Zoë's cooking

POSTED BY: PhoenixRose
UPDATED: Monday, September 3, 2007 16:51
VIEWED: 5226
PAGE 2 of 2

PREV PAGE 1 2

SCHOONER

Tuesday, August 28, 2007 9:01 PM

here're my opinions of the crew members culinary expertise, starting with the one's there's some evidence for

Book: Most likely the best cook on the ship, and the most able to use limited implements and ingredients. Look at the dinner in the pilot as proof

Kaylee: Best of the regular crew, she's the one who bakes Simon's birthday cake out of protein, but gets the frosting as chocolate-y as possible (OOG).

Simon: The worst, he can't even swallow his own cooking (Ariel). To quote Jayne "Smells like crotch"

Jayne: In OIS he's able to cook and carry on a conversation at the same time, something I wasn't able to master for years. It looked like Book was not dreading it, so it can't be that bad.

Now, just my thoughts:

Zoë: I imagine knows how to cook good solid army food that keeps a body going, and a couple of special "wife soup" things for Wash. It's hot, brown, and plenty of it (place that quote). Having been born vesselside and career military, this is the sort of food she grew up on.

Inara: Most likely has a select number of meals that she can prepare exquisitely, as part of a Companion's training. She would be hampered by Serenity's lack of ingredients and equipment.

Wash: Bachelor food, and knows how to make a few special things for Zoë. I'd place him in the "noodles, chili, and sandwiches" category.

Mal: Might be unexpectedly skilled. Growing up on a ranch, he would have maybe learned from the resident cook. Also, he prides himself on his independence, and part of that is being able to cook for oneself without getting sick or bored. Or, he also might be compeltely lost in a kitchen; after all, one of his first ideas was to hire a cook for Serenity.

River: A wildcard, as in everything. She might be able to recite entire cookbooks, but little practical experience. I'd love to read a fic where River tries to figure out how to cook dinner, or mixes her martial arts abilities up with chopping vegetables for stew.

BROWNCOAT2007

Tuesday, August 28, 2007 9:27 PM

All good points, and I'd probably have to agree with you on all of them, except the Wash bit... the whole "I was under fire once... well, I was in a fire... Well I was fired from a fry cook opportunity" thing makes me think he'd probably end up burning up the entire kitchen had he ever tried to cook... and the fic idea with River *falls over laughing* that'd be great to see...

SPACEANJL

Wednesday, August 29, 2007 9:27 AM

I'm with Schooner on the relative merits of the crew, though I put Mal in the 'bachelor cooking' camp. Or as Jayne puts it; "Mal can burn water."
A fic with Mal and Wash attempting to cook could be...horrific.

And I did have River burning the dinner on one occasion. She can pick up what to do, but finds that theory does not translate into practice. Which would annoy her considerably. Were you thinking of something like that scene in 'The Long Kiss Goodnight', with the knife throwing, by any chance?

The Inara thing also rings true. I think she could order a fabulous meal, and probably do a few fiddly little canape things, but cooking basic food for a large number of hungry people? No. (It's harder than it sounds, particularly if you are working with limited field kit and a very basic ingredient spread.) And I don't think she's one to put up with doing anything badly; she'd rather not play, than lose.

Thinking about what the crew have to work with, food-wise, is also an interesting exercise. Rice or noodles, protein in different colours and not a lot else. You'd need to be quite skilled to get flavour and texture out of that. I imagine they have something equivalent to tofu, that you can marinade or smoke. And various sauces and pickles would be at a premium.

You just know that my OC character is the cook, don't you.

DEEPGIRL187

Thursday, August 30, 2007 3:11 PM

I always wanted to write a fic where the main character was a cook recently hired on Serenity. But I always worried it get labled as a Mary Sue. Or perhaps I'm misreading the meaning of Mary Sue?

*****************************************************

"But I neeeeed tacos! I need them or I will explode! That happens to me sometimes."

MAL4PREZ

Thursday, August 30, 2007 5:08 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by deepgirl187:
I always wanted to write a fic where the main character was a cook recently hired on Serenity. But I always worried it get labled as a Mary Sue. Or perhaps I'm misreading the meaning of Mary Sue?

Well, if she has mad skills and great hair and every man on the ship falls in love with her and every woman wants to be her best friend and she solves all problems and every storyline revolves around her... Yeah, Mary Sue.

If she's realistic and complex and imperfect and doesn't take over everything, not so much.

-----------------------------------------------
hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left

MSG

Thursday, August 30, 2007 6:32 PM

yeah see I really think the ship needs a cook/housekeeper. Launder clothes, cook meals, nurse the sick ( along with Simon) and the basics... that could be interesting... where do I sign up?

"I'm not all that interested in the mental health of people who want to kill me. "- Leroy Jethro Gibbs

RIVERFLAN

Monday, September 3, 2007 4:51 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by schooner:

River: A wildcard, as in everything. She might be able to recite entire cookbooks, but little practical experience. I'd love to read a fic where River tries to figure out how to cook dinner, or mixes her martial arts abilities up with chopping vegetables for stew.

Someone did write a fic about that, it's called... okay, I forgot the title, let me go look it up real quick.

Edit: it's called Home Cooking, and you wrote it, schooner!

How silly can I be? I love that story, had me laughing my head off.

"The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds, given adequate vaccuuming systems." -River

"It's just an object. It doesn't mean what you think -River

PREV PAGE 1 2