Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques | Tuesday, 1st Period

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal eyed the students as they sat down. Class was meeting in the Danger Shop today, which he’d been thrilled to learn of, since it meant being able to supply enough adequate cookware and appliances for everyone. (He had no intention of trusting it to supply food, but still.) “I see some familiar faces,” he nodded to the ones he knew, “and some unfamiliar ones. I am Doctor Hannibal Lecter, and this is Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques, so if you are here for anything else, you are in the wrong place.” He paused to let anyone leave who needed to.

“This semester, we will be learning a number of things about cooking that I hope you will all find useful." He passed out a syllabus. "We do have a lesson for today, but first, introductions, please. For those of you who haven’t taken a class with me already, this consists not only of your name and class, but also any allergies you may have — food or not — and any objections or restrictions to eating or working with any foods.”

Once those were over, he continued. “Our first lesson will be something simple, but more complicated than it sounds. Today we learn to boil water.” He turned to the main setup. “If you will gather around?” He gestured for them to come closer. “First, you should always begin with cold water. It will take longer, but it will taste less like pipes and water heater. Filtered is best, if you can get it. Now, the difference between a simmer, a slow boil, and a rolling boil, and the best way to achieve each, which will depend upon your tools and what you are using them for.”

He explained the differences, plus the relative sizes of pot that should be used, how to adequately work a gas stove (and how to make do with electric if necessary), and the benefits of boiling before simmering versus not.

“To apply this lesson, we will be making pasta today. It’s a simple food that can be made much more complex depending upon what you do with it. And how you boil it does make a difference.” He showed them overcooked, doughy pasta; undercooked, crunchy pasta; pasta that had been stuck together from not enough room in the pot; and pasta cooked correctly. “I prefer fresh myself, but you will most likely be cooking from dried, so that is what you’ll find at your stations. When you’re done, we’ll discuss what you've learned, and eat what I’ve made from mine.” He smiled and waved them toward the individual stove set-ups.

"If you have questions, please ask me or have one of my assistants do so." He pointed them out.

Comments

Sign in!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Ready to boil water!

Re: Sign in!

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar

(Zhari)

Introduce yourself!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Let Hannibal know your allergies and/or food restrictions.

Re: Introduce yourself!

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"Hi, I'm Zhari," she said, smiling at the class. She couldn't remember which of her mother's names she'd used for introducing herself before, so she didn't use one at all. "I'm a junior and I don't have any allergies that I know of.

Re: Introduce yourself!

[shippedtomaine]

"Emma Swan," she said. "Junior, and still no allergies I'm aware of."

Re: Introduce yourself!

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla smiled at him. "Hello again, Mr. Lecter. I'm Rilla Blythe, this is my senior year of school, and while I've learned I'm not much of a fan of raw fish, I'm not allergic to it?"

Re: Introduce yourself!

[flickofthewrist]

"Flick. No allergies," he said succinctly. Hey, this introduction hadn't needed to be flowery and full of prose!

Re: Introduce yourself!

[myownface]

"Hey, I'm Sparkle," Sparks greeted, giving the new kids a bit of a warning look, in case any got any ideas about giggling at his name. "Junior now, I guess, and I'm not allergic to like anything."

Re: Introduce yourself!

[not_a_moonie]

"Hey, I'm Alana," Alana said, smiling slightly. "Sophomore. I'm not allergic to anything I know of."

Re: Introduce yourself!

[seveninchmotto]

"Isabelle Lightwood. No allergies."

And no cooking abilities whatsoever. But that'd become obvious soon enough.

Re: Introduce yourself!

[beautifulsenshi.livejournal.com]

"Hajimemashite!" Minako cheered, popping up and bowing. "I'm Aino Minako, but, like, I totally go by Minako 'cause it's easier for Americans to remember than dealing with Japanese family names. Junior, and I totally love food and have no allergies!"

Re: Introduce yourself!

[dressedinblood]

"Anna Korlov," Anna said, "and I'm not allergic to anything...but I can't eat."

Re: Introduce yourself!

[ldymacgyver]

"I'm Daphne Blake, and I have no food allergies."

Re: Introduce yourself!

[selfhelphero]

"I'm Billy, I'm a senior, and I don't have any food allergies." He was feeling really grateful for that right now.

Cook your pasta on your own

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Well or badly, just try not to set the shop on fire.

Re: Cook your pasta on your own

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Zhahar was going to add some salt to her water. It added just a bit of flavor to the noodles and, she believed wrongly, helped make the water boil hotter (http://chemistry.about.com/od/foodcookingchemistry/f/Why-Do-You-Add-Salt-To-Boiling-Water.htm). Well, okay, it would, but not the pinch she'd tossed in to help.

Re: Cook your pasta on your own

[shippedtomaine]

Emma had at least managed to figure out how to boil water by now, but cooking things in it turned out to be a lot easier when someone had explained thing first, fancy that.

Re: Cook your pasta on your own

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla had gotten to be pretty handy at cooking noodles (Jims could live on macaroni if Rilla would let him), but she'd not added quite enough water to the pot (on the theory that less water would boil faster and when you're cooking for a two year old, faster is better than, well, better) and so the pasta was a little stuck together.

Re: Cook your pasta on your own

[flickofthewrist]

Well, at least this class wasn't about coping with his grief? Flick couldn't cook a lick but he'd sometimes watched his mother during quieter times in Connecticut.

So, he managed to get the water boiling and then he just dumped a bunch of noodles in there to make them soft.

Re: Cook your pasta on your own

[myownface]

Sparkle was, like, the Lewis Chance Home For Wayward blah blah blah reigning Kraft Dinner champion, so, while he wasn't so sure about his prowess at anything else, he did at least have boiling pasta down to something of a science.

Not an artform yet, no. But definitely a science.

Re: Cook your pasta on your own

[not_a_moonie]

Alana's family wasn't exactly big on homecooked meals, but she'd picked up boiling water. The stove seemed primitive next to what she was used to, but after a little fiddling with the knob she had the concept down.

At least, she thought she did. She never realized how long water took to boil.

Talk to Hannibal!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Ask for help or clarification.

Re: Talk to Hannibal!

[dressedinblood]

"Doctor Lecter?" Anna said as she approached him after class. "I'm really sorry about this; I realized the class might involve eating, of course, but it didn't occur to me there might be trips off the island when I signed up."

Eat the food and discuss what you learned

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Pasta al Sole - fresh organic pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, blood orange zest, fennel seed, and toasted breadcrumbs.

Re: Eat the food and discuss what you learned

[shippedtomaine]

It would surely come to a shock to all and sundry that the pasta on Emma's plate was vanishing at a speed that just managed to stay within 'polite'.

Talk to the TAs!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

He has them this semester!

Re: Talk to the TAs!

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Even as her water was boiling and her noodles cooking, Zhahar made sure to keep an eye out for anyone with questions. She was rather giddy about this whole TA thing.

::Isn't it exciting?:: Sholeh asked.

=You both are ridiculous,= Zeela sighed.

OOC

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

...okay, so I may have gone overboard with threads?