Hannibal's house (where Jono probably despairs of the flower arrangements), Wednesday evening

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal had spent most of the day on the phone with florists and the cake shop, the hotel and banquet hall, and a few of the guests, arranging some last-minute things. And brushing the cat, because biology waited for no weddings, and he had to keep the shedding down.

Now, he was reading and listening to Bach, sipping some very good tea.

It was a good day.


[OOC: Open post!]

Comments

[sharp_as_knives]

"Our reptiles have skin or scales nearly exclusively," Hannibal said. He smiled at Kanan. "I find the differences fascinating."

He got down the first of the ingredients. "This is a paste called sambal ulek - it's a mixture of chiles, lime, salt, and some other spices." He took out a serving tile and put a little on there, setting it in front of Kanan. "This is where most of the dish's heat comes from."

[uncertain_dume]

Well... Kanan had no idea what to do with paste on a tile, really. He tilted his head at it in consideration, and then set down his coffee. He wasn't about to stop petting the cat, after all.

And then, at something of a loss, he stuck his finger into the paste experimentally and then sniffed at it. Yeah, it had a bit of a bite to it. That wasn't going to stop him from then putting it into his mouth.

"Oh, that has a bite to it," he said, nodding his approval. And then... casually reaching for his coffee again. Because it was still hot, thank you. "I'm looking forward to seeing how it interacts with the rest of it."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled and took out the garlic, letting Kanan see how he opened it up and took out several cloves. He took the tile back and smashed one on it before passing it back.

"Garlic. The bulb of a plant. Used widely in any number of cuisines." And it was possible he was particularly enjoying it this week. "It also has a bit of heat, although not so much as the chiles. When cooked, it can get quite sweet."

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan was absolutely using the coffee as something of a palette cleanser before making a reach for the garlic, taking a piece of the smashed clove between his fingers and smelling that, too.

"It has a much more pleasant consistency than Anzati snot garlic," he intoned, with a faint grin. "I'll definitely give it that."

Going by the name, that wasn't hard to do. He popped the garlic into his mouth, too. Basically dooming himself to coffee and garlic breath for the rest of the evening.

"Huh. Not sure what I was expecting, but I can see why you'd cook with it."

[sharp_as_knives]

"...that sounds like a singularly unpleasant food," Hannibal noted. "Is the taste similar?"

[uncertain_dume]

"Surprisingly so," Kanan confirmed. "It tastes better than it feels, and once it's mixed into other things, it isn't so bad."

Don't take this as an invitation to find a way to use it as a proper garlic substitute, Hannibal.

[sharp_as_knives]

But maybe vampires weren't allergic to it!

Hannibal nodded and poured out a small bit of dark brown liquid onto the tile next. "Soy sauce," he explained. "Made from soy and other grains; salty, for the most part."

[uncertain_dume]

Another mouthful of coffee -- garlic really was a pervasive flavor and it took Kanan some effort to rid his mouth of it -- and he was sampling the soy sauce, next.

"Salty," he agreed, thoughtfully. "But with something else. Savory... something. I like it."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Umami," Hannibal said with a smile. "It has a weight to it."

The last two ingredients he put next to each other. "Honey, and sugar. I imagine you have some form of sugars where you're from. This is brown sugar, which means it's been combined with molasses - another form of sugar, liquid and sticky. Honey is another sweetener, produced by small insects from the nectar of plants."

[uncertain_dume]

"We put sugar in caf, actually," Kanan confirmed, looking at the brown substance with interest before, after another mouthful of coffee, he pinched a little between his fingers and sampled that, too. "More or less what I was expecting. And we do have honey, too. Small insects manage to make enough to fill the demand?"

Insects that were not remotely the size of the ones that they tended to get honey from where Kanan was from.

[sharp_as_knives]

"There are quite a few of them," Hannibal said, smiling at the understatement. "Would you like sugar for your coffee?" he asked. "You hadn't used it before."

[uncertain_dume]

"I don't need any, but thank you," Kanan replied, waving a dismissive hand. And then returning it to Beethoven, because the old cat was looking up at Kanan, affronted that he'd stopped petting him. "I don't like my caf too sweet. Sometimes I do use cream, but not usually."

[sharp_as_knives]

Well really, who wanted light blue coffee?

Hannibal nodded as he started combining the ingredients. "I have that as well; let me know now or in the future if you decide you would like it."

[uncertain_dume]

"Thank you," Kanan replied, giving a little smile at that. "It's strange, the things that are parallel between here and home. You have cream and sugar, and something that's a little like caf if you squint, but..." He paused for a moment, furrowing his brow in thought. "Not meiloorun, or jogan fruit. The fruits and vegetables have been the biggest adjustment, food-wise, so far."

Except for potatoes.

Sigh.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I told you, I find it fascinating." Hannibal grinned. "And you realize that now I'll have to get every fruit and vegetable I can, so that you can taste them all."

[uncertain_dume]

"I'd return the favor if I could," Kanan replied, smiling faintly. "Who knows? Maybe I'll figure out how to get my hands on any of it, someday. Eliot did mention that he's got some pretty strange stuff in his freezer, but I don't know if most of what I'm missing even freezes well."

[sharp_as_knives]

"I'll hold you to that, should it become an option." Hannibal finished mixing the marinade and put a tiny bit of it in the center of the tile. "And here they are combined."

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan grinned a little as, yet again, he dipped a finger into the sauce. This time it took him a minute to comment, pausing as he was to consider the way all of the tastes played off of one another.

"Oh, that's good."

It wasn't even on the bird yet, Kanan.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal grinned. "Now I put the bird in it, and it sits." Which he set about doing.

"Meanwhile, I can start on the rest of it. Vegetables and noodles, fried." He wasn't going to quite get all the vegetables in there, but a few, at least.

[uncertain_dume]

Well, any number of fresh vegetables was a step up on what Kanan had been eating while left to his own devices, really. He was trying to eat a decent mix of whatever, but thanks to Eliot's class, he was more or less living on a diet of frozen veggies, instant ramen, and eggs.

"Sounds great," he replied, nodding. "If I knew coming over here to ask about caf meant you'd be going all-out like this, I would've come by much sooner."

Well, this wasn't really all-out for Hannibal, for one. And for another, Kanan had only considered Hannibal as a possibility for the great hunt for caf after the weekend.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled. "I enjoy having friends for dinner. This is nothing."

He examined his vegetable bin. "Carrots, celery, and bok choy, I think." He took them out and sliced bits off for Kanan to taste while he cut the rest.

[uncertain_dume]

The carrots weren't terribly new either, though the celery and the bok choy were an interesting experience. Kanan sampled all three, nodding thoughtfully as he chewed. Okay, he could see how those tastes would work with the ones that Hannibal had presented in the sauce.

"Got some nice crunch, there," he observed.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nodded. "They will give it some texture. And the noodles..." He found them and set them on the counter. "...we will fry."

[uncertain_dume]

"Huh. Different from the ones Eliot had us working with," Kanan observed, nodding at the noodles. "Homemade?"

Or just not instant ramen?

[sharp_as_knives]

Both, thank you.

"Yes." Hannibal pulled a few noodles out. "These are called vermicelli - long, very thin noodles. The word literally means 'little worms'."