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."

Comments

Sign in

[sharp_as_knives]

Full of flavor

Re: Sign in

[myownface]

Sparkle

Re: Sign in

[hollywoostar]

Mr. Peanutbutter

Re: Sign in

[crimson_sister]

Lucille Sharpe

Listen to the lecture

[sharp_as_knives]

All about flavors!

Re: Listen to the lecture

[hollywoostar]

"I would not like to eat tin foil!" Mr. Peanutbutter noted. "What a clever observation!"

Re: Listen to the lecture

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal paused, then just nodded in acknowledgement and continued his lecture.

Try the foods, ask questions

[sharp_as_knives]

Whatever you have to ask.

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[hollywoostar]

"As a dog, I should actually not be eating some of these things," Mr. Peanutbutter observed. "But as a student, I feel obliged to stick to the assignment. Also, garlic is amazing!" He sniffed it and howled. "It even smells tingly!"

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal raised an eyebrow at him. "You are hardly obligated to eat anything which might make you ill. I am used to predominantly human students, and tailor the class offerings to them. If there is anything you might react poorly to, I trust your own judgment in not eating it."

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[crimson_sister]

Lucille knew there were different tastes of course, but she had never though much about them. Dr Lecter's food had introduced her to how delicious food could be, as what had been served to her and her brother at Allerdale Hall had been rather bland and often unappetizing. To actually consider them separately was new to her, and she approached it with curiosity.

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[sharp_as_knives]

"What do you think?" Hannibal asked.

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[crimson_sister]

What did she think? That was actually a difficult question to answer. "I don't know," she said. It wasn't a complaint in any way.

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[sharp_as_knives]

"Which of these tastes are more familiar?" Hannibal asked. "Which do you enjoy?"

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[crimson_sister]

"Sweetness can be tempting, but I quickly tire of it. The cheese i very good," much better than anything she had been served at home," The bitter melon is oddly... tasty."

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[myownface]

Oh yeah, Sparkle enjoyed this lesson every time it came around. No real prep or anything. Just putting food into his mouth. The fact that his head was still in a weird place wasn't going to ruin this for him, dammit. It wasn't.

He was going to wait until everyone else had a turn so that he could try to ferret away a few extra pieces of cheese if there were any left, though. Sparkle would be Sparkle, even when Sparkle was weird.

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[sharp_as_knives]

And Hannibal would be Hannibal, discreetly offering him a small bag. Cheese didn't go as well with pocket lint.

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[myownface]

Yeah, scones didn't either, but Sparkle had eaten that one later anyway. He gave Hannibal a grateful look, still not entirely over his skittishness but at least on the way there, and accepted the bag.

"Kind of takes the thrill out of it when I'm being enabled by the person I'm sneaking the cheese away from," he noted, quietly and a bit wryly.

It was kind of like 'thank you.'

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smirked. "I won't pay attention to how much you take. That way, I'll be surprised at how much is missing later."

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[myownface]

"You probably get extra, just in case," Sparkle accused, though there wasn't any real heat to it. He was kind of looking down and smiling faintly. "... but if you do, I don't want to know. That takes the thrill out of it, too."

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[crimson_sister]

Lucille offered Sparkle a small smile and a nod. "Have you tried this before?"

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[myownface]

Sparkle gave Lucille a little smile in turn.

"I've taken this class once or twice already," he admitted, popping another piece of cheese into his mouth. Because... you could never have too much cheese. "I mean, I know this stuff already, but you never know if you'll pick up something new, you know? And... I guess I kind of just miss taking classes in general."

Re: Try the foods, ask questions

[crimson_sister]

The corner of Lucille's mouth curled just a tiny bit. She noticed his interest in the cheese, but she had no objection to it, of course.

"You do? What kind of classes did you like?"

She had no idea what kind of class he would like. Apart from Dr Lecter's cooking classes.

Talk to Hannibal

[sharp_as_knives]

He's here for your questions!

OOC

[sharp_as_knives]

Mmmmm...poutine!