Awareness of celiac disease is on the rise, but many places have never heard of it, so patience is required – both in explaining the issue and handling mistakes While eating dessert in Finikas, a tiny town on Syros in Greece, I realized that I might have made a terrible mistake. I didn’t speak Greek but I had presented the restaurant’s owner with a celiac translation card in his native tongue. Through limited English, he assured me that his dessert was safe for my stomach. As I got to the bottom of the rich custard treat, I realized that it sat on a base of what seemed to be honey-soaked bread. That evening, I communed at length with my apartment’s toilet. The next morning, I couldn’t bend the fingers on my inflamed hands. Though the owner had assured me his dessert contained no wheat or flour, my stomach disagreed. Continue reading...