Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well. |
Because I’m not on Facebook, for social media contact I sometimes “appear” in a segment on a podcast that has an associated Discord group which has been interesting in terms of having another online community outlet. It’s on a slightly smaller and more synchronous scale than DK.
I currently am ambivalent about continuing my “live” participation because as we know more public exposure, even narrow-casted can invite other unwanted and annoying attention like doxxing, etc. I do like helping with a weekly reading group in Discord related to the show if only to hone my study skills by doing some small presentations.
I prefer writing here because it is daily activity and am grateful for those who have taken an interest in my writing. Even then it’s a distraction from getting some other things done around the house, which I still need to work on. This is much like these Friday pieces here because of the specificity and comity of the group.
In general, I have other post-academic research stuff to do that it is important to me before I shuffle off this mortal coil.
The “Feldo community” of about 100+ people who serve as an on-air audience has been fun because it has people in my generation (OK, Boomer) and is generally diverse with an interesting mix of folks, although there are political tensions, much like the usual issues of DK. The Discord platform allows for more community building.
The eponymous host of the podcast, David Feldman, is worth your attention because he is the kind of writer and comedian who is in a tradition that goes back to Mort Sahl, and he wrote for comedians like Bill Maher and Dennis Miller before they became fascists. I like being in this discourse community because it’s as close as I will likely get to a comedy writers’ room.
From that group and because of the recently enforced COVID Zoom culture, I have met interesting people and shared some interests. I haven’t actually shared a meal with anyone, anywhere, for several years now. Maybe that will change, although I doubt it. We have yet to resume getting Kossaks together IRL, especially in my very-NIMBY state.
Recently, some cultural things like Star Trek food, which does signify how much people bond over shared meals, are a continuing scene topic in many episodes, unlike the feature-length movies.
Here’s some stuff from that Discord community about such food treats, Note that I am probably more of a casual Trekkie especially since I prefer the later trek “universes” but am glad to revisit the original series episodes in color rather than monochrome.
Edible Star Trek scenes even connect terrestrial fans to famous foods that starship travelers will encounter in the future. Beginning with Ensign Ro in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Colonel Kira in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and then jumping 930+ years into the future with Adira Tal in Star Trek: Discovery, consistent references to spicy Bajoran hasperat across space and time in the Star Trek universe satisfy fans’ taste for canonical consistency and continuity.
www.startrek.com/…
Almost every Trek show features scenes of the crew in the mess hall eating. Frequently, each of the crewmembers is eating an unique meal, in accordance with their dietary needs, culinary preferences, or both.
From a narrative perspective, these scenes can be important for moving the plot forward, particularly when it comes to storylines that are entered on the crew’s personal or social lives. However, the fact that each member of the crew can be assured that they will be fully fed each day is more significant than it might seem at first taste.
www.startrek.com/...
A list of food and beverages from the Star Trek Universe: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Foods_and_beverages
Hasperat was a well-known spicy Bajoran food resembling a roll-up sandwich. It was made using a specially prepared brine, which if made correctly would cause the eyes to water and sear the tongue. Another method of serving hasperat was in a hasperat soufflé. (DS9: "Sacrifice of Angels") Hasperat was one of many foods prepared for Bajoran comfort...
Hasperat looks curiously similar to our smoked salmon or sea trout rolls. Did the Bajoran seed life on Earth or did the Vikings travel further than man has gone before and brought lakseruller to their planet? They make a tasty snack or appetizer. You take lefse which is a chapati-like potato flat bread, smear it w/a creamy goat cheese, slices of smoked salmon, or my preference, smoked sea trout, thinly sliced scallion, fresh ground pepper, arugula and of course cilantro and then roll and slice it up.
Plomeek soup or Plomeek broth was a Vulcan food. It was usually described as bland in taste, although variations such as a spicy version existed. It was considered a traditional morning meal on Vulcan. (ENT: "Unexpected") Plomeek broth and soup was commonly offered aboard Enterprise, including among a breakfast spread in 2151.
Any Trek fan worth his or her salt (included in Starfleet emergency rations, by the way) knows that Romulan ale is one of the most widely referenced food-and-beverage items in the franchise. It's an ultrapotent blue drink that reportedly results in instant drunkeness. [After the jump, recipes for Romulan ale, Klingon bloodwine, and why Vulcans hate barbecue.]
Science fiction often holds a mirror up to contemporary culture, critiquing its practices, politics, and mores. So, too, with Romulan ale. Because of the United Federation of Planets' standoff with the Romulan Empire, the drink is illegal within the Federation—much like Cuban cigars are in the U.S. But like the captains of industry of today, captains of starships indulge in this vice. As Kirk said in The Undiscovered Country, the routine violation of the embargo is "one of the advantages of being a thousand light years from Federation headquarters."
Its proper Romulan name may be kali-fal.
Recipes: There are several recipes out there for Earth-bound Romulan ale.
Romulan Foods
www.seriouseats.com/...
In other food topics: