Hannibal's house in Baltimore, Monday afternoon

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal unlocked the door with his free hand, still holding the cooler of fresh fish in the other, and waved Zhari in.

"Please. You may set your things down here, if you like." He set the cooler on the foyer floor and began pulling off his jacket.

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[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Zhahar shook her head. "I'm usually limited to what I can find in the common rooms when I'm cooking."

[sharp_as_knives]

The look Hannibal gave her was somewhat akin to horror. "Before you leave, I'll have you taste my oils, and send you back with a bottle or two." He wondered if the strangeness of Fandom had followed them here, or if he could get away with giving her one of his own rendered oils; they were much higher quality.

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"Ooooh!" She bit her lip and a mischievous smile crossed her face. "It would be polite of me to refuse and wait until you insisted," she told him. "But...I don't think I'm going to. Can we try them why the fish is cooking?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"We'll take your initial refusal as read, shall we?" Hannibal nodded at the fish. "Once you have it cooking, I'll set them out."

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Zhahar was more than willing to consider that an acceptable trade. Grabbing the fish she'd personally clean, she slathered oil inside the cavity, then added salt, pepper, large cloves of garlic, and other various herbs. The minced garlic was mixed with a little bit of oil into a paste, then smeared on the outside, and more salt and pepper were sprinkled on top. Then she rinsed her hands, reached for the sculpting clay, and began to layer it right onto the fish, making a thick, airtight seal.

They'd gotten more fish and once Zhari had finished the two fish she'd made according to the recipe from home, she started experimenting with the others. One set involved garlic, lemon, olive oil, and wrapped in grape leaves, another was stuffed with mushrooms, precooked sausage, tomatoes, and basil leaves.

There were others for Hannibal to experiment with as well, if he wished.

[sharp_as_knives]

After watching for a moment, Hannibal retrieved a few things from the inside kitchen and brought them out. "This works on a similar principle to the clay, but paper is perhaps a bit more versatile. Cooking like this is called en papillote." He leaned toward Zhari. "Which is a fancy way of saying, 'in paper'."

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"Why would you waste paper on cooking?"

Zhahar was merely curious, as opposed to Sholeh's outright horror.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal raised an eyebrow, but then, she did come from someplace where resources were scarce.

"This is not the same type of paper you'd write on or use for books." He held out the roll to her. "This is specially made for cooking. It's resistant to heat and the food won't stick to it. It holds in the moisture, much as the clay does."

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"But you have to make it that way, right?" Zhari asked, examining the parchment paper with her fingers. "This comes from the same place as regular paper, right?"

She held it up to the light, seeing how thin it was. "I'm not sure this would work in an open fire, the way the clay does."

[sharp_as_knives]

"It's more often used in coals, or in an oven. And yes, made similar to regular paper." He finished the last fold and held out the parcel. "It will be interesting to compare it to the clay, I think. How the flavors differ."

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"I don't mind trying it," Zhahar said cheerfully. She wasn't sure she could ever get herself to cook with paper (or that Sholeh would ever allow her to, either), but that didn't mean she wasn't interested in the result. "Are we ready too cook, then?"

She didn't mind admitting that she was eager to try her new flavor experiments--and hopefully impress Dr. Lecter as she did so.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I think so." He waved at the grill. "Charcoal, wood, or gas fire?"

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"Wood, please," Zhahar said. "It's the one that I know. We'll cook them right inside the coals. Usually, we also roast potatoes while we're at it, but I think the fire will be full enough with all the fish we've got instead."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Wood it is." Hannibal opened the cabinet and pulled out enough to fill the grill, along with kindling.