Flavors, Food Choices, and Menu Planning - Friday, 4th period

[sharp_as_knives]

Hanna waited for the students to file in and get seated, then nodded to them and began.

"I hope you all enjoyed the film last week. So, now we return to cooking. Salt," she said, and uncovered the dishes on the counter. "Throughout the world, salt is the most widely-used ingredient in food. It is also one of the oldest. Long before refrigeration, salt curing was used to preserve foods. Salt pulls moisture from food and inhibits bacterial growth."

She passed around a bit of home-made jerky. "In addition, it affects many of the chemical reactions involved in cooking. Because it helps protein gelatinzation and alters the rate of fermentation, it affects the texture of meats, breads, cheeses - most things in which it's used." Bread and sausage were passed around next.

"Also, it affects other flavors. In small amounts, it can enhance sweetness - hence the salt you may find in fruit dishes and candies - and cut bitterness - hence its being used in pickling like the olives we had in our bitter foods class." Next were more of those olives, and some salted caramels to taste.

"The key with salt is using the right amount, and the right kind. You should at all costs avoid common table salt; it has additives to help it to pour, and iodine. Neither will do your dishes any favors. It melts too fast, behaves unsavorily," pun totally intended, "and offers no benefits other than easy access. Instead, you can use kosher salt or sea salt."

There were several tiny bowls put out now. "Kosher salt tends to have larger crystals, so can add its own texture to a dish. It has fewer mineral notes than sea salt. It's a good choice especially when adding salt early in the cooking process.

"Sea salt comes in many forms - coarse, flakes, and so on - and there are a number of varieties." Including the grey, pink, and black ones she set out next. "The minerals in the area they come from offer subtle differences that can enhance a dish."

She looked around for any questions, then nodded. "So. Taste these, then make something of your own. Preferably that makes good use of at least one of them."

Comments

Sign in!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Saltily!

Re: Sign in!

[myownface]

Sparkle

Re: Sign in!

[shippedtomaine]

Emma Swan

Re: Sign in!

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla Blythe

Re: Sign in!

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Sholeh a Zeela

Listen to the lecture, ask questions

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Enjoy the salt... Wonder why your teacher is suddenly female...

Re: Listen to the lecture, ask questions

[myownface]

Yeah, Sparkle was listening. And staring. And wondering whether this was a genderswap thing that managed to miss him, or if maybe he'd just gone crazy or something.

Crazy, right? The answer was crazy?

Re: Listen to the lecture, ask questions

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"She wasn't always a girl, right?" Rilla checked softly.

Re: Listen to the lecture, ask questions

[myownface]

"Nooope. There was that one weekend? But otherwise, pretty definitely a guy."

A guy with some of the hottest cheekbones that Sparkle had ever seen. It was hard to miss the change, considering his own tendency to crush on hot older men that he definitely wasn't supposed to crush on, and all.

Re: Listen to the lecture, ask questions

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"What is going on?" Rilla hissed.

Re: Listen to the lecture, ask questions

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Sholeh was just going to sit there and stare at her teacher. She definitely hadn't been expecting this when she'd come to class today.

Re: Listen to the lecture, ask questions

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Nor had Hanna been expecting her. "Hello; are you sitting in for someone, or did you wish to speak with me?"

Re: Listen to the lecture, ask questions

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Sholeh looked up at Hannibal curiously. "I--what? Dr. Lecter, I don't understand."

It was Friday, right? And time for class?

She glanced around, making sure that everything else was the same. Students, check. Typical classroom, check. Delicious food, check. Dr Lecter, unexpectedly female, but still check.

"...I'm here for class."

As she had been every week. For the last two semesters.

Re: Listen to the lecture, ask questions

[myownface]

Sholeh was right there on the list of people getting a weird, kind of confused side-eye from Sparkle today.

"Uh... your sisters get fed up with your cooking skills and decide you needed a go at... Um..." Sparkle glanced at Hanna. "... Dr. Lecter's class, Sho?"

Re: Listen to the lecture, ask questions

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"Huh?" No, seriously, what was with people today? "What are you talking about?"

Sisters?

Eat Hanna's food!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

She's still an awesome cook.

Re: Eat Hanna's food!

[myownface]

Sparkle was going to focus mostly on that beef jerky, there, because today seemed to him like it was going to be a 'rending things with his teeth' sort of day.

Re: Eat Hanna's food!

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"At least she still cooks the same," Sholeh mumbled into her chewy bread. "I'm pretty sure I'd die if that changed."

Talk to the TA!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

If he's in. And if he's him.

Re: Talk to the TA!

[myownface]

Sparkle is in! And Sparkle IS him! And Sparkle has no idea what's going on, but he doesn't trust this goddamn island and he wants to go home.

Or to Bali.

He gets neither.

Talk to Hanna!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Before or after class, if you have questions.

Re: Talk to Hanna!

[myownface]

Sparkle was kind of freaking out a little, here, between Hannibal and Zhahar. A touch. A smidgen. Just a tad.

"You know when a person is like just completely losing their fucking mind, right?"

Because Sparkle was really starting to wonder. And he was still too concerned over his conversation with Sholeh to really have anything resembling a polite or even subtle opening line at the moment.

Re: Talk to Hanna!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hanna raised an eyebrow at him and chuckled. "While I'm uncertain that's a precise psychological diagnosis, yes, I am rather good at determining if someone is having difficulties with reality." She paused. "Although this island does at times make it more of a challenge than I'm accustomed to. Why?"

Re: Talk to Hanna!

[myownface]

"Because - shit. Look, there's been crazy stuff going on around here, right? Like... like voices and people who aren't really there and things going missing or being replaced with other things and all of that I could just blame on the island, except it's been going on for weeks and weeks and there's even been more weekend-crazy than usual, like guys turning to women and little kids showing up and powers being passed around and that weekend where everyone was just absolutely nuts and I was kidnapped by a classmate and stuck into a wig and I want to say this place is just trying to pull something except now someone I know is missing and her sister is here swearing up and fucking down that she never existed and since when were you not a man?"

Breathe, Sparkle.

OOC!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Because I had way too much fun with the genderswap weekend, and wanted to do this when she could teach a class and be classy (and I can't resist putting her in a bikini. Woo, Bali!)