10 August, 2010

RoDaBeBe: A Gastronomic Exposé





Perhaps you are one of the lucky few who was given the opportunity to read RoDaBeBe: Trying to Understand the Problem, written by Becky Ward during our first year of college (I apologize in advance, as this snippet does not even come close to her caliber of writing). Or perhaps you have come to know one or all of us through our various adventures in life. The third and most unfortunate group you might fall into is the group of people who are thinking to themselves, what is a RoDaBeBe? No matter which group you fall into, I promise that you will walk away from this with an entirely new understanding of who we are.

RoDaBeBe is a dietary restriction nightmare. RoDaBeBe is a vegetarian, a diabetic, a lactose intolerant, and a kosher. Allow me to take you on a RoDaBeBe tour of the food pyramid. If the four members of RoDaBeBe were to gather for a meal, the grains group can only appear on our table with a side of insulin. Anything from the dairy group is accompanied by a lactaid pill, or eliminated from the table completely, as we also have an anti-cheese among us. The meat group is all but wiped about between the vegetarian, the kosher, and the picky. While that group also contains nuts, eggs, and beans, who can make a meal out of just those?

I know what you are thinking – what’s the big deal? Stick to fruits and vegetables and you all will be good to go. We don’t do anything that simply. Fruits and vegetables are all fine and good, as long as roasted red peppers are not a part of the dish. And while you are at it, add kiwi and apple allergies to the list too.

I would normally say that dessert is the best part of a meal – after all, who doesn’t have at least one dessert that they find to be delicious? Try to name one that doesn’t have dairy, sugar, gelatin, or turn your tongue a funny color.

Amazingly enough we are able to walk into almost any restaurant and all find something we can eat. From time to time we even manage to cook a few dishes together that manage to meet all of the above requirements and restrictions. It only ever gets to be a tad bit challenging when we are guests somewhere and someone else has prepared food for us.

Good thing our prodigious personalities make up for what our plates lack!

Oh yea, in case you still don't understand, RoDaBeBe is a name Robyn came up with in high school to refer to the four of us - it is made up of the first two letters of each of our names.