A few years ago I was bitten by a tick and contracted
Alpha-Gal. I can not eat any Red Meat (any mammal protein) or else I have an allergic reaction. Once I start having the hives, I take an Antihistamine (Benadryl) and the allergic reaction calms down and goes away. I have to be careful with food that has been prepared in lard, beef broth or animal fat. I'm ok to eat animals that fly or swim. My question is how much of a concern is this on the Camino France?
Wow! I didn't know about this allergy. My son has a very violent allergy to insect stings so I know a bit about the kind of thing you're living with.
I've been a vegetarian for over 40 years, so pretty committed. I walked the full
Camino Frances a few months ago. It was difficult managing my diet. Spanish people LOVE meat. A few times I ate soups realising that globs of fat were floating in front of me. There were bacon bits in a bowl of lentil soup one time - I ate around them as best I could. So not unreasonable to avoid soups, in my opinion, because you just won't be sure. Which is a shame because Galician soups are outstanding!
The very first potato omelette I ate, I asked "Sin jamon?" The guy behind the bar looked at me as though I was a lunatic and just said "patata!" There were bits of bacon in that frittata, but that turned out to be unusual. I must have eaten about a thousand potato omelettes while on The Camino. A cheap and very common source of protein, but what will it be fried in?
At any time, I often have to look the other way when eating barbecue, veg or marinated tofu is often fried/grilled right beside carnivores' delight. If you're sensitive to this kind of thing, you'll have to be extremely careful, of course.
Kanga's suggestion to prepare a laminated card sounds like a good idea. Have it worded to include something like "Life-threatening medical condition". Have key phrases in red capitals. Include a Red Cross logo.Wear it around your neck on a lanyard. No kidding.
I didn't stay in albergues. Buffet breakfasts were perfect for me. The occasional buffet dinners were the only times I had decent salads. A few times I scanned a menu and asked the waiter/owner to combine veg ingredients from different dishes to make a decent salad. They were always obliging.
I developed a few strategies for managing my diet. If you contact me via private conversation, I'd be happy to list a few suggestions. Doing that here might be boring for some.
Good luck, Mike