Vegetarians?

[Stephanie907]

Hello all. I will be traveling with a vegetarian next year and I am wondering if there will be any availability of pilgrim menus for her or if we should plan on making other eating arrangements. Also, does anyone have tips/hints/advice for vegetarians traveling the Camino? Thanks all!

 

[mspath]

See this earlier Forum thread re vegetarians on the camino.
The posts contain many helpful hints. This is another very handy list of vegetarian albergues/restos on the CF.
Happy planning and Buen camino to you both!

 

[Inbar]

Vegan (doing the camino this September)
Following this thread

You can message me the end of October and ask me how it went.

 

[Kiko]

pescatarian just walked run to bilbao:

i hope you like tortilla!

 

[Maria Aurora xxx]

Inbar,

I´m also a vegan (from Finland) and starting in September (exact date yet to be decided) in SJPDP Might encounter some challenges with the diet along the way but, hey, wouldn´t do it any other way!

I think tortilla is out of question, as far as I know it contains eggs.

Maybe our paths cross at some point!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

it contains eggs

Primarily eggs, with some potatoes, onion, and pimiento, and likely a good dose of lard! Meat may be added.

 

[Inbar]

Inbar,

I´m also a vegan (from Finland) and starting in September (exact date yet to be decided) in SJPDP Might encounter some challenges with the diet along the way but, hey, wouldn´t do it any other way!

I think tortilla is out of question, as far as I know it contains eggs.

Maybe our paths cross at some point!

Hi Maria, I certainly hope so! I leave SJPP Sept. 13.

The tortilla definitely isn't an option, but I don't worry. It's more of a challenge for us but we'll be fine, and worst case scenario - it's a tin can dinner... Hey, it's still food!

 

[Zuze]

Hi,

Am a lacto-vegetarian (no eggs or other animal products, except dairy) starting in 3 weeks. Will report back, but shouldn't be a problem if your companion eats eggs. Meatless tortillas are quite common in Spain, not to suggest that this is the only option.

Cheers,
Zuze

 

[Oztrekker]

I have met plenty of vegeterians.

• No problems, i have seen the vegeterians eat at plenty of places. The restaraunts are used to it.

I was a vegeterian on the annapurna circuit, not by choice, found i lacked the usual power in my legs.

Oz

 

[waveprof]

If you work you can find what you need, and a few of albergues are very vegetarian friendly (there is one just short of Sarria that ONLY serves vegetarian).

But also beware, Spaniards are mostly not used to this and may mistakenly give you things cooked with meat or even mean in it. It used to be widely true (and still is sometimes true) that if you tell a Spaniard you don't eat meat, or are a vegetarian, they'll go OK! No problem. My cousin doesn't eat beef either! Then proceed to serve you chorizo, chicken, and pork belly.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Primarily eggs, with some potatoes, onion, and pimiento, and likely a good dose of lard! Meat may be added.

Nope, olive oil, onion, potatoes and eggs. Optional is chorizo. No lard, no pimiento.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Many veggetarians I met decided not to be on the Camino, including marathon runners who are used to planning their meals based on hight calory consumption.

 

[Oztrekker]

They could eat confectionary, energy gels between meals, whey protein etc when finishimg the day.

I still think protein makes a difference in ultra distance stamina events. 26km is a doddle and a vegan should have zero issues. I guess some iron tablets may help the anaemic, but other than that i have seen vegans and vegeterians fly along.

I think it comes down to pack weight as vegans are very slim and light weight.

 

[waveprof]

vegans are very slim and light weight.

I wouldn't go making blanked statements like that. This man is a vegetarian:

And I've known several vegetarians and/or vegans whom I'd rank as the unhealthiest eaters I've met because of the copious amounts of candy and/or fried foods they ate non-stop. Veggie doesn't always mean healthy eating habits, it just means they don't eat meat.

 

[Oztrekker]

I spose if they ate french fries, confectionary, and ice cream non stop then yes they could become obese.

But the tofu bean eaters i met where skeletal

 

[Lizzie from OK]

Not a vegetarian, but stayed at the St. Anthony of Padua Albergue in Mazarife, and the menu was only vegetarian - and delicious! Found most other places offered tuna for pescatarians.

 

[Maurice16]

Hello all. I will be traveling with a vegetarian next year and I am wondering if there will be any availability of pilgrim menus for her or if we should plan on making other eating arrangements. Also, does anyone have tips/hints/advice for vegetarians traveling the Camino? Thanks all!

