Beyond "tea, Earl Grey, hot" and Soylent green
August 1, 2014 6:04 PM Subscribe
MIND MELD: Food in Science Fiction versus Fantasy
Contributors include Laura Anne Gilman, Sherwood Smith, A.M. Dellamonica, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Bradley Beaulieu, Leah Petersen, Fran Wilde, Kat Howard, Jo Anderton, Zachary Jernigan, Aliette de Bodard, Violette Malan, Rose Fox, Linda Nagata, Michael Martinez, and Judith Tarr.
This week we asked about Food and Drink in SF. Food and Drink in science fiction sometimes seems limited to replicator requests for Earl Grey tea and Soylent green discs. Why doesn’t do as much food as Fantasy? Does Fantasy lend itself more to food than Science fiction? Why? This is what they had to say…
Contributors include Laura Anne Gilman, Sherwood Smith, A.M. Dellamonica, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Bradley Beaulieu, Leah Petersen, Fran Wilde, Kat Howard, Jo Anderton, Zachary Jernigan, Aliette de Bodard, Violette Malan, Rose Fox, Linda Nagata, Michael Martinez, and Judith Tarr.
Food and Drink in science fiction sometimes seems limited to replicator requests for Earl Grey tea and Soylent green discs.
Kaylee. Strawberry. Your argument is invalid.
posted by officer_fred at 6:22 PM on August 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
Kaylee. Strawberry. Your argument is invalid.
posted by officer_fred at 6:22 PM on August 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
I do think the replicator requests in Star Trek are shockingly banal. I'm sure at least from time to time someone would go "Give me a chocolate mold of the Captain's head, varying the cocoa content from 20 percent at the bottom to 80% at the top", or something. Lots of opportunity for creativity there.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 6:35 PM on August 1, 2014 [22 favorites]
posted by Jon Mitchell at 6:35 PM on August 1, 2014 [22 favorites]
I have been rewatching DS9 Season 6, and have noticed that it is more likely on DS9 for the crew to order some wild sounding Bajoran dish.
It is most likely they order Raktajino.
posted by QueerAngel28 at 6:47 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
It is most likely they order Raktajino.
posted by QueerAngel28 at 6:47 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Can the replicator replicate any food you want at the drop of a hat, or can it only replicate things that are on its menu? I thought that the meal you want had to be in its recipe folder.
posted by painquale at 6:48 PM on August 1, 2014
posted by painquale at 6:48 PM on August 1, 2014
I do think the replicator requests in Star Trek are shockingly banal. I'm sure at least from time to time someone would go "Give me a chocolate mold of the Captain's head, varying the cocoa content from 20 percent at the bottom to 80% at the top", or something. Lots of opportunity for creativity there.
That's what Kirk orders, before McCoy shatters it and hands him a banana.
posted by wrabbit at 6:48 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
That's what Kirk orders, before McCoy shatters it and hands him a banana.
posted by wrabbit at 6:48 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
In this STTOS episode, food (and drink!) are critically important.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:54 PM on August 1, 2014
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:54 PM on August 1, 2014
I'm sure at least from time to time someone would go "Give me a chocolate mold of the Captain's head, varying the cocoa content from 20 percent at the bottom to 80% at the top", or something. Lots of opportunity for creativity there.
I'm sure they could and do make those requests, but the replicator is still going to give them something that is almost, but not completely unlike tea.
posted by happyroach at 6:58 PM on August 1, 2014 [29 favorites]
I'm sure they could and do make those requests, but the replicator is still going to give them something that is almost, but not completely unlike tea.
posted by happyroach at 6:58 PM on August 1, 2014 [29 favorites]
In this STTOS episode, food (and drink!) are critically important.
I didn't even have to click your link to start craving some very, very, very old scotch.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:13 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I didn't even have to click your link to start craving some very, very, very old scotch.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:13 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Guys! Guys! I found a Nutri-Matic machine which provides me with a plastic cup filled with a liquid that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:15 PM on August 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:15 PM on August 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
I do think the replicator requests in Star Trek are shockingly banal.
Yeah, and with all this bounty, no one is apparently allowed to eat at their desk. I want to see Worf tucking into some buffalo wings between damage reports, Picard chewing on a Hot Pocket while negotiating peace treaties, Geordi leaving his chili on top of the warp core to heat back up, etc.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:25 PM on August 1, 2014 [10 favorites]
Yeah, and with all this bounty, no one is apparently allowed to eat at their desk. I want to see Worf tucking into some buffalo wings between damage reports, Picard chewing on a Hot Pocket while negotiating peace treaties, Geordi leaving his chili on top of the warp core to heat back up, etc.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:25 PM on August 1, 2014 [10 favorites]
I wonder if the replicator makes Stars' Tears?
posted by nicebookrack at 7:26 PM on August 1, 2014
posted by nicebookrack at 7:26 PM on August 1, 2014
I would bet that Riker has ordered his own replicated flesh at least once.
posted by Iridic at 7:29 PM on August 1, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by Iridic at 7:29 PM on August 1, 2014 [8 favorites]
I have been rewatching DS9 Season 6, and have noticed that it is more likely on DS9 for the crew to order some wild sounding Bajoran dish. It is most likely they order Raktajino.
