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| Mospheiran Cuisine; I'm imagining jelly molds | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 21 2016, 11:22 AM (706 Views) | |
| Eupathic Impulse | Aug 21 2016, 11:22 AM Post #1 |
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Senior Bujavid Security
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CJC loves to write about food, and Bren has had many different interesting meals in presumably different atevi food traditions. But what exactly is it, other than pizza, that Mospheirans eat? Since they're basically Space Wisconsin, I'm imagining a lot of 70s jelly molds and other horrific but bland foods to go along with the bizarrely retro social mores. |
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| Aja Jin | Aug 21 2016, 06:19 PM Post #2 |
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number one good, A ?
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Space Wisconsin LOL. They must have beer and brats, which is a good thing. |
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| BlueCatShip | Aug 21 2016, 07:58 PM Post #3 |
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Unlabelled Browncoat Scaper
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Given Pizza + Space Wisconsin (LOL) = They must have several kinds of cheese, and the analogues to Terran versions of pizza ingredients. One thing I think we don't know is how much they have in food sources brought from Earth (or any other human colonies) that they would have to keep in very strict containment to avoid introducing it into the atevi ecosystem. We do know that their earliest surveys were looking for what, if anything, could be safely eaten and harvested by humans, that was native to the atevi earth. But we don't know a whole lot about what they use. Even so, Mospheira is an island and much of their trade with the atevi comes across the strait by seaport shipping or by airplane cargo. -- So whatever is edible in seafood (animals, plants, fungi, whatever might be in-between because it's more primitive life, or whatever the atevi world has that's manifestly not a close fit to Earth life, but still alive and edible. -- Lots of fish and seafood. The 70's (even 50's and 60's) comparison for Mospheirans sure is apt. Fondue? Dips? Yes, Jell-o molds and puddings, casseroles.... Velveeta. Canned foods. Cheerios or Wheaties? What do they do for beer and wine and alcohol? Oh, they'd do something, a lot of somethings, even if they start from scratch with atevi sources...or use atevi and Earth-origin products combined. Hmm, wouldn't traditional Earth foods have acquired a certain "this is *the* way to make this dish" (and then there's how Mom / Grandma / Aunt / Dad / Grandpa / Uncle made it). But a tendency to follow the near-sacred traditional and authentic recipe handed down from old Earth in the Archives? Then recipes invented after the Landing would have more variations...or, given that it's a smallish population, would those also merge down into a handful of recipes that get interpreted by this or that cook? Holiday or party foods for gatherings, because a good 50's to 70's housewife / hostess would have a lot of this to prep for guests. Do they have football or soccer parties, baseball, and so on? Probably. Oh! -- Sodas, carbonated beverages. Cokes. Ginger Ale. -- Rum? The ubiquitous but not iniquitous punch: the lime sherbet and Sprite/7-up and ginger ale (or similar) punch, a similar red punch using tropical fruit juice blends...? (And why is it I can't think of the recipes for those offhand?) But those two kinds of punch seem to be perennial for that mid- to late-20th century Americana suburban vibe. Oh, look, dear, there's Wally and the Beaver! And there's Darren and Samantha! Ozzie and Harriett! Desi and Luci! Jackie Gleason.... ...All those kids on roller skates, with coon-skin caps, and their Radio Flyers, and golly, Spin and Marty are at the Triple-R Ranch on the Mickey Mouse Club. Is Flipper on yet? Yup, there's Flipper with Sandy and Bud. What? Yes, yes, I did just have a strong memory of a certain weird zig-zag plaid color combination from a winter coat my mom used to have. Or the hairdos. -- No, I have never since seen dark violet and lime and orange and lemon yellow used in that way in a plaid on thick winter coat fabric. Man, only in the 60's and 70's! What? Yes, yes, there is (or was) photographic evidence of my 1970's junior high school self (and all my classmates) dressed like That 70's Show. (It amazed me how accurate they got the 70's fashion looks for that show.) Far out, man. Qiana. Bell-bottom jeans. ... Leisure suits? ... The paisleys and the odd little almost-calico and other patterns used for boys' and young men's shirts. ... Whoa. Memory: "Garanimals" shirts and pants for elementary and junior high kids from the 1970's. Boys' tank tops. Whoa. Viewmaster, or whatever those were, a little slideshow viewer and circular sets that it seems like every kid but me had in the 70's. OK, yes, wandered far off-topic from Mospheiran foods. Popcorn! Movie theater snack candies.... Malted Milk balls (Milk Duds). Junior Mints.... Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Mayer wiener.... Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun.... Oh, I can't believe I ate the whole thing! It's Palmolive! You're soaking in it! VO-5. And they told two friends... And they told two friends... and so on... and so on... I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony, ... Coke, it's the real thing! ... That's the way life's supposed to be! Only you can prevent forest fires. Image of a man dressed as a Native American Indian chief, riding a horse through a stream, seeing pollution, and with tears streaming down one cheek. It's not nice to fool... Mother Nature! Parkay. Butter. Parkay. Butter. You've got your chocolate in my peanut butter! Kid! Have you finished your homework yet? All right. Turn off that TV and go play outside! The idea that the kids *could* go outside and play in the neighborhood, safely. Or walk to the park, etc. (Though this was already changing, and no, I did not get to do this myself.) |