Hey Stephanie, the link vegetarian albergues which Mspath mentioned has a lot of info for vegetarians. I compiled a list there but it's about two years old now. I'll try to update it. But if you read that thread you'll get some good info. Also, getting together with a few pilgrims and sharing a meal is a wonderful way to go. It's also much less expensive. As a vegetarian, I would try to carry a couple of carrots, apple, orange, banana and dried fruit & nuts as I trekked. I would cook a small potato or two (sweet potatoes are better) to carry during my trek.
When cooking alone, I would buy a small jar of lentils, chic peas or something, rinse them well and cook them with some veggies. I would mix them with rice which I was able to by in small pre cooked packets. Not ideal but functional. Look around the supermarkets and you can find something.
I would soak oatmeal or muesli in water before bed time and in the morning add fruit for breakfast. I must say I walked in sept/oct so temps were cooler. If I cooked extra for dinner, I would save some in a container for lunch the following day. I would store it in my pack to insulate it from the sun.
It takes a bit of effort but s vegetarian can go well on the Camino. I'm not a big cheese eater and some restaurants will focus on cheese for a veggie meal. Remember that all natural foods contain some protein. You just need to be aware of what you're eating. Fresh veggies when you can.
Good luck and buen camino

 

[marcpointon]

hi Stephanie, there's a lot of options lovely..I walked the French way 850kms to Finisterre in May/June of this year with no issues being a vegetarian! Some great vegetarian/vegan restaurants and albergues or ones coming soon. I even met a Spanish couple in Pieros who were in the process of setting up a web page dedicated to walking the camino as a vegetarian. Most bocodillos (sandwiches) have vegetarian options, a lot of pilgrim menus had vegetarian options, your friend will be fine. Carry something to snack on or if there's a stretch between towns or its siesta time ie: some fruit/veges, good quality bars, boiled eggs, fresh bread etc. I spent time in Madrid after finishing the camino with some Spanish friends, one had moved back after 5 years in London and couldn't believe how many more vegetarian/vegan places to eat have opened, there seems to be a growing movement in Spain just like many other places in the world, maybe the world is waking up to the over consumption of meat and the in humane treatment that goes on to other species deemed ignorantly lesser than us humans. Best wishes and buen Camino

Ps I have a number of places you can eat the best food on the camino some cooked directly from the garden out the back that are also albergues. send me a message

 

[marcpointon]

Sorry I hit enter too early..send me a message if you want any more info

 

[Bundeena Kris]

Hi all. I've been RAW VEGAN for 8 years (the healthiest I've ever been). I figure August being harvest month and so I'll revel in fresh fruits and salads (they do have salads, don't they?) . Also, if worst comes to worst, when in Rome etc.
(There are fruit shops on the way, yes?)

 

[Kimberly Helen]

Hi all. I've been RAW VEGAN for 8 years (the healthiest I've ever been). I figure August being harvest month and so I'll revel in fresh fruits and salads (they do have salads, don't they?) . Also, if worst comes to worst, when in Rome etc.
(There are fruit shops on the way, yes?)

Oh, gosh, no, Spain is (in)famous for its lack of good salads, especially in non-metro areas (the typical Spanish salad = iceberg lettuce, tomato, onion. Possibly corn and/or tuna.) Summer produce in Spain is insanely cheap and flavorful, so you can eat GREAT salads if you're willing to prepare them yourself in the albergues -- just don't hold out much hope for local eateries.

 

[Oztrekker]

I am addicted to mescal salad mix in a bag, but like the recentnposter said yoy have to buy a whole iceberg.

I would also like to buy three asparagus rather than 12 or a bunch.

Polmello are also good, just avoid the ones from israel, they had some white powder residue on the outside. Not sure why or what it was.

 

[Lucy Longpath]

If you work you can find what you need, and a few of albergues are very vegetarian friendly (there is one just short of Sarria that ONLY serves vegetarian).

But also beware, Spaniards are mostly not used to this and may mistakenly give you things cooked with meat or even mean in it. It used to be widely true (and still is sometimes true) that if you tell a Spaniard you don't eat meat, or are a vegetarian, they'll go OK! No problem. My cousin doesn't eat beef either! Then proceed to serve you chorizo, chicken, and pork belly.

The vegetarian Albergue just short of Sarria is Paloma y Lena at San Mahmed. There is a lovely shared vegetarian meal. It was lentil soup followed by tortilla and /or quiche and salad, plus fruit and Santiago cake for postre plus red wine and water. It is a very relaxing place to stay, lovely garden with hammocks, children playing, chickens running around, spacious small dormitories with plenty of showers etc. I totally recommend this Albergue. This is not the only veggie Albergue. There are quite a few actually and all those I was able to stay at were very good!!

