kaiseki, jap.: arranged meal on a tray, might be served before cha-no-yû (tea ceremony)

[cook_the_rude]

Dr. Hannibal Lecter has spent quite a while in the kitchen today, cooking rice and frying egg and slicing vegetables and rolling it all up, slicing again, tying little strips of seaweed in tiny bows, and finally arranging the results on a small tray.

At dinnertime, he carries it all out into the bar and looks around for Rae Seddon.

For once, everything here is vegetarian.



[[meta: in honour of the season two premiere hannibal, kaiseki, which does japanese food and airs tonight. if you want to talk to hannibal, the kitchen might be your best bet.]]

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[sunbaked_baker]

Rae is definitely in the bar - her contribution to tonight's meal currently chilling in one of the kitchen refrigerators. She can be found at one of the centrally-located tables of the bar room, reading.

An automatic glance as someone enters the room pulls her attention from the words, and causes a bright smile to break across her face.

"Dr. Lecter, hello!"

[cook_the_rude]

"Hello, Rae!" Dr. Lecter says, putting down his trays on the table. "I am sorry to interrupt your reading, but here is a little somethign to introduce you to the principle of sûshi."

There is a serving for her, one for him, and the usual things that go with sûshi: - soy sauce, wasabi paste, ginger, wakame salad. The sûshi themselves are vegetable rolls, inside-out rolls with avocado, and nigiri topped with tamago-yaki, held together with strips of nori, with tiny, artful bows on top.

And of course, there is a little bowl of miso soup for each of them.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae puts aside her book - a translated paperback of The Book of Five Rings that is quickly forgotten - taking in the sight of the repast with slightly widened eyes and a slight inhalation.

The 'oh, oh wow' may not be voiced, but it's there.

"Oh my, Dr. Lecter. That looks wonderful." And smells pretty fantastic, as well.

[cook_the_rude]

Dr. Lecter sits down.

"We shall have green tea with it," he says, "as the Japanese don't like to drink alcohol with their food, only before and after. The food is rice, sake is made from rice, and rice with rice is considered something of an overkill."

He pours a very light, pale sencha for both of them.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Tea would be perfect," Rae replies. It is very rarely her second-choice for a drink.

"I promise to do my best not to pester you with questions about everything," she says with a smile as she continues to take in the sight of the offerings on the plate before her. "This is my first exposure to Japanese cuisine."

She knows none of the terminology or proper names for anything.

[cook_the_rude]

"Do you know how to use chopsticks?" Hannibal asks.

[sunbaked_baker]

"I have used chopsticks all of once," she admits, chuckling. "And that was a couple of years ago, now."

A refresher may be needed.

[cook_the_rude]

"Then let me show you again," Dr. Lecter says. He takes his opwn chopsticks and demonstrates. "Hold them on your fingers, and move them like pincers. They are supposed to be an extension of your fingers, but don't worry about them too much. Concentrate on the sûshi, not the chopsticks."

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae follows along - she remembers that the bottom chopstick is held stationary in the crook between the thumb and index finger, kept from moving by the side of her middle finger. Right. It's the top chopstick that moves, along the line of her index finger, pivoting with the finger joint to open and close, held in place by the tip of her thumb. It makes sense, and while her fingers are not clumsy, it is good to have a reminder. Her exposure to Korean food was an education, but it was also a couple of years ago.

"The chopsticks are nowhere near the most salient features of the meal," she assures him with a smile. The food easily takes top billing. Though, she is not sure where to start. The pieces of vegetable roll looks like the easiest to pick up while she is still regaining confidence with the chopsticks, so she begins there, with one of the smaller pieces.

The enjoyment shows on her face, as she takes in the flavors and textures of the morsel.

[cook_the_rude]

Dr. Lecter smiles, watching her reaction with great concentration. Then, he takes a small piece of sûshi himself, first dipping a tiny ccorner of it into soy sauce.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Mm," she says, with emphasis. "This is delicious, Dr. Lecter."

