Not pureed asteroid parasite - sea urchin with saffron, coriander and parsley foam.
Sometimes I hanker for sci-fi food – which, I admit, doesn’t make any kind of sense. I want something so strange, peculiar and out there, that it just couldn’t come from our planet or time! However, searching for sci-fi food will get you half a million results for gagh, scores of cocktail recipes for pan galactic gargle blasters, and a handful of very well thought out methods for making problematic ice planet desserts. All well and good – but not alien enough for me – I don’t want the food of an existing franchise, but something odd in and of itself.
Something like the sea urchin and saffron, coriander and parsley foam, above. From a series of photographs by Bob Noto, and a dish from the French restaurant, Mirazure, this is utterly ridiculous, and perfect. I’ve no idea how it would taste, I don’t have any handy edible sea urchin shells lying around with which to experiment myself, and in all honesty it’s probably too much of a bother to actually qualify as food, instead of a piece of edible art – but I like it.
So, I continue to look for alien, or science-fiction foods – not of any particular piece of media (belay that command for Earl Grey, hot, and I’ll do without any Soylent Green substitutes, thankyou) but food that just seems odd enough that it could have a story all of its own. I’ll write the story afterwards, but the food comes first, in this situation. Oh, and don’t even talk to me about freeze dried ice cream – yuck.
(Seen over at Tasteologie.)
I once had live baby fish in sake. You drank the Martini glass captured concoction before the baby fish died. The restaurant was most particular about this. A waitress stood in overwatch pose until the wriggling, dying, little things slipped down your throat. It was at restaurant called Hump in Santa Monica, famously shut down after it was caught serving rare whale meat weeks after the ecofilm, The Cove, made a splash in the US. Truly, it was disgusting. The dying fish, I mean.
Left Ear of Gorn
Gorn left ears are sautéed quickly (least they become rubbery) in butter and herbs then flambéed in Saurian brandy to form a sauce. Served on a bed of Antedean flavored couscous. The left ear of a Gorn is absolutely the only edible part, inside or out. Quite tasty really, if a bit chewy. For some reason the right ear is tough and the cochlear fluids impart an unpleasant taste. (Some say they sleep on their right side.) We use only the freshest Gorn and immediately transport them live into space, then beam them right back to the restaurant and while they are still at cryogenic temperature smash them into tiny pieces with a sledgehammer, extract the left ears and beam the rest back into space. While Star Ship captains may demur and spare the life of a Gorn opponent, we say let your palate be the judge! We also make a dessert version of this dish. Why not try both? Much has been written – pro and con – about the ethics of this, one of our most controversial dishes, as it features the flesh of a “sentient” being. (This last point is debatable.)
http://www.aliencuisine.com/appetizer/