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| magicdomino | Aug 21 2016, 09:32 PM Post #4 |
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Let's see. Island nation, with little processed meat, and probably not much red meat in general. They probably have lizard eggs, although I suspect Mospheiran lizards are a little more domesticated than mainland ones, simply because domestication doesn't have the same taboos among humans. Same thing for whatever local animals provide milk. It's very possible that males of the species end up on dinner tables without being properly hunted. Bren is very familiar with hot dogs and sausages in general, and sausages are a tasty way to use meat that isn't suitable for roasts and steaks. Your average Mospheiran household is more likely to eat sausages than an expensive roast. So there's your Wisconsin bratwurst. Seafood of course, possibly including edible seaweed. No mention of sushi or ceviche, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Hm, Jello molds. That requires gelatin. You can get gelatin from boiling hooves and bones, but the Mospheirans may have lost the knowledge to refine it enough to remove the meat taste. They could have meat-flavored aspics, though. There is a vegan version of gelatin, agar-agar, made from algae. If the atevi planet has a similar plant or algae, then Mospheirans could make fruit gelatin from that. The atevi don't have beer, but I'd swear beer was mentioned for Mospheira once or twice. Mospheira does have vodka, which makes sense if humans mostly use grain for making booze, and atevi use fruit. No mention of whiskey, though. No wooden barrels for aging, or another tidbit of knowledge that was lost when the original library records were damaged? No rum either, since rum requires sugar cane. |
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| Eupathic Impulse | Aug 21 2016, 09:45 PM Post #5 |
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Senior Bujavid Security
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If not jello molds, then at least terrible juxtapositions of canned food. Surely canned food would be part of their culture, inherited from the spacefaring days of their ancestors. Whatever it is, I'm sure Mospheiran food is boring, bland, and flavorless. Doubly so, by atevi standards, due to the near-total absence of neurotoxic alkaloids. |
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| Eupathic Impulse | Aug 21 2016, 09:52 PM Post #6 |
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Senior Bujavid Security
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And while I'm at it, am I the only one who imagines Barb with something like Bonnie Tyler's feathered hair? As in this classic (not quite), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsgWUq0fdKk Or maybe beehive hair. |
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| joekc6nlx | Aug 22 2016, 02:00 AM Post #7 |
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kendo bain sidhe
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BCS, the man dressed in Native American dress, riding the horse through the stream is Iron Eyes Cody.....let's see...Jay Silverheels (Tonto), and Chief Dan George (The Outlaw Josey Wales, et alii, and whose nose was the model for the Indian Head nickel profile)..... and yes, I'm old enough to remember those references..... |
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| magicdomino | Aug 24 2016, 03:44 AM Post #8 |
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That pretty much sums up vodka. I prefer rum or whiskey, myself. |
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| Xheralt | Aug 25 2016, 01:09 AM Post #9 |
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Wisconsin food is not boring and bland; you're thinking Scotland. Sausages, yes, and not just bratwurst. Other spice combinations like Spanish/Mexican chorizo and German currywurst are likely; most spices and herbs are easy to grow and don't take up a lot of shipping space, likely considered crucial for colonists to adapt local foods when they arrived at %ORIGINAL_DESTINATION_REDACTED%. Probably right about the scarcity of red meat, but what about pork? Pigs should be easy to reintroduce. A world without bacon scarcely seems worth living in! :knife: While there is a fair amount of freshwater fishing in the Great Lakes (and many smaller lakes), it's more sport/recreational/individual thing than an industry. Mos'phiin ocean/saltwater fishing is probably more organized, like the New England states, but with more of a Portlandia conservationist angle thrown in due to atevi influence. |
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| magicdomino | Aug 25 2016, 11:41 PM Post #10 |