She wanted to make sure to try each without adding anything, first, to see how any addition changes the flavor. The second piece, she dips slightly into the soy sauce before eating. The soy sauce adds a warming, almost yeasty smell, and a light burst of its own flavor to accentuate the taste of the sushi itself.

[cook_the_rude]

Dr. Lecter stirs his miso soup with his chopsticks and takes a sip from the cloudy broth.

He smiles, still watching Rae's reaction.

[sunbaked_baker]

Her appreciative attention is held by the meal in front of her, these foods she has never had the opportunity to try before.

"Everything is so good - but I don't even know the names of the dishes. They're all types of sushi?"

[lt_blade]

The smell coming from the kitchen is enough to catch Sonya's attention, bringing back memories of when she was a little girl and her father stationed in Japan.

Of course, she's not entirely surprised to see Hannibal at the cutting board. "Doctor, evening."

She looks a little haggard, mostly from disturbed sleep, but she's grown so used to it that she barely puts any stock into how she is. Right now especially, the only thing on her mind is seeing if he's any pieces to spare.

[cook_the_rude]

"Good evening, lieutenant," Dr. Lecter says, pleasantly.

[lt_blade]

"And chance you've some spare pieces? Haven't had Japanese food in ages, not what looks to be the proper kind anyway." And she never knew Lecter to do anything half assed in way of cooking. Even if it wasn't the real deal, she figured it'd come close.

She took a spot against one of the father counters, away from his work area. "Hey, Lecter.." She couldn't believe she was actually going to talk about this, but it'd been on her mind and he looked to be a no-nonsense sort. "When you're cooking, can you still do mind analysis, or is this your time away from that?"

Okay, maybe her search for the doctor was more than just hunting for leftover samples.

[cook_the_rude]

"Oh, you can have some end bits if you like," Dr. Lecter says. "But I must warn you: this is all strictly vegetarian. And I am sincerely sorry, but while I am concentrating on this, I would rather not analyse minds, or in fact anything except the food at hand. We can make an appointment, if you like?"

[lt_blade]

"Hey, I don't mind vegetarian, especially not when prepared by you." She had yet to know him to set out something that didn't taste good. Then again, she wasn't exactly a picky eater.

The answer made sense, and she figured as much but it couldn't hurt to ask. She looked at her watch. It would be easier to remain in the bar until then, unless he set her up with a different date rather than just a time: milliways could be tricky like that. "Maybe in an hour, unless you won't be done by then?"

[cook_the_rude]

"Food needs time," Doctor Lecter says. "I don't like to set appointments after a dinner with a friend. How about tomorrow morning? As we're not in your world, I suppose your emergency is not going anywhere."

[lt_blade]

Patience wasn't a virtue, but it couldn't be said she didn't keep trying at it. "No, and I wouldn't really call it an emergency, just something that's been weighing on me for days."

It was the dreams really, the dreams were coming back. She never put much stock in them at first, but the same dream for almost several weeks, that couldn't be normal.

"Tomorrow morning works. I'll see if Bar can sync it with my timeline, so it's not morning when I go through the door, yet evening in Bar."

It has happened after all.

[cook_the_rude]

"You can wait for the time of day that you've come in from, and leave in 24 hours time," Dr. Lecter says. "That way, you avoid sudden, inexplicable symptoms of jet lag."

[lt_blade]

She took note of what he said. "You've this place down to a science, don't you." There's a slight hint of a smile as she goes over to pick what he doesn't plate up.

[cook_the_rude]

"I can read a clock face," Dr. Lecter says, with a little shrug.

[lt_blade]

"Then this place must like you more. I can read a clock face too, but it doesn't always match to the time when I leave." Or maybe she needed to visit this place more.

"I'm getting married in a month's time. Civil ceremony, and my former drill sergent's offering to lead in making dinner at the reception," The smile on her face widened. "The joys of having an O-2 pay grade."

It wasn't much for either of them, but neither wanted a large wedding. For them, a group family reunion and dance would be more than enough.

[cook_the_rude]

"Are you going to have a cake?" Dr. Lecter asks.