fandomhigh | Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques, Friday 3rd Period

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Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques, Friday 3rd Period

Hannibal nodded at the students as they filed into the Danger Shop, which was set up as very well-appointed individual cooking stations. “Hello; I believe I know most of you, but those I don't, I am Doctor Hannibal Lecter, and this is Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques. If you didn't intend to take this or have changed your mind, now is the time to leave.”

After anyone had left if they wanted to, he continued, passing out the syllabus. "We will be learning a number of basic techniques for cooking, and how to apply them in both basic and advanced ways." He eyed a few of the students, assuming they were there. "Particularly as some of you have taken this class before; I do feel somewhat obligated to make you work for the food." He smiled to soften that. "Before today's lesson, we'll conduct the standard introductions. For those of you who haven’t taken a class with me before, this consists not only of your name and class, but also any allergies you may have — food or otherwise — and any objections or restrictions to eating or working with any foods. Also, the class will entail several trips to the mainland, so if that will be a problem for you, please let me know."

Once the introductions were over, he continued. “Our first lesson is something simple, but more complicated than it sounds. How to boil water.” He turned to the cooking station at the front of the room. “Gather around, please.” 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, both for taste and for exactness of temperature. Now, there are several types of cooking you may see referred to, and it's important you know the difference: a simmer, a slow boil, and a rolling boil. The best way to achieve and maintain each depends 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, those of you who have not had this class before will be making pasta today. It’s a good first step, as 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 dried is easier to find these days for most people, so that's what you're most likely to use and what you’ll find at your stations." He nodded to them.

"Those of you who have taken this class before," and you knew who you were, "you get to try something slightly more challenging. You will be poaching eggs today. This requires you to keep the water at a simmer just on the edge of a boil." He explained the details.

"When you’ve all finished, we’ll discuss what you've learned, and eat what I’ve made using the techniques we've gone over.” He smiled and waved them toward the individual stove set-ups.

"If you have questions, please ask me. Also, I have no teaching assistant as of yet, so if you would be interested, please let me know."

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Ready to boil water!

Elsa of Arendelle

Rapunzel

Emma Swan

Name, class, food allergies and restrictions!

Elsa stood, offering Hannibal a smile and a polite bow of her head.

"I'm Elsa," she said, "and in my Junior year. As far as I'm aware, I don't have any food allergies, though admittedly food has become something far more diverse than it was in my own time. Nothing's particularly bothered me yet, though. I've got nothing against travel to the mainland, either."

She still tended to get a little overwhelmed in crowds, but she couldn't imagine that being a problem that couldn't be addressed as it came up.

"Welcome, Elsa." Hannibal nodded back, pleased at her politeness. "I'll do my best to explain things that you may find new, but please feel free to speak up with any questions."

"Thank you. I hope you don't mind, but I'll almost certainly have a lot of them," Elsa admitted, blushing faintly. "I was never in a position where I had to do my own cooking, growing up. But it seems like a very useful skill to have."

Especially when the height of her ability to prepare edible things more or less started and stopped at 'tea.'

"Questions are the reason we teach," Hannibal told her with a smile. "If you didn't have any, then you wouldn't need me here, would you? And yes, it can be very useful, as well as artistic. Even if you never make your own food again, you will know if your chef is doing a good job or if something is wrong."

Anything from the chef's significant other dumping them, to an attempt by an inept poisoner. What? You never knew!

Elsa, stepping up as Queen in just a few years, would have approved wholeheartedly to the narrative's concern for poisons.

"While I haven't had any complaints about the chefs we've had thus far, back home, that certainly would be a useful skill to have," Elsa admitted. "I'll be certain to not be shy if there's anything I'm unsure about, then. Thank you, Doctor Lecter."

"Hi again, Dr. Lecter," Rapunzel said cheerfully, waving as she stood up. "Um, I'm Rapunzel, and I'm a junior, and I'm still not allergic to anything! There are foods I'm not sure I like, but maybe I just haven't had them the right way, yet! And I'm really, really excited to go to the mainland."

As she was for most things.