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Alas, no bacon. The colonists were originally going to start on a space station, so no animals, not even pets. Wild animals have little fat, so curing and smoking would give you jerky instead of bacon. Not that there is anything wrong with jerky, but it's too tough for a BLT sandwich. |
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| Eupathic Impulse | Aug 30 2016, 12:52 PM Post #11 |
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Senior Bujavid Security
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Food in Scotland right *now* is pretty good, because Edinburgh especially has become world city, what with the Festival and all. Maybe the atevi world has fat plants, like tougher avocados, that will give you green bacon or something. But alas it would probably be full of alkaloids. More to the point, I wonder if the atevi world has a bee-equivalent, some sort of insect whose barf atevi like to eat. |
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| Neco the Nightwraith | Aug 31 2016, 05:29 AM Post #12 |
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Living the Right Life
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Because they are an island nation that deals heavily in the export of seafood, I kinda imagine a diet consisting of maybe 50 to 60% fish/seafood (scale fish, molluscs, maybe even seaweeds). Maybe they have the equivalent of sushi or sashimi too? It has been mentioned that they have smoked fish and cheese, fresh fruit and vegetables on the buffet provided at the hotel when they landed in Destroyer. Toby once tried to grow a garden with tomatoes and carrots, but never really stuck with it. They have herbs, onions, potatoes, peppers and other veg brought from Earth. Some are even exported, but only in a cooked, sterilized form to prevent starts on the mainland. It was mentioned as a sort of throw-away fact in Foreigner that Mospheira traded with the Nisebi atevi in the far south for processed meats, because the Nisebi didn't have the same rules of kabiu. (That was probably the only time the Nisebi were mentioned though.) Toby had the hot dogs and chili on the boat when they made the crossing. Ilisidi thought the spicy chili might go nicely with eggs. Bren/Toby's mother made them pancakes for breakfast when they were around. They also mention native goods- orangelle and limonas (fruit, I think), chi'tapas (no idea what that is supposed to be) and probably a couple others I can't think of. They also mention "roast something or other, with brown gravy", and Bren does mention that he has on occasion hunted small (very small) game. Cajeiri mentions the name of the large, cold blooded reptiles that are kept for eggs, but I can't find that reference at the moment. Humans and atevi alike do seem to be fond of eggs, which are from reptiles as their world doesn't have birds. (They may even enjoy fish eggs, as a side product of their fishing industry.) I still laugh at the "embryonic lizards" quote in Defender. Humans and atevi both must have some form of dairy animal, as they eat cheese (cream cheese especially seems to be a Mospheiran thing that atevi have begun to enjoy enthusiastically). Atevi have that "salty highland cheese" that was mentioned, so there are probably other types too. Bren also mentions cheese pie, which I swear that one day I'm going to try making, because it sounds amazeballs. One thing I have noticed is that early on in Foreigner, it's established that atevi like heavily spiced foods, and in some seasons, cooked fruit are a major part of that (later on it is mentioned that they like strong flavored pickled eggs and sour green sauce too, things that excite the taste buds and presumably cause the mouth to water.) It was also said that they didn't like human food because it was bland and pale and far too heavy on the sugars. However, it seems that in "present day" culture, sugar has become a thing in atevi cuisine, which even Bren recognizes is in excess of what should be considered healthy (he's concerned about keeping his waistline trim, and that tea he drinks in... Tracker, I think... is so thick with sugar it's almost syrup, and he thinks it's nauseating). I sometimes wonder if Carolyn's changes in RL diet are influencing how she writes about food in her books. :) |
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| jlsjlsjls | Sep 1 2016, 12:14 AM Post #13 |
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Oh what a memory you brought back by saying this. And good memories need to be shared, especially the warped ones: Bee's Whacks (This is from a Canadian radio comedy sketch show called "Doctor Bundolo's Pandemonium Medicine Show" that I was addicted to during my teens ... this compilation LP is one of my treasures) |
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| Neco the Nightwraith | Sep 9 2016, 01:25 AM Post #14 |
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Living the Right Life
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When you think about it, all bacon is really is a particularly fatty cut of meat (where the fat and meat are in layers) that's been cured and smoked. I suppose you could make from any similar cut from other animals? I mean, I've seen people smoke beef "hams", and make lamb prosciutto- so anything is possible in my book, lol. |
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