On 16 Apr 2020 at 17:00, Jeff Zeitlin wrote:

> ... and thinking about food:
>
> The _Freelance Traveller Cookbook_ hasn't really received any love;
> yet food is an important part of life. What sort of creativity have
> you invested in meals for gaming sessions, as props for gaming, for
> managing your meals at cons, and so forth? Share!

Well, normal but oddly colored food is always a good starting point.
Especially if you can avoid food coloring.

For example, purple potatoes are a bit of a surprise. French fries
should be easy. Mashed potatoes are likely doable.

Orange cauliflower is another possibility. Ditto for white and purple
carrots. All of which go well with various dips.

Broccoli romanesco (also sometimes just "romanesce") has a weird
fractal appeareance. Taste is somewhere between cauliflower and
broccoli. If you seperate the florets from the stalk carefully, they
look like a bunch of miniature Christmas trees!

Unfamilar things are another good choice. Jicama is a weird looking
root that tastes (to me) a bit like apple. Nicely crunchy. again
something for the cold nibblements tray. I'm told a bit of lime juice
and a dusting of chili powder is a good way to serve them.

Chia seeds cooked in water gives you a sort of pudding, that looks
like a mass of miniature frog eggs. Do I *really* have to tell GMs
what you culd say about this "native delicacy"?

Check the produce section of your local store. Then try places like
Asain markets and Farmer's Markets. Ask about the various
not-so-common items.

There are several varieties of tomato that are very dark purple or
"black". Again not what the players might expect.

Oddball fruits are (alas) either hard to find or expensive. But keep
an eye out. Buddha's hand  is worth the search (I'm told, I haven't
found it yet). It's a citrus fruit that looks like a bunch of
fingers.

Keep an eye out for recipes from other cultures. sometimes they make
flavor pairing that are *good* but far from what we would expect to
be good together. "Aztec" chocolate, for example. Or dried chili
pineapple rings.

Heck, simple wasabi peas are a surprise to a lot of folks. Though
admittedly, they can be an acquired taste.

Oh yeah, candied hibiscus flowers (I found them at Winco) are an ok
snack. but the fun part is that if you set them on the plate upside
down, they look like tiny purple octopi.
--
Leonard Erickson (aka shadow)
shadow at shadowgard dot com