fandomhigh | Philosophy of Food, 3rd period

Class had been asked to meet in the Danger Shop; when they arrived there, they would find Hannibal leaning up against a table at the front of the room; the table had a number of dishes on it, each neatly covered with a lid or cloth napkin. He nodded and smiled at the students he knew, and made note of the ones he did not. The room was set up with a number of comfortable chairs, some at tables and some not, a couch or two, and even a beanbag. When they had all arrived and settled in, he began.

"Good afternoon. I am Dr. Lecter; this is The Philosophy of Food. I trust you are all in the correct place." He called up a syllabus on a screen at the front of the room. "I will send you each a copy of this. You may sit in a chair, or on the floor, or wander the room; whatever makes you comfortable, so long as you pay attention." You could tell a lot about people from how they chose to interact with their space.

"You will not need to take any notes, although you may do so if you choose. As you can see," he nodded at the syllabus, "there will be a final project, no exams or quizzes. I have only two requirements for our classes: one, you must participate." He indicated the dishes. "You may choose to eat or decline anything presented here. You may choose to eat none of it; while I might be disappointed, it will in no way affect your grade. However, you must have opinions and speak them, and possibly be prepared to defend them." He smiled.

"The second rule – there will be no judging. There will undoubtedly be things you do not think of as edible, or even that you may have a cultural or religious bias against. There may be practices in the raising or creation of food which you may find objectionable. I expect you to say just that, and to be prepared to explain why. There will be no use of the term 'disgusting', no 'ew's or 'gross'es." He frowned. "That will affect your grade if I hear it, and quite negatively."

He made sure they understood, and nodded. "Now, introductions I believe are traditional, but I would appreciate a little more as well. Please tell me your name, where you are from, and any allergies – food or otherwise – and dietary restrictions you may have. It is my goal to make you think about your food and to expand your horizons, not to kill you from anaphylaxis." Though he did have medicines just in case; he'd never lost a student unintentionally yet, and had no plans of starting now.

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Ready to introduce yourself!

Ignis Scientia

Gladiolus Amicitia

Nell Ingram

Liliana Vess

Wonder what's under the covers.

Once everyone is introduced, Hannibal will take the covers off the dishes.

"Everything here is considered food by someone, and considered inedible by someone else. Please, taste whatever you like and offer us your opinions. Do you consider these things food or not food? More importantly, why or why not? Why do you think others might or might not?"

Fried tarantulas, about hand-sized

Homemade head cheese

Huitlacoche, "corn smut", with homemade salsa verde and tortillas

Durian fruit

Big macs

Ethically raised organic pork, home-smoked to bacon

Organic coffee from a small roastery, vacuum-brewed, with nice coffee cups and organic sugar and cream

Sherry, complete with tiny wine glasses.

Ask questions, try some, (just don't be rude)!

Edited 2025-05-15 14:03 (UTC)

Nell figured she'd try the things she wasn't at all sure of first, so she gingerly tried the leg of a tarantula and a little of the corn smut, followed by a bite of the durian. Despite the smell of the durian, it didn't taste that bad. The smut was a bit like mushroom and the tarantula leg wasn't that much different than other fried things she'd had.

Head cheese she'd had before - and had helped make on occasion back when she was still living within the church. It wasn't her favorite, but it was okay. The pork was delicious and the Big Mac was a taste sensation - so many flavors! She washed it all down with sips of the very good coffee and then settled back in a chair with a small glass of sherry.

She wasn't much for drinking, but a little once in a while was fine.

"I'm Nell. and okay, I don't think I'd say any of these aren't food," Nell said, "but some I'd be more likelier to eat than others. The pork was delicious and the head cheese reminded me of when I was a kid. I wasn't a big fan then and I'm not so much now, but I wouldn't turn my head up at it. Not sure I'd ever get a taste for tarantula or corn smut, but they were okay. The durian... hard to get past the smell, but tasted good."

She considered after another sip of sherry. "The Big Mac was right tasty, but probably better piping hot. The coffee was awful nice and this sherry while not quite to my taste is not bad at all."

Oh, Hannibal liked you, Nell! You had an open mind.

He nodded. "I have a very acute sense of smell, so I have a difficult time eating durian, but those who can often end up fans of it."

"I will say that one silver lining of a decade in an apocalypse," Gladio mused, grinning faintly as he picked up one of the tarantulas to examine it a little closer. "It broadens your idea of what makes food. For most of us, anyway."

He could not imagine Prompto still taking a big old bite of a fried spider like he was just doing now.

"Mmm. Not bad."

He was mostly looking forward to crushing some of those burgers, though.

Hannibal chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Does it also increase your appreciation of good food once you have it? And does it make you more innovative when food is scarce?"

Liliana had been a little thrown by the complete lack of cheese in the headcheese, but otherwise went through and tasted everything, before settling back with a glass of sherry. "I'm not tied to any specific definition of food; I come from a very different plane than this one, and have spent considerable time on others. Moreover, I've also spent a great deal of time with the powerful and ancient, for whom regular food has lost all meaning and so dined on a variety of outlandish things just for the sake of novelty. We did not have to eat for sustenance, and so meals became another way to show off and gain status points."

And had, at least in one memorable time in her life, been faced with the choice of 'eating what was available or not eating at all.' But we didn't talk about that time.

"But people have a great many reasons to declare some things food and other things not. Religious and cultural prohibitions often have very pragmatic roots: an inability to tell the difference between poisonous or able to be eaten, a fear of parasites or other issues, that kind of thing. It's hard to shake off those kinds of prejudices without reason."

Best to ignore those times in one's life, yes? Hannibal agreed.

He nodded. "Several religions on Earth have prohibitions that were originally based on safety issues. But once these things become written into law, they rarely are repealed, even once the issues have passed. Is it simply a matter of tradition?"

More interesting, though, "What forms do meals take when you have no need of food?"

He's here!

I am going back to sleep.

Philosophy of Food, 3rd period

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