fandomhigh | The Philosophy of Food | Wednesday, 3rd Period

Hannibal pulled the chair to one side of the desk at the front of the room and sat; the desk itself had a number of dishes on it, each neatly covered or cloth-napkin-draped. He waited until he had the right number of students seated in front of him, then nodded and stood.

"Good afternoon. I am Dr. Lecter; this is The Philosophy of Food. I trust you are all in the correct place." He passed out a syllabus and waved at the rigid setup of the students' desks as he walked. "You may sit in neat rows if you like, or bring a chair forward if you would prefer. Or you may sit on the floor or wander the room; whatever makes you comfortable, so long as you pay attention." You could tell a lot about people from how they chose to interact with their space.

"You will not need to take any notes, although you may do so if you choose. As you can see, there will be a final project, no exams or quizzes. I have only two requirements for classes: one, you must participate." He indicated the food. "You may choose to eat or decline anything presented here. You may choose to eat none of it; while I might be disappointed, it will in no way affect your grade. However, you must have opinions and speak them; possibly be prepared to defend them." He waited a moment to make sure they got it, then nodded.

"The second rule – there will be no judging. There will undoubtedly be things you do not think of as edible, or even that you may have a cultural or religious bias against. There may be practices in the raising or creation of food which you may find objectionable. I expect you to say just that, and to be prepared to explain why. There will be no use of the term 'disgusting', no 'ew's or 'gross'es." He frowned. "That will affect your grade if I hear it, and quite negatively."

He sat back in the chair, hands folded. "Now, introductions I believe are traditional, but I would appreciate a little more as well. Please tell me your name, and any allergies – food or otherwise – and dietary restrictions you may have. It is my goal to make you think about your food and to expand your horizons, not to kill you from anaphylaxis." Though he did have medicines just in case; he'd never lost a student unintentionally yet, and had no plans of starting now.

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"Chicken or beef or pork or mutton," Rilla said after a moment's thought. "Grains. Potatoes. Fruit or vegetables we grow in the garden. And cakes."

"It's good to hear you grow your own. So, chicken, beef, pork, mutton." He cocked his head at her. "What about squab? Goat? Would you consider those normal? What about a fruit or a vegetable you haven't heard of before?" He waved at the durian.

Rilla looked a little dubiously at the durian. "What's a squab?"

"Generally speaking, a small bird. More specifically, usually pigeon."

Rilla's nose wrinkled a bit. "That's a little...exotic...for me."

"So, what makes pigeon exotic and chicken normal? Is it simply that you've eaten one before, or is there something inherent in the birds?"

"I think it's the bird," Rilla said. "Chickens are food, so are ducks and geese and turkeys--at least at Christmas. They're too much trouble other times. But you don't eat seagulls or robins or finches. I think there probably needs to be some food on the bird to go through all the trouble of plucking it."

"So, part of what makes something food is that it's worth the trouble of procuring and preparing." Personally, he adored the process, but he could acknowledge the logic of her approach.

"And for holidays, these other birds are worth their trouble. Why? They're not any less trouble than at other times, nor does their meat taste any different."

The Philosophy of Food | Wednesday, 3rd Period

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