"My friend's making me a special hat so my hair won't even get in the way or draw too much attention!" Yeah, she was really excited about that, too.

"Hello, Rapunzel." Hannibal smiled at her. "I hope the mainland lives up to your expectations. And I suspect that hat will be very handy."

"Emma Swan, senior," Emma said. "Still no food allergies."

Just don't set anything on fire, please.

Already, Elsa was learning so much! She'd really only mastered plugging in the kettle since coming to the island. Food wasn't difficult to come by otherwise. But she couldn't quite contain how excited she was, silly as it might be, when her pot came to a boil and she put her pasta into the water.

It was something completely new.

Her excitement was rather adorable. Hannibal smiled as he walked past, supervising. "Well done. You're very new to cooking?"

"Extremely," Elsa admitted, biting her lip and nodding. "Our family always had people to do the cooking for us. Even around here, the extent of my ability to prepare food... mostly ends with me heading in to town."

She'd taken Thor's class, once? But putting two pieces of bread with some cheese in the middle into the microwave had been a terrible plan.

THERE WOULD BE NO MICROWAVES IN HANNIBAL'S CLASS. MICROWAVES WERE EVIL!

"At least you know how to feed yourself; that's the important part," Hannibal pointed out with a chuckle. "When my uncle adopted me, he had chefs to cook. But I found learning and cooking on my own to be quite rewarding. Soothing and an artistic outlet. There aren't many of those you get to eat."

"There aren't," Elsa agreed, smiling as she attempted to keep an eye on her water while also looking at Hannibal enough to carry polite conversation. It was an interesting challenge. "My own artistic outlets have been more along the lines of flower arranging, and... while some flowers are edible, that wasn't exactly the point."

Multitasking was also a useful skill!

"We used quite a few edible flowers in this Spring's class final," Hannibal noted. "But no, that generally isn't the point. It does mean you should have an eye for presentation, however, which can be extremely important in food as well."

Elsa nodded her agreement.

"I've noticed quite a difference between the food I'm used to eating and the way most food here is presented," she admitted. "I didn't realize how much I took for granted until I first encountered Chinese delivery."

Hannibal grimaced sympathetically. "I understand the need for that sort of thing, but I can't help but lament the poor appearance of the food. It's so much more a pleasure to eat a meal that's been properly presented."

Look out, Elsa; Hannibal liked you!

Elsa just found it a relief to be able to talk to somebody about this sort of thing without worrying about being seen as a rich snob or... well... a princess.

"It is! I miss that... some of the restaurants in town are fairly good about their presentation, but nothing quite like home."

Yeah, if Hannibal thought you were a rich snob, you pretty much were ~~dinner~~. You didn't have to worry, Elsa.

"It's not specific to the island, I'm afraid. These days, even most restaurants don't bother much with the way foods look." Or, he would argue, with the way they tasted, some of them. "It's rare to find someone who does at home." Hannibal's life was so hard!

"I wonder why that is," Elsa mused, frowning slightly. "Is it that it's an art that some people never think to learn? Or perhaps people don't have the time or the means to do so? People not learning flower arranging, that makes sense, but everybody eats."

... Most people eat. Sorry, Jono.

Yes, well, even Jono could appreciate the artistry! "It's partially due to a lack of free time," Hannibal noted. Most people these days put in a full day of work, and only want to eat afterward. They've never been taught this art, and have no experience, so they dismiss it as unnecessary." He smiled. "Hopefully I can alleviate that somewhat."

Rapunzel knew the egg thing totally applied to her, okay. So she was very, very, very gentle when she cracked the egg, and very, very gentle as she slipped it into the little swirl she'd made in the water to accommodate it, too.

It...didn't turn out a total mess, at least? That was something? She was pretty pleased that the whites mostly stayed together.

Hannibal raised his eyebrow as he passed her. "You could have gone with the pasta; I meant this for the students who've taken this class before, as it is somewhat more advanced," he explained.

"That's quite good for a first try," he said. "Patience is the key."

"But I've taken your other classes, Dr. Lecter, and I know how to boil pasta already," Rapunzel reasoned. "I figured the egg was what I should try!"

