fandomhigh | International Cuisine | Monday, first period

"Good morning," Hannibal greeted the class when they arrived at Portalocity. "We'll be heading off for dinner today - the vagaries of international times." Not that he couldn't have gotten a portal to a different time, but there seemed no point at present.

"Today we're going to Tokyo, Japan. Seafood is much more prominent in Japanese cuisine than in the French we had last week, as are rice and noodles; the sauces tend to be lighter. We'll be dining at Mikawa Zezankyo, a restaurant that serves tempura - seafood and vegetables, deep fried. Specifically, this one serves food in the style called Edomae tempura - tempura in the style of the Edo period, approximately one hundred fifty years ago. The chef uses traditional ingredients and techniques that would not have been out of place then."

Their portal opened and he ushered them all through to a small, mostly residential street, where they stood outside an unassuming door. "Chef Tetsuya Saotome prepares all the food himself and will be standing in front of you, so I trust you will all use your best behavior," he told them. "I will demonstrate the use of chopsticks to those of you who've never used them, and I trust your classmates who know how will also help. Also, when we enter, you'll need to remove your shoes and leave them by the door; it's tradition and proper etiquette. If you have any questions, please ask me, as the chef and his assistants do not speak English."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ask more questions! Talk amongst yourselves!

For info on what the meal entails, see here (http://www.foodforthoughtmiami.com/2014/04/frying-wizard-mikawa-zezankyo-tokyo.html) and here (http://www.tinyurbankitchen.com/mikawa-zezankyo-tempura/).

Was it impolite in Japan to make slightly obscene happy eating noises? Because Lottie was absolutely falling in love with tempura. Especially the shrimp heads. And the eel.

She at least managed to keep the elaborate fantasy of being an ogre chomping down on poor innocent fish victims to herself while she was eating the shrimp heads. So there was that.

At the least, it was amusing. And Hannibal caught a bit of the fierceness to the shrimp-head-eating. Lottie was definitely one of the more amusing students.

Mabel had never seen so many things with tentacles on them sitting on a plate in front of her to be eaten in her whole entire life. It took some doing to resist the urge to take the appetizer octopus and make it dance, but she managed!

Yes, she was very proud.

As for the actual eating things part, it was possible that she was putting things into her mouth just a step behind Hannibal, since he knew what he was doing, here. They were supposed to eat the shrimp with legs and all? And the head!!

This was very much a delicious learning experience for Mabel.

And since Hannibal had explicitly told Kaylin last week that was the smart thing to do, he was pleased to see Mabel putting it into practice.

And very pleased, yes, that the octopus wasn't being made to dance.

Alana had been a little sad at first to be in Japan and not eating sushi, but that disappointment ebbed away almost entirely with her first bite of shrimp tempura.

By the time she was most of the way through a plate of vegetables, she had completely forgotten she'd ever wanted sushi at all, and was making rapturous little noises at all the different flavors in front of her.

"An acceptable alternative to sushi?" Hannibal asked. "We may yet get to that, but when this place had an opening, I couldn't resist."

"I'll forgive you," Alana laughed,once she'd swallowed a mouthful of something that tasted like a fried bit of ocean. "This is amazing."

"I'm very pleased to hear it." Hannibal gave her an amused bow, then passed on her feedback to the chef, who gave her a more serious one.

Cosette briefly considered passing on the shrimp heads, just because she felt a little bit bad about it, but in the end decided she'd much rather not be rude, and it wasn't as if she was squeamish about the idea.

They turned out to be really good, and she was trying some of everything with a wide-eyed expression of delight.

"Have you had the opportunity to try different cuisines yet, mademoiselle?" Hannibal asked her.

"In your class for the most part, monsieur, and a little bit at the restaurants on the island, but yes," Cosette answered. "This is very much a new experience for me, though."

"I would hope my classes aren't the only time," Hannibal said. "Even I can't cover everything." He smiled. "What do you think of it so far?"

"I would never have thought of cooking vegetables like this before," Cosette exclaimed. "And it all looks so pretty, too."

"It is a very complex art," Hannibal said. "If you're interested, you should look up kaiseki when you get home. It can be quite beautiful."

Oh goodness, everything was so good and yeah, some of it looked a little weird but it tasted so good and Kira was just going to be over here enjoying every bite.

International Cuisine | Monday, first period

Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!

Re: Eat!