Demon Marcus, Thursday

[boneyard_girl]

Ada threw the shop open the moment she got in to town from class, turned up her favorite angry 8Tracks playlists, and sat down behind the counter to pour herself a vodka soda and rummage around for the mystery novel that someone had once left behind. She wondered who this 'Makita' was that had printed her name so carefully inside the cover and then for some reason had not taken her book with her. You didn't write your name on things unless they were too precious to risk losing, if you couldn't replace them easily.

She should know.

The music was loud, the mermaid was angry, and Demon Marcus was open.

JGoB, Thursday Afternoon

[rebelseekspizza]

"Are you sure you want all of these?" the lady behind the counter asked, holding up the giant box full of strawberry pastries. There was another one like it sitting next to her on the counter. "There's... they're a lot."

"I'm a growing boy," Dante said, grinning as he leaned against the counter. Was this basically one full paycheck's worth of food? Yep. Did he particularly care? Nope. He could die tomorrow. Sometimes you had to splurge on the PG-13 stuff. "Oh, and get me a couple of those chocolate things?"

"...Chocolate," the lady echoed. It was kind of against type.

He shrugged. "A friend of mine works Thursdays," he said. "By the way, when are you off work?"

[[ open! ]]

Community Center Class: Flavors, Food Choices, and Menu Planning

[sharp_as_knives]

Class had been instructed (and it was posted in the community center) to meet in the school's Danger Shop. When they all arrived, Hannibal nodded and greeted them.

"The school has graciously allowed us to use this shop for our class, so we will be meeting here from now on, unless you hear otherwise."

He waved them to stools set up around a central counter.

"The first part of the class name is 'flavor', and we'll be starting there. There are any number of flavors to food, but current classifications recognize them as variations and combinations of a few basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, savory - which you may also hear called 'umami' - and pungent or piquant. These combinations provide the basis of flavor to all foods. From there, much more flavor is related to smell, and some to the other senses, and we will cover that later.

"In cooking, flavor is organized into seven groups, and they mostly overlap a bit with the taste divisions. These include four seasonings and three condiments: saline, acid, hot seasonings, and saccharine; pungent, hot condiments, and fatty.

"So, what does this mean for cooking and eating? These flavors combine in different ways. Foods interact with each other. One food with a bitter taste may be a good contrast; too many and nobody will want to finish your meal. A slight metallic taste may be forgivable, but nobody - at least so far as I have met or heard of - wants to feel as if they're chewing on tinfoil. And if you're looking to substitute for something you don't have, it's good to know the taste you're aiming for."

He pulled a tray from behind the counter and set it on top. "All foods are a combination of tastes, but some are stronger examples of one than others. So, today, we have strong examples of each." He pointed them out. "For sweet, spun sugar. Sour is lemon juice. Bitter is bitter melon. For salty," he paused and gave them a tiny shrug, "salt. Specifically, sea salt. For savory, we have cheese, and for pungent, raw ginger."

He added another dish to the counter. "Bread, as a fairly neutral taste to cleanse your palate between trying each. Try them, learn them, and please ask questions."