Traveling with allergies and dietary restrictions is complicated enough without a language barrier. Below are some phrases to help in restaurants.

The basic sentence starter is: Soy alérgico/a a __. “Soy” means I am. “Alérgico” is allergic, describing a man. “Alérgica” is allergic, describing a woman. The g is pronounced like an English h, so it sounds like uh-LER-hee-ko or uh-LER-hee-ka. The “a” after allergic means to. Fill in the blank with whatever you are trying to avoid.

GF: Not all servers recognize the word “gluten” as an allergen. In Peru, the word gluten can refer to a meat substitute at vegetarian restaurants. Try saying you’re allergic to wheat: trigo. “Soy alérgico/a a trigo.” Lots of meals are based on rice (arroz), potatoes (papas) and quinoa, so as long as you can avoid pasta (fideos) and bread (pan), you should be okay.