fandomhigh | International Cuisine | Monday, first period

Current Location: New Orleans, LA

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International Cuisine | Monday, first period

When they stepped out of the portal this time, they were in front of a brightly colored building across from a cemetery. The air was humid.

"We are currently in New Orleans, Louisiana," Hannibal explained. "It's within the same country as Baltimore, so you needn't worry about the language for the most part," he assured them. "This area was home to indigenous peoples, then settled by the French. It was also briefly held by the Spanish. It is a major port city, and was home to many slaves and free people of color."

He gestured around them. "Its culture and its food are thus something of a melting pot. A mix of French, Spanish, African, Native American, and a number of other influences. There are two main cuisines locally, often combined - Cajun and Creole. Seafood is popular, as are a number of farm-raised meats. Caribbean and African spices are not uncommon. Our meal today will offer a variety, and I encourage you to explore."

He smiled at the students. "And I would like to thank you all for being a delightful class, and I hope you have enjoyed yourselves as much as I have. Now, enjoy."

And with that, he led them into the restaurant.

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Enjoy!

Edited 2015-06-15 03:45 (UTC)

Lottie ordered herself some foie gras and turtle soup and gumbo and shrimp and grits and tried to decide why someone would make a pie out of tree nuts.

Then she ordered that, too and got her answer: because it was delicious.

"So, not a disappointing class, even though we made it to France only once?" Hannibal asked.

"Well," Lottie said, making a show of thinking this over. "I think there could have been a lot more sausages. But otherwise, I suppose it wasn't too disappointing."

Hannibal chuckled. "Maybe next summer term. Sausages 101."

You could hide a multitude of sins in sausages.

"I could cook for one of them!" Lottie offered. "I'll make my specialty: sausages surprise!"

Her 'surprise' was likely waaaaaaay less surprising than any of Hannibal's.

Likely, yes.

"Can you say what the surprise is?" Hannibal asked, amused.

"That is a Grote family secret." So secret even her mother and sister didn't know it.

"In that case, I won't ask," Hannibal promised, grinning. "But you shall have to let me try it sometime."

"Of course! It's the talk of Tackleford."

That wasn't even remotely an indicator that it was good. It was at least edible.

While Hannibal's standards for "good" might be very high, his standards for "edible" were...flexible.

"I look forward to it. I'll have to let you try some of mine as well. I use a number of different recipes." Some didn't even involve sapient beings.

"I suppose you must," Lottie said. "What with knowin all these regional cuisines and all."

Mabel had to get herself the Soups 1-1-1 just so she could try a little bit of all three, and the grilled crawfish and gnocci, because it would be a sin and a shame to be in New Orleans and not sample the crawfish.

And then she noticed that there was a selection of cheese and had to get that too, along with all that came with, and--

Did she have to leave? Ever?

"You're a fan of this cuisine, I see," Hannibal noted, amused.

"Let's be real," Mabel laughed, "I've been a fan of pretty much every cuisine we've had during this workshop. Is the turtle soup really made out of turtle?"

Because she'd eaten it, and it was delicious, but she was retroactively not certain how to feel about that.

"It is," Hannibal answered. "Is that a problem?"

You were talking to the wrong teacher about qualms with meat, Mabel.

Mabel shook her head thoughtfully.

"Not really," she decided after a moment. "It's just not exactly a meat you see at the supermarket or anything. I've never had turtle before."

A beat.

"And never really considered that I might."

Seriously, Mabel, there were plenty of meats out there that you'd never even consider. Just ask your teacher here.

"Never hold yourself back because something is outside of what you expect," Hannibal advised. "Experiencing new things helps you to grow."

"Some true-blue advice if ever I heard any," Mabel decreed. Because if you give the girl an inch... "That's why I enjoyed this class so much, I think. There were a lot of things we had that I never would have even thought of as food, and now I'm glad I can."

"In that case, I have done my job." Hannibal gave her a little bow. "I hope you'll continue to explore new foods from now on."

The blueberry mojito salad sounded refreshing in the heat,so Alana started with that and then moved on to the quail, with bread pudding for dessert.

When she finished, she was very, very full and very, very happy.

"So, are you planning on taking any of our foods back home with you?" Hannibal asked curiously.

[OOC: OMG I hadn't seen that salad. WANT. o.o]

"I'll probably bring home a cookbook and some of my favorite snacks?" Alana said, shrugging a little. "Lots of the ingredients are ~~handwavily~~ different so I'm not sure how much it'll translate, but I'll try. I don't want to let allthis go that easy."

"That sounds like an excellent plan." Hannibal nodded. "If you have any questions I can answer, I'm happy to help."

It was kind of a shame that Cosette had never really experienced that much variety in French cuisine back home, or she might have had a lot more interesting insight into the food here, but as it was she couldn't help ordering a lot of the French-influenced dishes just to see what they were like anyway.

Much spicier, that was for sure.

This turned out to be an excellent idea anyway, because the cochon de lait cassoulet was . . . let's just say she didn't quite realize exactly what the noises she was making sounded like.

"Do I need to ask what you think of it?" Hannibal said, chuckling.

"It isn't what I expected," Cosette said, looking apologetic because she'd had to chew and swallow before she replied, and that took a few seconds. "The flavors are certainly very different, but it's wonderful."

"I'm pleased you enjoy it. Cajun food is more strongly influenced by French than most cuisines in the US, but I imagine it's still rather far from home. Particularly if you aren't used to the spices."

"I'm not," Cosette confirmed. "Father's tastes are very simple, and the sisters at the convent were hardly what you might call extravagant about meals."

That was being very generous about it, really.

"And that's why I keep taking your classes, monsieur. Even after all this time I feel I've hardly scratched the surface of the kinds of food to be had in the world." She paused, and chuckled. "To say nothing of the worlds some of the others come from."

"It's fascinating, isn't it?" Hannibal smiled back. "There is always so much to learn. So many new things."

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International Cuisine | Monday, first period

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