But she was very pleased with the praise, all the same.

"I'm not going to count being ambitious against you," Hannibal reassured her. "But you haven't taken a cooking class with me before, so don't worry I'll expect it. And if you've any doubts, stick with the easier option. Walk before you run," he advised with a smile. "Although today's running seems to have served you well."

Emma simmered that water like a mofo, and somehow actually managed to hit that sweet spot where the white was set but the yolk was still runny on her eggs.

Now watch as she'd never be able to get that perfect level of doneness ever again.

But she'd done it this time, and that was the important one! "Very good," Hannibal told her with a smile. I hope to change enough so as to challenge you."

And discuss what you learned.

Pasta al Sole - fresh organic pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, blood orange zest, fennel seed, and toasted breadcrumbs.
(http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/never_dull/64879222/14266/14266_original.jpg)

Oh, goodness, that was probably the most attractively plated dish she'd seen since leaving Arendelle. Elsa bit her lip as she took a plate, clearly looking forward to sampling it.

...

And then wondering if perhaps Dr. Lecter could be persuaded to teach the cooks at the castle a thing or two about cooking.

"This is fantastic," she breathed. "What is that flavor? It's got a--" She waved her hands, trying to find a word for it. "It's almost biting back?"

Elsa had not yet experienced fennel.

Edited 2014-08-29 20:01 (UTC)

Hannibal smiled. He was going to like teaching this girl. "It has sun-dried tomatoes," which he pointed out, "zest from a blood orange, and fennel seed." He pointed each of those out, too. "Which is it biting back, or is it the combination?"

"The zest is excellent," Elsa noted, "but I think the bite is mostly from the fennel seeds."

She took a moment to chase one down with her fork, bumping it onto the tip of her spoon with one of the tines and then sampling it alone. A moment later, she nodded in certainty.

"Yes, definitely the fennel seeds. Not in a bad way, but they're very attention-grabbing."

"They are," Hannibal agreed. "Too much can be overpowering, but they fortunately work very well with others. It's a common flavoring in sausages, and you can even eat the seeds on their own - Indian and Pakistani places serve them candy-coated."

"I wonder if I can find anything like that anywhere around here? I might have a bit of a weakness for sweets."

You know. Maybe. A little.

Perhaps.

Edited 2014-08-29 23:01 (UTC)

"If you can't, the Asian market on the mainland carries them. I can pick you up a bag." What? He couldn't grow everything himself.

"If you like the taste, you'll also want to try anise or aniseed - very similar, but stronger. Black licorice uses the flavor, and is also quite sweet."

"I certainly wouldn't want to impose," Elsa demurred, though she had to admit she was curious. "Though I've never made a successful trip to the mainland on my own. I would happily reimburse you, if you did have the chance to pick some up."

She was pretty sure there weren't any Indian or Pakistani places on the island. Get on that, Fandom.

"It's not an imposition if I offer," Hannibal pointed out. "Though hopefully by the end of this class you'll feel more confident about going to the mainland yourself, too."

"I hope so," Elsa agreed. "I'm more than a little out of my element there. I'm slightly more used to nineteenth century living, so... cars and streetlights and noise..."

She set her silverware down carefully on the napkin beside her plate so she could spread her hands helplessly.

"They're still a touch overwhelming."

"I can imagine." Hannibal nodded politely to her. "I have a much stronger sense of smell than most, so scents that others find perfectly normal may be somewhat overwhelming to me. I find the key is to focus on something familiar - in your case, perhaps going with a friend, or to one of the older parts of town. Start small until you're more used to it."

"Start small," Elsa agreed, reaching again for her fork with a faint smile. "That seems to be a good solution to most problems I've come across, here. And after I've gone in to the city a few times with somebody, I might feel more confident in my own ability to get around."

"It's a good solution to most problems everywhere," Hannibal noted. "Ease into things, push your comfort a bit at a time. It makes change much more relaxing."

Questions, concerns, requests to be TA? The ~~cannibal~~ doctor is in!

I has cake! \o/

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Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques, Friday 3rd Period

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