fandomhigh | International Cuisine

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International Cuisine | Friday, 3rd period

Class had been alerted that they would be meeting at Portalocity unless otherwise specified, and that their destination this week would be somewhat cooler than Baltimore currently.

When they all showed up, Hannibal nodded to them. "Welcome. The idea of this class is that each week we will experience a different cuisine of the world. Those of you who are not from Earth may not be aware, but this world is home to thousands of different cultures and cuisines. Even those of you that are from Earth may not be familiar with many of the sorts of foods available to you."

He waved them through the portal that appeared, where they ended up on a street in front of a building with a tree growing through it.

"Welcome to São Paulo, Brazil. Brazil is the largest country on the continent of South America; São Paulo is its most populous city. There are influences of both the indigenous peoples and the Portuguese empire in its culture and food. This restaurant is Figueira Rubaiyat, so named because of the tree it is built around. Some of the food is raised and grown locally. They employ a number of meats, from beef to octopus; they also take particular pride in their desserts. The local language is Brazilian Portuguese, but they should also speak English here, or Spanish if you prefer."

He led them in and they were shown to their table. "Please enjoy, and let me know if you have any questions."

[OOC: Anybody that wants to drop by Portalocity and catch them will be welcomed on the field trip, this week or any week! Auditors encouraged. :) ]

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There was nothing masochistic about sitting around watching people do something she found to be disgusting. Mostly it just gave her a reaffirmed sense of superiority.

"It was on the paperwork," Peridot muttered, wrinkling her nose. "But I suppose anything that might help me better understand human customs would be useful."

Since food in general was still something of a mystery to her.

Hannibal nodded. "Well, I'll try to make it a bit more interesting for you than simply watching us eat. What do you know of it so far?"

"Well..." Peridot tilted her head in thought for a second. "I understand the biology involved in eating and digesting food."

...

"And that's about it."

Did he want her to explain it? She could do that! Right here! While people ate!

That was fine; Hannibal understood that part himself.

He nodded. "Let's start with this - humans eat for sustenance, yes, but there is more to it than that. If we only needed to fuel our bodies, we could find the best food for that, and everybody eat the same thing; that would be best. But we also eat for taste, for enjoyment, and for the experience."

"I... kind of knew... some of that," Peridot hedged. She remembered her early days on Earth, demanding why people were so obsessed with the way things tasted and driving people up a wall in doing so. "Experience?"

"Eating itself can be pleasurable," Hannibal explained. "The texture of it, the smell and the taste. Also, many traditions have grown up around food - mealtimes may involve meeting with others, conversing, or even rituals. And memories involving it may lead to feelings of nostalgia or comfort."

Really, Peridot, you should have taken his last class.

Well, it was too late for that now!

She tilted her head a little, though, considering that.

"Do humans find eating beside a tree to be comforting?"

"I imagine it depends upon the human," Hannibal said. "There is a great deal of individual variation. But many humans find limited coexistence with nature gratifying, yes."

And now her head was tilting the other way.

"Why?"

Homeworld didn't have much in the way of nature.

"Coexistence because its presence can be somewhat soothing," Hannibal answered. "The colors and smells of it. A limited one because any more can be intimidating to some."

"The smells of it?"

Pardon her for a moment. She was walking over to sniff a tree.

Hannibal, amused, let her. The best way to learn was by experiencing it, after all. "The smells of greenery in general, growing life, but also the more oxygenated air surrounding them. Flowers or fruit, if there are any, and fertile ground."

Peridot perked up a little bit at that, and then looked down toward the roots of the tree.

"Oh, I know my way around the ground," she said, looking pleased. "I'm actually a bit of a professional when it comes to knowing what terrain is the best for growing."

Growing Gems, but still.

"For growing what?" Hannibal asked, curious. Since Gems didn't need to eat, they were unlikely to be an agricultural people.

"Only the best quality earth for growing Gems," Peridot said, looking quite proud of herself.

... And kind of oblivious to the fact that saying it that way sort of made it sound like the Gems were eating the dirt.

Well, Hannibal knew enough about geology he doubted that was the case.

"What sort of earth is that?" he asked. "Heavy in the minerals that make them up, or do they need organic matter as well?"

"Mostly it's about the minerals and the stability of the ground that the Gem has been planted in," Peridot replied, shrugging her shoulders like it was no big deal. "The creation of new Gems requires a lot of raw resources, though organic matter doesn't really have much to do with that. Heat and pressure, on the other hand..."

Peridot took some pride in the fact that Peridots were one of the few gems that were formed in high pressure, molten lava. Even if, so far as Perdiots went, she was still an Era Two.

Hannibal nodded. "Just as gems need mineral-rich ground, organic things need soil rich in organic compounds in order to grow. And different plants require different sorts of soil."

"Just like different Gems can be cultivated in different conditions," Peridot noted, "different soil or pressures or different worlds entirely... That might be the first thing about organic life that's made some real measure of sense."

Okay. Not the first. But it was up there.

"Do Gems find comfort in being around the sorts of soil they're grown in?" Hannibal asked.

Peridot paused for a moment. She hadn't really thought about it, though there had been a moment, when they had been drilling to the Cluster...

"I suppose it would depend on the Gem," she settled on, looking thoughtful. "And the situation."

Hannibal nodded. "As with humans. Smells particularly are very good at evoking memories, whether pleasant or otherwise. That is one of the reasons certain foods can be a comfort; smell is a strong component of flavor."

Peridot nodded a little.

"I suppose that makes sense," she acknowledged. "I never would have considered taste would have that ability."

"Can you taste?" Hannibal asked. "If it isn't rude to inquire."

"I can," Peridot confirmed with a shrug. "It's mostly useful for being able to quickly determine soil quality in an area surrounding a potential Kindergarten."

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