 

[waveprof]

The vegetarian Albergue just short of Sarria is Paloma y Lena at San Mahmed. There is a lovely shared vegetarian meal. It was lentil soup followed by tortilla and /or quiche and salad, plus fruit and Santiago cake for postre plus red wine and water. It is a very relaxing place to stay, lovely garden with hammocks, children playing, chickens running around, spacious small dormitories with plenty of showers etc. I totally recommend this Albergue. This is not the only veggie Albergue. There are quite a few actually and all those I was able to stay at were very good!!

That albegue is great and the people nice but I can't speak to the food we walked back up the road for seafood paella. I've had a lot of good vegetarianfood in my life, but at that point in the Camino we were desperate for at least seafood if it had been earlier, we would have eaten there

 

[Lucy Longpath]

Hello all. I will be traveling with a vegetarian next year and I am wondering if there will be any availability of pilgrim menus for her or if we should plan on making other eating arrangements. Also, does anyone have tips/hints/advice for vegetarians traveling the Camino? Thanks all!

There are quite a few vegetarian Albergues. I tried to stay at as many as possible although some were too close together so could not manage all of them. There are also vegetarian restaurants in Pamplona and Leon. It is possible to get veggie food at many of the other Albergues sometimes just by asking and sometimes you can have two first plates such as Mixed Salad and Pasta with Tomato sauce. It's also possible in many cafes too. There are lists on this forum if you search on vegetarian as someone else has suggested. I do the research before I went and took a list of places to try to go to and then found others when I was there. It was a lot easier than I had expected.

 

[lunna]

I'm a vegetarian, and I've done three caminos so far, losing lots of weight on all of them. It is not easy, especially as I'm a 'near' vegan - that is, no eggs or cheese either (though an occasional yogurt). Whenever I would find a supermercado, I would stock up on avocados, nuts and bread (I never thought I would come to hate bread as much as I did my last camino!). My standard meal would be a bocadillo with lots of tomatoes, asparagus, and drenched in olive oil. I would also buy as much fruit as possible, in open markets or in stores, and if I was lucky (Gadis in Galicia was my favorite for this reason), I would buy jars of hummus. The last camino (del norte), I dropped 7 1/2 kilos, and I'm not heavy to start with

Still, I had a fantastic time, each and every camino - and the few times I would find a place that served vegan food (I remember a small town on the portugues where the owner of a bar's daughter was vegan and they prepared me veggie burgers), I was in paradise.

And of course, wine is not verboten for us non-meat eaters

 

[marbuck]

While walking the Le Puy this year with some vegetarian Americans friends, they found it hard to stay vegetarian. So they just changed for the duration of the walk and ate whatever was put in front of them.

 

[lunna]

That's very sad, actually.

While walking the Le Puy this year with some vegetarian Americans friends, they found it hard to stay vegetarian. So they just changed for the duration of the walk and ate whatever was put in front of them.[/QU

 

[good_old_shoes]

In my opinion it's not difficult at all to eat vegetarian on the Camino Francés (don't know the others). On the Francés it's easy as long as you don't expect too much and cook for yourself at least from time to time. You can get many good ingredients to cook nice dishes, while the vegetarian options in the pilgrim's menue mostly seemed boring and not very healthy. If you plan to mostly eat in restaurants and get snacks at bars and cafés, you might find out soon that there's not many different options, but you won't starve.

No need to suddenly start eating sea food or even meat again!

If there's a communal meal in an albergue you stay at, tell them you're vegetarian when you arrive. Always got a meat-free option, even the one time I was the only vegetarian. I thought it would be much more difficult, but maybe I'm just not that picky ;-)

If you're vegan it should be doable also with a bit of planning (carrying a bit of food) - I noticed that even the the small shops/tiendas in the tiny villages almost always have jars of lentils and chickpeas, nuts ect., so, no problem getting your protein.

Personally, I cooked most evenings - simple food (like pasta, veggie sauce with chickpeas, salad/fruit) but all the nutritients needed. Didn't lose any weight (maybe too much cerveza is to blame...).

[A question to the other vegetarians, maybe someone knows: If you make it to Finisterre, close to the beach is a place that is a bit hippie-like, I forgot the name. Inside they had a sign that they prepare fresh veggie dishes if you ask, ate a delicious sandwich with freshly roasted vegetables and mushrooms there! Does anyone know the name of that place?]

Buen veggie-Camino!

 

[Lucy Longpath]

I had some good experiences eating vegetarian food on the Camino Frances. There were quite a few vegetarian Albergues including Verde, Paloma y Lena, San Anton de Padua, Serbal y Luna, Las Lagudeas and Casa Magica. There were others too but sadly we could not go to them all! There were a couple of excellent vegetarian/vegan restaurants, La Sarasate in Pamploma and Le Union in Leon. These are good at lunchtime. They are not that easy to find but if you do the research on the internet you can find them, and it was well worth the effort. There were other Albergues that were happy to do a vegetarian option. I always asked when I checked in. Sometimes I had two Primeros instead of a Secundo so that I could have something without meat.

