juice knocks out a large percentage of flavorings) you shouldn't have trouble ordering food and asking for substitutions in English. There is a percentage of the population who only speaks Spanish, but as far as food service goes you're much more likely to find people who speak mostly-Spanish serving Mexican food than any other kind of cuisine.

[alias_sqbr]

That's useful to know about "fat"! And interesting, linguistically.

I came to terms with not eating Mexican mains a while ago, yeah. But I'm expecting a few "does this horchata have dairy" conversations :)

[aris_tgd]

I don't drink a lot of horchata but according to my friends, putting dairy in is "an abomination", so hopefully you'll be able to avoid!

[alias_sqbr]

Good to know the horchata I'll be missing is the stuff I should be avoiding anyway :)