International Cuisine | Friday, 3rd period

[sharp_man]

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. :) ]

Comments

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

"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.

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

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

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

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."

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

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."

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot nodded a little.

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

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

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

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

"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."

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

"Ah, good; that will be one fewer thing to explain," Hannibal said. "So, flavor is a combination of taste, smell, and to some extent feel. Each component on its own engages a different portion of the brain, so the combination of all of them can be quite potent."

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

"Engaging more of the mind all at once together than each one would separately," Peridot surmised. "That... actually makes sense."

It was so rare that humans ever made any sort of sense. She liked it.

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

"Precisely." Hannibal liked to make sense. Except when he was confounding people.

"Because of that, and because food is necessary to live, many customs and practices have grown up around the practice of eating, and around certain foods."

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot nodded a little more, and then considered the restaurant around them.

"I... can't eat the food," she said again, because that part needed to be made perfectly clear. "But... I'll admit to some measure of curiosity about... the taste."

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

Hannibal waved at the dishes on the table. "By all means, take a piece of whatever you like and taste it. Just leave it discreetly on your plate after," he said.

He did not think anyone else wanted to eat Gem-licked food.

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

"Is there anything you recommend for a first-timer?"

You know, for someone who had only ever tasted dirt before?

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

"Try the steak," Hannibal said, cutting her off a piece. "It's a fairly simple dish - cooked bovine and a few spices. And then try the roasted vegetables and the baked mushrooms; that way you'll be able to taste animal, plant, and fungal matter."

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot looked thoughtful as she reached across the table for the piece of steak that Hannibal had cut for her.

With her hand, yes.

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

Hannibal bypassed her deftly to put the piece on her plate. "Please do put it in your mouth with a fork, however," he said. "There are specific foods that are to be eaten with the fingers, but none of these are."

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

"With a...?"

Peridot looked at the assortment of cutlery on the table and squinted a little.

"I can do that."

Just as soon as she figured out which one the fork was.

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

"Like this." Hannibal cut off another piece of his own steak and lifted it properly to eat.

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot watched carefully while he ate, with a stare intense enough that some people sitting nearby were getting sort of uncomfortable. And then she reached for her fork and, holding it awkwardly in her hand, skewered the beef on it.

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

If anybody else was paying enough attention to be uncomfortable, that was their own lookout. Hannibal just finished that bite and went for another, giving Peridot an encouraging nod.

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot looked somewhat dubious, but that wasn't going to stop her from sticking out her little blue tongue and giving the steak an experimental lick.

She looked at it thoughtfully. And then she licked it again.

...

And again.

"Organic matter tastes amazing!"

Just wait, Hannibal. She was going to get it in her head to start licking people, now. Just to know.

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

Hannibal could absolutely help with that.

Right now, he just grinned. "Different creatures taste different - that goes without saying. But also where an animal lives, what it eats, how it lived - these all affect the flavor. For vegetables, the soil they grow in and their nutrients affect their flavor. And there are a near-infinite number of combinations of the two. And there are then many different cooking methods - cooking is in large part applied chemistry."

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot perked up a little bit at that.

"I made bread once, in Home Ec class!" She paused. "Nobody would eat it, so I built a duck."

She... probably could have fed it to real ducks. But that hadn't really been presented to her as a possibility.

Re: Introductions!

[sharp_man]

"So you have experience already," Hannibal said, pleased. "What did you think of baking?"

Re: Introductions!

[era_two_triangle]

"It's much faster than most of the chemistry I'm used to," Peridot offered. "And more pointless, if nobody has any interest in eating it."

It had been made perfectly! She was a technician, she could follow directions!