Apparently, on Terok Nor, the replicators have a limited repertoire, and different ones have different options. You can get standard Federation options at the Repli-mat (which Eddington goes on about in one of his stupid episodes), or you can get a little more variety at Quark's. I think many people opt for Bajoran because it is a) local (so you are more likely to get "real" food); and b) a bit more flavorful than the standard options (Bajoran food is very spicy). However, there are many discussions about importing foods that cannot be easily replicated, such as the multiple varieties of gagh, or kanar of a good vintage.
A lot of this is managed through the latinum economy, which I imagine is similar to the sort of thing that Kim Stanley Robinson describes in 2312, when he discusses the kind of dealing that circulates certain luxury goods or craft products "on the margin" in what is essentially a post-scarcity economy.
I have no idea how this works on actual starships, however.
Raktajino is supposedly just really good coffee, and who wouldn't want that?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:39 PM on August 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
Apparently, on Terok Nor, the replicators have a limited repertoire, and different ones have different options. You can get standard Federation options at the Repli-mat (which Eddington goes on about in one of his stupid episodes), or you can get a little more variety at Quark's. I think many people opt for Bajoran because it is a) local (so you are more likely to get "real" food); and b) a bit more flavorful than the standard options (Bajoran food is very spicy). However, there are many discussions about importing foods that cannot be easily replicated, such as the multiple varieties of gagh, or kanar of a good vintage.
A lot of this is managed through the latinum economy, which I imagine is similar to the sort of thing that Kim Stanley Robinson describes in 2312, when he discusses the kind of dealing that circulates certain luxury goods or craft products "on the margin" in what is essentially a post-scarcity economy.
I have no idea how this works on actual starships, however.
Raktajino is supposedly just really good coffee, and who wouldn't want that?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:39 PM on August 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
Ah yes, the liquid not entirely unlike tea. Also the cow at the Restaurant, the gin and tonic, the peanuts, Bistromathics, a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick, the fairy cake, the nutrient-soaked towel, that Old Janx Spirit... see, there's all kinds of food and drink-related stuff in SF.
posted by sfenders at 7:39 PM on August 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by sfenders at 7:39 PM on August 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
Raktajino is supposedly just really good coffee, and who wouldn't want that?
Are there space Mormons outside BSG?
posted by flaterik at 7:51 PM on August 1, 2014
Are there space Mormons outside BSG?
posted by flaterik at 7:51 PM on August 1, 2014
Enders Game is *rotten* with space mormons.
posted by chrchr at 7:53 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by chrchr at 7:53 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm confused, if this is supposed to be about SF, why all the Star Trek references?
posted by signal at 7:54 PM on August 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by signal at 7:54 PM on August 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
There was a short story I read a long time ago, I think it was by Clarke, I can't be certain, that was presented an an excerpt from some kind of future congressional hearings. It developed that people could perfectly synthesize foods and as a result the practice of eating meat from an animal had come to be regarded as utterly barbaric. There's a reference made to one of the committee members having to excuse themselves due how graphic the testimony is. The twist was someone had started selling synthesized human flesh, and it was massively popular.
I think sci fi does lend itself to food, but that fantasy and sci fi use food in very different ways. Food in fantasy seems to be often used to create familiarity, it's something that helps to ground a fantastic world. In sci fi food is often used as a way of distancing the viewer or reader from the world, of viscerally alienating them. We don't get sumptuous banquets, we get the "Chicken Gun" from Existenz. We find out that we're going to consider a paste made of soy and lentils (the original soylent green) to be a luxury item in "Make Room, Make Room". As mentioned in the above thread the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy used it brilliantly to that effect. Hell, it's a common enough trope that Futurama practically had it as a running gag.
I also think that food is just harder to predict, I mean who saw "$11 Gourmet Toast" coming? The unpredictability of food probably makes it seem extraneous; I mean, yes, an author can go into detail about how Ethiopian-Polynesian fusion cuisine has really taken off, but to what effect? New styles and tastes in food are a fact of life.
posted by Grimgrin at 8:16 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think sci fi does lend itself to food, but that fantasy and sci fi use food in very different ways. Food in fantasy seems to be often used to create familiarity, it's something that helps to ground a fantastic world. In sci fi food is often used as a way of distancing the viewer or reader from the world, of viscerally alienating them. We don't get sumptuous banquets, we get the "Chicken Gun" from Existenz. We find out that we're going to consider a paste made of soy and lentils (the original soylent green) to be a luxury item in "Make Room, Make Room". As mentioned in the above thread the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy used it brilliantly to that effect. Hell, it's a common enough trope that Futurama practically had it as a running gag.
I also think that food is just harder to predict, I mean who saw "$11 Gourmet Toast" coming? The unpredictability of food probably makes it seem extraneous; I mean, yes, an author can go into detail about how Ethiopian-Polynesian fusion cuisine has really taken off, but to what effect? New styles and tastes in food are a fact of life.
posted by Grimgrin at 8:16 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
In Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan, Long Pig is a restaurant chain that serves meat carved off human clones grown w/out a brain, so its not like you're eating a real person.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 8:35 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 8:35 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Taco Bell or Brawndo, anyone?
posted by postel's law at 8:46 PM on August 1, 2014
posted by postel's law at 8:46 PM on August 1, 2014
In Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan, Long Pig is a restaurant chain that serves meat carved off human clones grown w/out a brain, so its not like you're eating a real person.
See also Rudy Rucker's wendymeat.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:48 PM on August 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
See also Rudy Rucker's wendymeat.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:48 PM on August 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
JD Robb (Nora Roberts) uses food, including replicators, a lot in the In Death series. The main protag is courted via real steak, real coffee and other luxuries since everything else is soy-ish. Replicators (autochefs) break down and run out and so on.
No cannibalism of the cloned kind though.
posted by geek anachronism at 8:49 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
No cannibalism of the cloned kind though.
posted by geek anachronism at 8:49 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Iain Banks' State Of The Art is another story featuring cloned-human-meat, although in this cade it is aliens, or rather the post-human Culture eating it.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 9:06 PM on August 1, 2014
posted by Jon Mitchell at 9:06 PM on August 1, 2014
One of Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan novels had a subplot entirely about food. Eccentric scientist with insect fetish creates a breed of insects that will eat anything and secrete a buttery substance that can be used for a wide range of purposes. Chaos, of course, ensues.
posted by Alnedra at 9:11 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Alnedra at 9:11 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Memo to self: Check all current story projects for scenes involving food. Find a way to put in at least one if none exist. It doesn't have to be the center of the scene but say something about the world and the characters by showing what and where they eat.
posted by egypturnash at 9:16 PM on August 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by egypturnash at 9:16 PM on August 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
>examine teaposted by aroweofshale at 9:45 PM on August 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
You're talking complete nonsense; pull yourself together.
>inventory
You have:
no tea
>examine no tea
You're talking complete nonsense; pull yourself together.
Several mentions of the STEW entry in Diana Wynne Jones' "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland"
STEW (the Official Management Terms are 'thick' and 'savoury,' which translate as 'viscous' and 'dark brown') is the staple FOOD in Fantasyland, so be warned. You may shortly be longing passionately for omelette, steak or baked beans, but none of these will be forthcoming, inside or out. Stew will be what you are served to eat every single time. Given the disturbed nature of life in this land, where in CAMP you are likely to be attacked without warning (but see BATH) and in an INN prone to be the centre of a TAVERN BRAWL, Stew seems an odd choice as staple food, since, on a rough calculation, it takes forty times as long to prepare as steak. But it is clear the inhabitants have not yet discovered fast food. The exact recipe for Stew is of course a Management secret, but is thought to contain meat of some kind and perhaps even vegetables. Do not expect a salad on the side.posted by TheophileEscargot at 9:50 PM on August 1, 2014 [6 favorites]
As far as the most disturbing and science fictional foods go, the prize probably goes to the pseudo-sentient snacks in Adam Warren's "Dirty Pair: Run from the Future". As in, little human figures with an artificial intelligence that makes them scream, plead and wave their tiny limbs around. It's a way of showing how alien that transhuman culture is.
posted by happyroach at 10:17 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by happyroach at 10:17 PM on August 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Restaurant at the End of the Universe
"Would you like to meet the meat?"
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 10:20 PM on August 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
"Would you like to meet the meat?"
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 10:20 PM on August 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Another Vorkosigan reference, from Memory:
Miles and Illyan settled down at dusk to a fish dinner in the lake house's dining room. Ma Kosti had prepared the smallest lake trout, which was enough to feed the whole household, with a sauce that would have made baked cardboard delectable, and rendered the fresh fish a feast for minor gods.posted by Lexica at 10:31 PM on August 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
Illyan was clearly amused at this proof of their prowess as primitive providers. "Did you do this often, down here? Feed your whole family?"
"Once in a great while. Then I figured out my Betan mother, who never eats anything but vat-protein if she can help it, was munching it down bravely and lying through her teeth about what a good boy I was, and I stopped, um, challenging her culinary preferences."
On the sort of serious side, hydroponics is mentioned in almost every long flight space based (or moon based) novel I've ever read. It's usually for food and oxygen.
posted by doctor_negative at 12:30 AM on August 2, 2014
posted by doctor_negative at 12:30 AM on August 2, 2014
grimgrin: There was a short story I read a long time ago, I think it was by Clarke, I can't be certain, that was presented an an excerpt from some kind of future congressional hearings. It developed that people could perfectly synthesize foods and as a result the practice of eating meat from an animal had come to be regarded as utterly barbaric. There's a reference made to one of the committee members having to excuse themselves due how graphic the testimony is. The twist was someone had started selling synthesized human flesh, and it was massively popular.
Yep, that was Clarke. The story is called The Food of the Gods, and it's collected in (among other places) The Wind from the Sun.
I may have read altogether too much Clarke when I was younger.
posted by freelanceastro at 12:52 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yep, that was Clarke. The story is called The Food of the Gods, and it's collected in (among other places) The Wind from the Sun.
I may have read altogether too much Clarke when I was younger.
posted by freelanceastro at 12:52 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
What the heck was the deal with noodles in BSG?
Tigh: "are you gonna eat that?"
Adama: "Not anymore, I'm not"
Tigh jams a huge dangly knot of noodles down the throat hole
posted by disclaimer at 1:12 AM on August 2, 2014
Tigh: "are you gonna eat that?"
Adama: "Not anymore, I'm not"
Tigh jams a huge dangly knot of noodles down the throat hole
posted by disclaimer at 1:12 AM on August 2, 2014
There's a lot of food and drink in The Expanse, and the crew of the Rocinante gets better food (real cheese! Scotch!) when they're financially flush. There's also a lot of food in liquid in bulb form, but the taste is varied and described. Food production is also explained. And the New Mexican gets Hatch chile shipped to him in the asteroid belt, as is proper.
Oryx and Crake is mentioned, and food production is HUGE in that trilogy.
Also they come back to the big names in long-ass fantasy over and over again without bringing up The Big Fantasy Food Series, Redwall, which is basically food porn. There's also great food in the Kushiel saga, which fits with the hedonism of its setting, and Cold Fire-- also an alternate universe series-- features a rather ravenous heroine and a courtship involving a lot of gifts of juice. AUs set during the "discovery" of the Americas tend to particularly focus on food, since there are so many novel crops available.
Yeah, a lot of sci-fi feature sterile and boring food, but mostly that's the stuff in space, and "real food" ends up prized as a result.
I also remember a very important apple in The Giver, an important pizza in Snow Crash, some literal food porn in Slaughterhouse-5, orange juice in The Ear, The Eye and The Arm, shawarma in Avengers, pizza and coffee in Hawkeye, complaints about the algae based noodles in BSG, ramen sellers and special quarian and turian safe cheeses in Mass Effect, cooking mechanics in the Tales Of series of video games, cake-craving AIs in Hate Plus, regulation meals with special desserts in Matched, hidden candies as tokens of affection in the Chemical Garden series, butter used as lotion in The Handmaid's Tale, Temeraire's cows, and eating endangered aliens on Futurama. That's just off the top of my head. I don't think the genre is exactly suffering from a dearth of edibles just because some space operas are lazy, just like I don't think high fantasy's stew describes a trend in the fantasy genre as a whole.
posted by NoraReed at 2:18 AM on August 2, 2014 [3 favorites]
Oryx and Crake is mentioned, and food production is HUGE in that trilogy.
Also they come back to the big names in long-ass fantasy over and over again without bringing up The Big Fantasy Food Series, Redwall, which is basically food porn. There's also great food in the Kushiel saga, which fits with the hedonism of its setting, and Cold Fire-- also an alternate universe series-- features a rather ravenous heroine and a courtship involving a lot of gifts of juice. AUs set during the "discovery" of the Americas tend to particularly focus on food, since there are so many novel crops available.
Yeah, a lot of sci-fi feature sterile and boring food, but mostly that's the stuff in space, and "real food" ends up prized as a result.
I also remember a very important apple in The Giver, an important pizza in Snow Crash, some literal food porn in Slaughterhouse-5, orange juice in The Ear, The Eye and The Arm, shawarma in Avengers, pizza and coffee in Hawkeye, complaints about the algae based noodles in BSG, ramen sellers and special quarian and turian safe cheeses in Mass Effect, cooking mechanics in the Tales Of series of video games, cake-craving AIs in Hate Plus, regulation meals with special desserts in Matched, hidden candies as tokens of affection in the Chemical Garden series, butter used as lotion in The Handmaid's Tale, Temeraire's cows, and eating endangered aliens on Futurama. That's just off the top of my head. I don't think the genre is exactly suffering from a dearth of edibles just because some space operas are lazy, just like I don't think high fantasy's stew describes a trend in the fantasy genre as a whole.
posted by NoraReed at 2:18 AM on August 2, 2014 [3 favorites]
I remember reading a sci-fi/fantasty anthology once. One of the stories had two men eating a meal prepared by an alien. the "agharee was merely vile", while the female chef declared that "next time, [she] would boil [her] jockstrap for your chatowsies".
posted by Solomon at 3:07 AM on August 2, 2014
posted by Solomon at 3:07 AM on August 2, 2014
As far as weird utilitarian SF food without regard for sumptuousness, there's the "Blue Food" in Clarke's novelization of 2001. Odd that aliens that could manage to perfectly duplicate the packaging of food, not to mention figure out the nutritional requirements of humans, couldn't manage to duplicate the food itself.
And as long as we're talking about blue food, let's not forget the blue milk from Star Wars, which spawned a rather good satirical webcomic.
posted by happyroach at 3:13 AM on August 2, 2014
And as long as we're talking about blue food, let's not forget the blue milk from Star Wars, which spawned a rather good satirical webcomic.
posted by happyroach at 3:13 AM on August 2, 2014
The floating noodle seller in The 5th Element, the "would you like fries with that" scene from Idiocracy, the rat-burger scene from Demolition Man...
posted by ninazer0 at 3:54 AM on August 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by ninazer0 at 3:54 AM on August 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
Deep Space 9 is all about the food. Sisko's a chef and constantly springs dishes on Jake and Kassidy; his father runs a restaurant on Earth (try the shrimp creole). O'Brien and Keiko often have arguments over meals, sometimes about the meal itself; O'Brien's drink of choice is "Jamaican blend, double strong, double sweet" which always makes me smile since it's an obvious attempt at an Earl Grey-like catchphrase.
Jadzia loves Klingon cuisine. She also loves insulting the chef and complaining if the racht isn't alive enough. Jake and Nog scheme for jumja sticks from the Promenade vendor. Quark serves all kinds of food and beverage to accommodate the many species who come through. Garak and Bashir have weekly lunches and often snark on each other's food, Kira likes her hasperat, Worf knocks back prune juice like Damar knocks back kanar, and Odo. Doesn't. Eat. And that's not counting the various Bajoran holidays, Vic's, and the mad crazy parties whenever the USS Sutherland pays a visit.
DS9 was the first Trek show to focus on the day-to-day lives of its diverse characters, who make the space station their home instead of living peripatetically like starship crews. Food plays a big part in everyday home life. I'm glad it played such a well-enmeshed part of DS9.
(Oh, and as for BSG: man there was a lot of green booze, looked like they were drinking either Midori or Ecto-Cooler.)
posted by Spatch at 4:28 AM on August 2, 2014 [6 favorites]
Jadzia loves Klingon cuisine. She also loves insulting the chef and complaining if the racht isn't alive enough. Jake and Nog scheme for jumja sticks from the Promenade vendor. Quark serves all kinds of food and beverage to accommodate the many species who come through. Garak and Bashir have weekly lunches and often snark on each other's food, Kira likes her hasperat, Worf knocks back prune juice like Damar knocks back kanar, and Odo. Doesn't. Eat. And that's not counting the various Bajoran holidays, Vic's, and the mad crazy parties whenever the USS Sutherland pays a visit.
DS9 was the first Trek show to focus on the day-to-day lives of its diverse characters, who make the space station their home instead of living peripatetically like starship crews. Food plays a big part in everyday home life. I'm glad it played such a well-enmeshed part of DS9.
(Oh, and as for BSG: man there was a lot of green booze, looked like they were drinking either Midori or Ecto-Cooler.)
posted by Spatch at 4:28 AM on August 2, 2014 [6 favorites]
“With all this crazy technology, I can cook anything. But customers only want to eat beet salads and pork buns.”
posted by Slothrup at 5:25 AM on August 2, 2014
posted by Slothrup at 5:25 AM on August 2, 2014
Kind of amazed that neither this thread nor the linked article has any mention of Jack Vance, the all time king of extremely detailed, glorious SF/F meals. The following is stolen from the excellent Great SF and F site.
[T]onight only the Sarkoy cuisine was offered. The first course was served: a pale green broth of swamp produce, rather bitter, accompanied by stalks of deep-fried reed, a salad of celery root, whortle-berry and shreds of pungent black bark. . . .
The second course appeared: a ragout of pale meat in coral sauce, heavily seasoned, with side dishes of jellied plantain, crystallized jaoic, a local fruit. . . .
The third course was set before them: collops of perfumed paste on disks of chilled melon, accompanied by what appeared to be small mollusks in spiced oil. . . .
Edelrod looked up from the battery of bowls which had just been set before him, containing a hash of crushed insects and cereal, pickles, a plum-colored conserve and pellets of fried meat. . . .
Alusz Iphigenia had let the fourth course go untasted. The fifth course was served: a wafer of baked pastry on which were arranged three large steamed centipedes with a garnish of a chopped blue vegetable and a dish of glossy-black paste, which gave off an acrid aromatic odor. Alusz Iphigenia rose to her feet, departed the dining room. Edelrod looked after her solicitously. "She is not well?"
"I fear not."
"A pity." Edelrod attacked his food with gusto. "The meal is by no means at its end."
posted by selfnoise at 5:26 AM on August 2, 2014 [3 favorites]
[T]onight only the Sarkoy cuisine was offered. The first course was served: a pale green broth of swamp produce, rather bitter, accompanied by stalks of deep-fried reed, a salad of celery root, whortle-berry and shreds of pungent black bark. . . .
The second course appeared: a ragout of pale meat in coral sauce, heavily seasoned, with side dishes of jellied plantain, crystallized jaoic, a local fruit. . . .
The third course was set before them: collops of perfumed paste on disks of chilled melon, accompanied by what appeared to be small mollusks in spiced oil. . . .
Edelrod looked up from the battery of bowls which had just been set before him, containing a hash of crushed insects and cereal, pickles, a plum-colored conserve and pellets of fried meat. . . .
Alusz Iphigenia had let the fourth course go untasted. The fifth course was served: a wafer of baked pastry on which were arranged three large steamed centipedes with a garnish of a chopped blue vegetable and a dish of glossy-black paste, which gave off an acrid aromatic odor. Alusz Iphigenia rose to her feet, departed the dining room. Edelrod looked after her solicitously. "She is not well?"
"I fear not."
"A pity." Edelrod attacked his food with gusto. "The meal is by no means at its end."
posted by selfnoise at 5:26 AM on August 2, 2014 [3 favorites]
What about the cow that wanted to be eaten from Douglas Adams?
posted by jonmc at 5:50 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by jonmc at 5:50 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
"the magic Zwiebach of the Elves" (Bored of the Rings)
When small I was an enormous fan if Zwiebach. I want to try elvish magic Zwiebach way more than any silly lembas.
posted by jfuller at 6:52 AM on August 2, 2014
When small I was an enormous fan if Zwiebach. I want to try elvish magic Zwiebach way more than any silly lembas.
posted by jfuller at 6:52 AM on August 2, 2014
On the sort of serious side, hydroponics is mentioned in almost every long flight space based (or moon based) novel I've ever read. It's usually for food and oxygen.
In a lot of space science fiction, food is just a problem to solve. Hydroponics, replicators, dried pills -- they are just background devices to keep the people alive in the spaceship. It's oddly often not much mentioned when you get to the scenes of exploring a new planet, other than that they have some space MREs maybe. I remember food or at least eating being discussed in the book where the guys hands get sliced up, The Sparrow and the followup to it.
But largely food is like sex in being ignored by most science fiction. It would be interesting to read a science fiction version of The Little House on the Prairie books, especially Farmer Boy, with the extended descriptions of growing, preparing, and eating food (or being hungry and thinking about the food you don't have).
posted by Dip Flash at 6:54 AM on August 2, 2014 [3 favorites]
In a lot of space science fiction, food is just a problem to solve. Hydroponics, replicators, dried pills -- they are just background devices to keep the people alive in the spaceship. It's oddly often not much mentioned when you get to the scenes of exploring a new planet, other than that they have some space MREs maybe. I remember food or at least eating being discussed in the book where the guys hands get sliced up, The Sparrow and the followup to it.
But largely food is like sex in being ignored by most science fiction. It would be interesting to read a science fiction version of The Little House on the Prairie books, especially Farmer Boy, with the extended descriptions of growing, preparing, and eating food (or being hungry and thinking about the food you don't have).
posted by Dip Flash at 6:54 AM on August 2, 2014 [3 favorites]
The more affluent characters in a Jack Vance tale would sample some interesting dishes at a banquet. They would also wear flashy clothes and listen to harmonically complex music.
(oh, as mentioned above)
posted by ovvl at 7:12 AM on August 2, 2014
(oh, as mentioned above)
posted by ovvl at 7:12 AM on August 2, 2014
Timely, as I just finished writing a scene where Our Borderline Alien Future Humans have to have the concept of cucumber sandwiches carefully and patiently explained to them.
posted by The Whelk at 7:35 AM on August 2, 2014
posted by The Whelk at 7:35 AM on August 2, 2014
Food & drink played a large enough part of the Babylon 5 series that there was even a mock cook book: Dining on Babylon 5
There were a number of ongoing jokes about certain types of food (Spoo, for example), and any number of one-off sight gags.
posted by Shadan7 at 8:22 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
There were a number of ongoing jokes about certain types of food (Spoo, for example), and any number of one-off sight gags.
posted by Shadan7 at 8:22 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
But largely food is like sex in being ignored by most science fiction
It's like we're in completely different realities, reading totally different genres.
posted by NoraReed at 8:32 AM on August 2, 2014
It's like we're in completely different realities, reading totally different genres.
posted by NoraReed at 8:32 AM on August 2, 2014
I've prepared William Gibson dishes lots of times. My favorite is his version of Huevos Rancheros from Mona Lisa Overdrive. But his Pineapple in lime juice dusted with cayenne powder (from the same book) is also quite good.
Gibson seems to have a thing for scrambled eggs, especially when prepared with just water, which admittedly does make it hard to clean the pan.
posted by valkane at 8:39 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
Gibson seems to have a thing for scrambled eggs, especially when prepared with just water, which admittedly does make it hard to clean the pan.
posted by valkane at 8:39 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
Kind of amazed that neither this thread nor the linked article has any mention of Jack Vance, the all time king of extremely detailed, glorious SF/F meals.
I came here to say something similar. It's not just the wealthy who sample exotic cuisines in his books; it's every protagonist To completely ignore Vance in a discussion about food in SF and Fantasy literature puts all your conclusions seriously in doubt.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:01 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
I came here to say something similar. It's not just the wealthy who sample exotic cuisines in his books; it's every protagonist To completely ignore Vance in a discussion about food in SF and Fantasy literature puts all your conclusions seriously in doubt.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:01 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
In Snowpiercer there are the (*shudder*) protein blocks and the sushi.
posted by brundlefly at 10:35 AM on August 2, 2014
posted by brundlefly at 10:35 AM on August 2, 2014
I think, in a lot of cases, when we talk about food in SF, we're talking about what it means to still have commodities in a technologically advanced society. When you can feed everybody, what does it mean to have a dish prepared from ingredients that cannot be replicated well? Or by a specific chef? What does it mean to have a work of art that is ephemeral, or cannot be massed produced? Do class systems persist in these instances?
A number of authors address this- in DS9, there is latinum, which apparently can be used for luxury goods, and represents the medium of exchange for the underworld, as well as between the Federation and non-post-scarcity societies.
Kim Stanley Robinson writes about a cash economy grafted on top of a Mondragon-style system of redistribution managed by quantum AIs, and the division between the two creating sources of friction.
In Look To Windward, Iain M. Banks has Masaq' Hub joke about Culture citizens practically "re-inventing money" in order to attend a particular concert event. Good authors will not only describe the foodways of their future societies, but will recognize their links to economies as well.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some plomeek soup cooling on the stove, and my mapa bread is just about ready to come out of the oven.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:47 AM on August 2, 2014
A number of authors address this- in DS9, there is latinum, which apparently can be used for luxury goods, and represents the medium of exchange for the underworld, as well as between the Federation and non-post-scarcity societies.
Kim Stanley Robinson writes about a cash economy grafted on top of a Mondragon-style system of redistribution managed by quantum AIs, and the division between the two creating sources of friction.
In Look To Windward, Iain M. Banks has Masaq' Hub joke about Culture citizens practically "re-inventing money" in order to attend a particular concert event. Good authors will not only describe the foodways of their future societies, but will recognize their links to economies as well.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some plomeek soup cooling on the stove, and my mapa bread is just about ready to come out of the oven.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:47 AM on August 2, 2014
"Y'know, this is a small pill to be so nutritionally all-encompassing. I would imagine in this tiny pill is the equivalent of a full day's supply of nutrients."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:27 AM on August 2, 2014
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:27 AM on August 2, 2014
Can the replicator replicate any food you want at the drop of a hat, or can it only replicate things that are on its menu? I thought that the meal you want had to be in its recipe folder.
I seem to remember several occasions on TNG where people mentioned programming new recipes into the replicators, so I think you're correct about that limitation.
My sister and I used to joke about the replicators being an elaborate ruse: all the food was really prepared by a pair of disgruntled Starfleet short order cooks and their put-upon yeoman dishwasher, who would complain about all the fancy-pants orders before sending whatever the special of the day was through a pneumatic tube. The only crew member they didn't hate was Riker, who usually only ordered oatmeal or Jell-O made with gin, heavy on the lumps, just like Dad used to make.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:35 AM on August 2, 2014 [5 favorites]
I seem to remember several occasions on TNG where people mentioned programming new recipes into the replicators, so I think you're correct about that limitation.
My sister and I used to joke about the replicators being an elaborate ruse: all the food was really prepared by a pair of disgruntled Starfleet short order cooks and their put-upon yeoman dishwasher, who would complain about all the fancy-pants orders before sending whatever the special of the day was through a pneumatic tube. The only crew member they didn't hate was Riker, who usually only ordered oatmeal or Jell-O made with gin, heavy on the lumps, just like Dad used to make.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:35 AM on August 2, 2014 [5 favorites]
I think one of the Pern guides included recipes for bubbly pies and roast beast.
For me, the science fictional food is "A chicken sandwich. And coffee." covered in tribbles.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:36 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
For me, the science fictional food is "A chicken sandwich. And coffee." covered in tribbles.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:36 AM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
a pair of disgruntled Starfleet short order cooks and their put-upon yeoman dishwasher, who would complain about all the fancy-pants orders
"I swear, if he says 'Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.' in that tone of voice once more, I'm sending him God-damn sweet tea! Hell, I'll send him Bovril, or that hot fish juice the Cardies always drink! ORDERING! Betazed bun pup for Counselor Cleavage! Cremate it and drag it through Wisconsin!"
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:10 PM on August 2, 2014 [6 favorites]
"I swear, if he says 'Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.' in that tone of voice once more, I'm sending him God-damn sweet tea! Hell, I'll send him Bovril, or that hot fish juice the Cardies always drink! ORDERING! Betazed bun pup for Counselor Cleavage! Cremate it and drag it through Wisconsin!"
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:10 PM on August 2, 2014 [6 favorites]
Anne McCaffrey edited a cookbook by various SF/F authors, called Cooking Out of This World (1973). So it's not food from books but recipes from the authors (including Poul Anderson, Gordon R. Dickson, and Ursula K. Leguin).
posted by datawrangler at 12:17 PM on August 2, 2014
posted by datawrangler at 12:17 PM on August 2, 2014
"And we're 86 on prune juice! Again!"
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:26 PM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:26 PM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
"Alice, pudding. Pudding, Alice. Remove the pudding!"
Alternately, "EAT ME" and "DRINK ME."
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 1:53 PM on August 2, 2014
Alternately, "EAT ME" and "DRINK ME."
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 1:53 PM on August 2, 2014
"You've managed to import breen from Homeworld!"
"It isn't actually breen. It is an Earth dish. They are called Swedish meatballs."
posted by BrashTech at 3:39 PM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
"It isn't actually breen. It is an Earth dish. They are called Swedish meatballs."
posted by BrashTech at 3:39 PM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
It taste's… spoo-ish.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 3:56 PM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 3:56 PM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hollywood has been doing underutilized food synthesizers for a long time. Robby the Robot (Forbidden Planet) could synthesize anything you might want, but all anyone ever asks him for are a bottle of liquor and a dress.
posted by jfuller at 4:28 PM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by jfuller at 4:28 PM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
Dining on Babylon 5: mmm, bagna cauda.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:04 PM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:04 PM on August 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
"ORDERING! Kahless and Lukara on a raft, make it squirmy!"
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:16 PM on August 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:16 PM on August 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
"ORDERING! Jalad at Tenegra, his eyes wide open, side of fries!"
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 7:02 PM on August 2, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 7:02 PM on August 2, 2014 [4 favorites]
"ORDERING! Revenge, extra cold, and put a hat on it!"
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:17 PM on August 2, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:17 PM on August 2, 2014 [4 favorites]
It surprised me that Tony Stark, the international genius billionaire hedonist, hadn't ever had shawarma before.
posted by squinty at 11:43 AM on August 3, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by squinty at 11:43 AM on August 3, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I thought that was one of the most unbelievable things in Avengers, which is saying something, because comic book movie.
posted by NoraReed at 2:05 PM on August 3, 2014
posted by NoraReed at 2:05 PM on August 3, 2014
Billionaire hedonist w/ a history of alcoholic blackouts.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 7:54 AM on August 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 7:54 AM on August 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
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posted by eriko at 6:15 PM on August 1, 2014 [5 favorites]