Gluten Free in the Cook Islands…from Heaven to Hell in 10 Days
I recently returned from a Pacific Island ‘trip of a lifetime’ with my husband to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. We journeyed to gorgeous Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, about a 4 hour plane trip north of New Zealand…it is simply spectacular. It is a tiny dot of an island surrounded by a turquoise coral atoll lagoon full of tropical fish and colourful coral, pristine beaches and sunsets to die for all wrapped up in a low key friendly islander culture. We enjoyed 6 days of paradise here staying at the 5 star Pacific Resort Aitutaki, and then it all somewhat unravelled with 3 emotionally fraught days on the main island of Rarotonga, staying at the Sanctuary Rarotonga Resort. The reason for the emotional slide was not because of the change of scenery, although Aitutaki really is SO much more beautiful a destination, but it was because of the difference in the gluten free catering I was exposed to. At the first resort, as a coeliac I was made to feel as though my enjoyment of any dining experience was their primary concern. At the second one, I was made to feel like an annoying whinger.
As we know, travelling as a coeliac is fraught with difficulty as sourcing gluten free is only the first issue, ensuring cross contamination does not occur is just as important. It often means we do not get to enjoy local culturally specific food in areas we travel to, or even nice food as unprepared chefs cater for gluten free by simply removing elements from existing dishes. This usually results in all flavour and textures being removed as well. Yet we are surrounded by other diners that are enjoying wonderfully tasty and creatively prepared food. And we have to pay the same amount even though our dish is missing key elements or just simply no longer enjoyable. This is why I go to the trouble of sourcing and pre warning accommodation and restaurants who will genuinely cater for gluten free by creating interesting and tasty alternative dishes, listed on the menu with therefore the expectation that non gluten free diners will enjoy them as well.
My experience eating gluten free at the Aitutaki resort involved the Head Chef chatting with us at our first meal in depth to anticipate how best to fine tune the options to best suit my needs, enjoying gluten free versions of every option on the breakfast menu, eating nearly every option from the Islander Buffet Night as it was almost ALL prepared gluten free, for everyone, enjoying a seafood platter with my husband where EVERY yummy option was gluten free, and enjoying a dessert platter where again EVERY yummy creative option was gluten free. I was in food heaven. And I was not once made to feel like I was missing out, or that I was being ‘difficult’.
In contrast, my time eating at the Sanctuary Rarotongan restaurants was spent establishing what I couldn’t eat. The wait staff were not informed so lengthy delays occurred at each meal as they went back and forth to the kitchen, often coming back to tell me that a dish they originally said was gluten free actually wasn’t and I had to choose again. It usually took about 45 minutes each time to find something I could eat. And the result was a plain meal with nearly all flavour (sauces, salad dressings) removed to be replaced by plain olive oil for salad dressings/sauces & bread the texture of chalk with no butter…dishes that no chef would ever design to send out to the public but as a coeliac I was meant to be happy that at least I got something to eat. Hooray! And in the end I ended up feeling like a whinger and my dining experience had become exhausting.
The exception was the breakfasts on the first two mornings as the gluten free bread (4 slices each time) was very nice (which I had to initially ask for…there was none ready for me). The breakfast staff for those 2 mornings were great, seeking to look after me and bringing the toast and eggs out quickly. The third morning was terrible. After a 15 min wait with still no food, I politely asked the waitress (new lady to previous two days) if it was coming and it was another 10 minutes before the eggs came, and then a further 10 minutes before 2 pieces of small undercooked (not browned in any capacity) came out. Ten more minutes again and I had two extra pieces, which were obviously from a different loaf and were inedible (texture of chalk…they could simply be snapped in two, and barely warm). My husband had completely finished his breakfast 20 min earlier, which had included lovely pastries, all versions of toast, cereal and flapjacks. As had all the diners that had started when we did or arrived 20 minutes after we had sat down.
So the message I got as a coeliac from this resort was that it did not matter to them if I enjoyed my meal. I needed to just be happy I received anything at all as it was a real pain to cater for me.
In summary, several issues were at play here with this experience:
Communication problems at Reservations led to the second resort not being prepared ahead of time to cater gluten free for me (my emails notifying them 4 months ahead of time of my dietary needs were not passed on to new staff when the old manager was replaced). Their approach to what it means to cater for gluten free obviously needs revising (eg. create tasty appetising alternatives don’t just remove stuff), as does their understanding as to exactly what gluten free is (the Food and Beverage Manager seemed confused…thinking gluten free also meant dairy free and egg free). And communication issues within the restaurants was also a problem as staff were not informed correctly of gluten free options and individual guest needs.
To follow up this experience I did email the Reservations Manager (you can view the full communication here), in the hope that some of the issues I encountered might be resolved in order to prevent other coeliacs from having to go through what I did.
The Cook Islands is so so beautiful, it would be a shame for other coeliacs to miss out on enjoying this bucket list experience simply because their gluten free needs were not catered for well. I am sure there are plenty of other great resorts here that will cater well, but they will probably be at the pricier end of the market with more international chefs as part of their line-up, as the locals seem to only have a basic understanding of gluten free catering and how to avoid cross-contamination.
You can read more about our incredible stay on Aitutaki in my blog Bucket List Travel: Aitutaki, Cook Islands, coming soon
If you have had gluten free experiences in the Cook Islands, good or bad, I would love you to share them in the Comments section below to help fellow coeliac travellers.
I would also encourage you to provide well-worded feedback to any establishment that caters poorly for gluten free so that we can overtime create better experiences for us all.
(Download this free Feedback template if you are unsure what to say or how to say it)
(also check out this blog Being the Voice for Change re Gluten Free High Teas now done well at a 5 star city hotel due to some well-worded feedback)