 

[ria]

Since five years a walked quite some camino's, and two years ago I became vegan. Quite a change on the camino, but I do not think it's particulary hard in Spain to find vegan food (I mean in Amsterdam i have to make efforts too). For breakfast: tostadas con aceite y tomatos (toast with olive oil and tomatoes). I always carry some small tins of mushrooms or veggies in my pack to eat on a loaf of bread, there are loads of lovely fruits and vegetables available in the supermarkets & garbanzo (chickpea) and lentils. And there is dark chocolate ofcourse, to keep you walking during the day. And oreos, the accidental vegan cookie, that provides loads of calories.

In restaurants I usually tell in a friendly way that I don't eat meat, fish, eggs, cheese, milk & then ask if there is possibly anything I can eat. Often people get very creative then & go beyond the standard ensalada mixta con patatas . If in a menu they have two vegan primero's (first plates), I ask if i can have two primero's (ensalada mixta, lentils (lentejas), macarones with tomato sauce, something like that).

A few places you should - as a vegan - not miss on the camino frances:
- Logroño: the shop 'Begin Vegan' and the tapas bar 'El sol'. Especially the bar is heaven: vegan tortilla, seitan chorizo, nice cakes, fantastic atmosphere. The shop is very well stored and amazing people work there.
- Portomarin, albergue El Mirador: very normal albergue/bar & 'meat'place, but they serve a such a great plate with grilled veggies. When I told I was vegan, I even got vegan tapas with my drinks!
- In Santiago: Entre Piedras, in the old town, completely vegan bar/restaurant where they serve great burgers and fantastic chocolate cake. There is also a vegan shop in Santiago, but I don't like that one very much - bit unfriendly. But they do have all stuff ofcourse.

Other shops:
In many towns they have this shop called 'Salvieri' (don't remember the name exactly, it starts with 'salv'): kind of health store, where they also sell tofu, seitan, soy yoghurts and stuff like that. In normal supermarkets there is usually quite a choice in non dairy milks (not only soy, but also almond and oat). & there is this brand Soya Sun deserts, that does great yoghurts and custards. In quite some supermarkets you can find hummus as well. If you encounter an 'El Corte Ingles' in a big town (Pamplona, Leon e.g.): non dairy cheeses, seitan, burgers, big selection of all kind of vegan things in the 'health section'.

And then - the thing I really love in Spain - churros! Traditionally made of flour, water and oil & maybe some sugar, so completely vegan. Very good walking food (warm, fat & comforting). In bakeries you can also ask for 'tortillas de aceite' (cookielike things that are baked with olive oil; you find these in supermarkets as well).
I think this is not all, but can't remember more right now.

Good luck, you vegans on the camino!
ria

 

[ria]

[A question to the other vegetarians, maybe someone knows: If you make it to Finisterre, close to the beach is a place that is a bit hippie-like, I forgot the name. Inside they had a sign that they prepare fresh veggie dishes if you ask, ate a delicious sandwich with freshly roasted vegetables and mushrooms there! Does anyone know the name of that place?]

Buen veggie-Camino![/QUOTE]

Maybe albergue Sol y Luna??

 

[lunna]

Ria, I do almost exactly the same, except for the oreos (I never knew they were dairy free), and churros (too greasy and sweet for my taste) but believe it or not, most of the bars, etc. I stopped at in the morning don't even have tomatoes ready, so it was usually just pan tostada con aceite. It was amazing the lengths some (but not many) bars went to to find me tomatoes, maybe some aspargus, or even ensalata (actually running to the grocery to find me some). When they did, I was really grateful

 

[CumbresTrekker]

Oh, gosh, no, Spain is (in)famous for its lack of good salads, especially in non-metro areas (the typical Spanish salad = iceberg lettuce, tomato, onion. Possibly corn and/or tuna.) Summer produce in Spain is insanely cheap and flavorful, so you can eat GREAT salads if you're willing to prepare them yourself in the albergues -- just don't hold out much hope for local eateries.

Thanks for mentioning Spain's reputation relative to salads. The URL below states that 19 European countries have said no to genetically modified food substances ("GMOs"), but Spain is not among them. I think I will avoid the corn during my trek on the Camino Frances. Recently I noted that a U.S. doctor issued a pamphlet on how to avoid GMOs, and in it, mentioned that GMOs are linked to cancer risk.

http://ecowatch.com/2015/10/05/european-union-ban-gmos/

Buen Camino.