Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques | Tuesday, period 1

[sharp_as_knives]

The Danger Shop was set up in Hannibal's preferred configuration of a number of well-appointed cooking stations for the students and a larger one for him at the front. He waited for them all to settle, then greeted them. "Good morning to you all. 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. "This term we will be learning some of the basics of cooking, how you may use them to feed yourself and avoid destroying the kitchen, and how you can use them to make more involved and advanced dishes." He smiled wryly. "You're also here to eat, which I realize is the attraction for at least some of you." Dante.

"Before we begin that, however, we'll start with introductions. For those of you who haven’t taken a cooking 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. “To begin our theme of simple yet complex tasks, we'll start with something deceptively complex. Boiling 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.

“Those of you who have not had this class before will be making pasta today. It’s a simple food that can be made 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. "You will also find a number of simple recipes to try."

"Those of you who have taken this class before may find another boiled food to try. Poached eggs, soup, rice - surprise me. Find a recipe."

"Any of you may feel free to ask for help. When you’ve all finished, we’ll discuss what you've learned.” He smiled and waved them toward the individual stove set-ups. "Whatever you make, you may take with you. Meanwhile, you may eat what I've made using these same techniques. Please do concentrate on your cooking, however."

He raised a hand. "Also, I have no teaching assistant, so if you would be interested, please let me know."

Comments

Sign in!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Ready to cook!

Re: Sign in!

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante

Re: Sign in!

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

Mabel Pines

Introduce yourself!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Name, class, food allergies, and restrictions!

Re: Introduce yourself!

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'm Dante, I'm a sophomore, I don't eat bugs," Dante rattled off. "That's about it."

Look, he was only here because Hannibal had promised him free food.

Re: Introduce yourself!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Welcome, Dante." Hannibal smirked. "Don't worry; I only serve bugs in the philosophy class."

Re: Introduce yourself!

[that_oldsaying]

"Hi hi hi!" she said happily when it was her turn. "I'm Alluka, and this is Mr. Bubbles," of course she'd brought her stuffed giraffe to class, of course she had, "and I... I think I'm a freshman?"

Maybe?

(She was.)

"And I like chocolate the best!"

... which wasn't an allergy or restriction, but that was what he was getting.

Re: Introduce yourself!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Welcome, Alluka." Hannibal smiled at her. "Are there any foods you can't eat because they make you sick?"

Re: Introduce yourself!

[wildandbrave]

"Hello again, Monsieur Lecter," Cosette said cheerfully, then for the benefit of the rest of the class added, "I'm Cosette, I'm a junior, and I haven't come across any food allergies yet. I've no particular restrictions either, though I can't say I may not discover something someday I don't care to eat."

Re: Introduce yourself!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle." Hannibal bowed to her. "I would say that sounds rather like a challenge, but I hope you will always enjoy my food."

Even if it wasn't people.

Re: Introduce yourself!

[bestatmystery]

"I'm Lottie Grote," Lottie said. "I am a freshperson and I don't think I have any allergies but I like to avoid lotsa refined sugar. Those only tempt the fat banshee. Other than that, I'll try anything once!" She thought about Cosette's caveat and added "Probably."

Re: Introduce yourself!

[omgnochecksyet]

"I'm Eric Bittle and I'm a sophomore... there's some foods I don't, well, actively seek out but there's nothing I need to avoid for health reasons," he said with a shrug.

Re: Introduce yourself!

[sampippy]

"I'm Xanthippe Voorhees ––" Yes, really. "–– and I'm a junior." She flicked her hair over her shoulder. "And, like, I won't eat anything gross? That's about it."

At least she hadn't claimed she didn't really eat, this time.

Re: Introduce yourself!

[candycrushlove]

"Hello, Dr. Lecter." Maria was cheerful -- and really happy she had signed up for another class where he was the teacher. "I'm Maria Deluca. I'm a sophomore and as far as I know, I don't have any food allergies."

Re: Introduce yourself!

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

"I'm Mabel Pines, a freshman, and I'll eat pretty much anything that's put in front of me!" A pause. "Except for Smile Dip, but since that's been banned in America, that probably won't be an issue anyway."

She and Smile Dip (http://gravityfalls.wikia.com/wiki/Smile_Dip) had a history.

... It involved hallucinations.

Re: Introduce yourself!

[idecidemystory.livejournal.com]

"Hi, I'm Raven Queen, and I'm a sophomore," Raven said. "I don't think I'm allergic to anything, but I guess there's only one way to find out."

Cook your food!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Pasta or whatever you choose!

Re: Cook your food!

[rebelseekspizza]

Boil water, then dump pasta in it. How hard could it be?

... pretty hard if you took out the pasta too soon, as Dante found out quickly.

Re: Cook your food!

[wildandbrave]

Cosette, after a few minutes on Google, had ambitions of something like a New England boiled dinner until she discovered it took about 5 hours to make.

A few more minutes and some adjusted search terms yielded a recipe for German boiled dumplings, which she ended up making instead. She even got ambitious enough to make braised beef to go with them, because she was kind of an overachiever when she was in the mood.

Re: Cook your food!

[bestatmystery]

Lottie's mother had always been willing to let Lottie experiment in her kitchen -- and bravely ate the various sausage-laden results -- but Lottie hadn't had a lot of formal training. She'd had no idea about that cold water trick, for instance. And her pastas tended to come out just a little bit overcooked, after the first time she'd tried and Sarah teased her for a week about her crunchy pasta.

But she gamely set the pot to boil, and found a farafalle recipe that mostly involved tossing it with some veggies and cheese. It was brightly colored and happy and the pasta was little bowties! Fun!

Re: Cook your food!

[rhymeswithtable.livejournal.com]

Macaroni seemed nice and straightforward, so that was what Mabel was going to make! And she was going to use every cheese she could possibly get her hands on for the...

... ah...

Well, it was meant to be a cheese sauce, but mostly it was a big, gooey mess.

But it was a big, gooey, delicious mess, and Mabel was a bit of a cheese junkie, so it all worked out, so far as she was concerned.

Eat Hannibal's food!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

And discuss what you learned!

He's made:
Pappardelle with mixed mushrooms, ricotta, and walnuts (http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/pappardelle-with-mixed-mushrooms-ricotta-and-walnuts)
Spaghetti alla Carbonara (http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Spaghetti-alla-Carbonara)

Along with coffee, tea, and water. No alcohol on the first day, sorry.

Re: Eat Hannibal's food!

[rebelseekspizza]

There was bacon in that spaghetti.

Plus it was free.

...no, seriously, Dante was just here for the free food, so he'd be hovering here longer than anywhere else.

Talk to Hannibal!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

He's here!

OOC!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Damn it, I'm hungry.