Sauce Phobia

Yes I have sauce phobia, if the sauce is brown it likely has soy sauce in it and that means wheat. If the sauce is brownish or thickish, then that means a rue, which is flour and butter - both bad or it is creamy and well, creamy is not catastrophic, but bad all the same.

Last night there was rice with the stir fry in a brown sauce. I ate the rice with the cooked turkey sausage I brought from home and some lovely roast plum tomatoes I also brought from home. Yum. (Whole Foods.)

Tonight I had brought the other half of the sausage and plum tomatoes, hoping for more rice. Nope, bread, bread, bread. I so did not want to walk back to my cottage, after my 40 minute hilly bike ride, to get said rice. My legs and ass felt like jelly. Enough already.

So I inquired if perhaps, they did not have left over rice. Nope no rice. So I said, well I am gluten free and the dinner tonight is not?

Gluten Free you say, hold on and let me get Chef Brian.

Chef Brian?

So Chef Brian appears,complete in traditional chef gear, offers me some rice pasta and says, pointing at my tupperware of sausage and tomatoes, want me to warm that up and toss it with the pasta.

Yeah buddy and could you kiss me while you are at it.

So he proceeds to take out a pan, one labeled - Gluten Free Only.

"Is vegetable oil, I mean canola oil ok?"

Yes I say.

He heats the oil tossed in the pasta, added my meat mixture, tosses it.

"How about some dry white wine?"

I nod. Thinking I should just jump the glass, open flame be damned and kiss him.

He hits it with the wine, deftly slides it on a plate. Smiles at me and says, "Wow, that is not bad."

I nod, he tells me he will bring me my container after he has it washed in the dishwasher.

Wow. That pasta was amazing and way better than the weird stuff my class mates had to choose from.

Kenyon is developing a plan to be able to offer a gluten and lactose free entree at every meal this fall. With dedicated cookware and appetizing and non stigmatizing menus. He was hired to do that and was somewhat excited to have four woman, this week, to work with. He wants to learn. He asked me many questions about what I liked, what worked. He has taken classes in cooking for those with allergies and this is his first chance to be an agent of change, to make it happen.

It felt so nice, to have someone take care of me that way. Certainly I had brought the components, but Brian had deftly and sweetly combined them and cooked them and asked me thoughtful questions.

No sneers or sighs. Just simple cooking and a great meal.