The Empire Club/Session 13

Iron Chef: Round 2: Filmed In Front a Live Studio Audience!
*Our contestants this time are:
**Gourmet Legend Out of Retirement – Gilles le Gourmand (old, Hathel's buddy) (Vince)
**Chef from Hotel Rambolt – Ramsey – Baron Maleth's pick (makes excellent mac'n'cheese) (Logan)
**Gareth the Scale(d) Restauranteur (1) (Daniel)
**Goriss the Cook (Orcish Directorate Chef) (Kristen)
*The setting: Room is darkened, except for a brightly lit stage. On the stage are four kitchen set-ups made up of the living coral stuff.
*We pick a secret ingredient for this week's session: seaweed
*Up first: Ramsey, Chef from Hotel Ramboldt. (13 for Presentation, 14 for Cooking)
**Introduces us to the Flavor Spire, whose essence is getting as much cheese into yourself as possible
**Seaweed: the burger bun of the East
**Mac & cheese sushi, five fondue fountains of cheese (in which he dips his hands to keep those frosted tips firm). Shell pasta, of course. 
**Q&A:
***What are the five cheeses? The first two come from two varieties of insects that produce milk, the next comes from a lizard I found in the basement, cheese four is from the aether itself where the aether tastes like the cheese, five is from a pouch
***What does the seaweed add that sets it apart from a *normal* mac and cheese fondue fountain? seaweed add? Lets YOU pick YOUR OWN cheese selection. ("I believe you can make and find cheese ANYWHERE.")
***How does this dish complement my health? It nourishes your MENTAL health
***If I'm lactose intolerant, is it safe to eat pretty much any one of these cheeses? Given that I found most of them, I cannot say for sure, but trying new things helps with the excitement.
***Are the fountains in an intentional order? They're in order of cheese acquisition difficulty. The journey of accessibility, the ones you can do at home up front. ("I had to brace myself a little bit to go out into ether for cheese #4.)
***Gauthier: "We would accepted cheese from standard cheese places; you didn't have to source the cheese from this building, but locally sourcing can be a good thing"
***None of these animals that lactate… where is it from? Well, it was opaque, and then churned.
***What's the tech for cheese #5? 2nd Coalition War, banned, tangentially related to stealth technology, best not to know why
*Second: Gilles le Gourmand (3 for Presentation, 9 for Cooking)
**Talk about how he's never been to Nippon, greeted the Veiled Masters, tried seaweed
**Retrofitted the Hartwell meatloaf. Started with a hand ground tofu, and mixed in seaweed, onion (separate), pickled beets (to keep things fresh & new) + hard tack. Plus nori in the vinaigrette
**Q&A: 
***Tell me more about this tofu you mentioned? Consulted my grandson about food that they eat out in celestial space. Was told it's meat approximate; it was soft and pliable and wet, like meat. (He got silken tofu.) "You know, my grandson's never been to Celestial Space, but he spent a semester in Saldan, where he knew someone from the Aeldrum Protectorates there, so I feel like he has good info."
***Why did you move away from the meat in meatloaf? My Doctor (Dr. Sorothin) told me not to eat meat anymore if I wanted to live longer?
***Why did you pick so many white ingredients? I thought it reminded me of porcelain and the porcelain lords are somewhere out there. (Farandole says he appreciates the emphasis on the ingredient that should not be there).
***Normally, you'd see a tomato glaze. (Technically, there was glaze on it at one point.)
*Third: Gareth the Scale(d) Restauranteur (9 for Presentation, 5 for Cooking)
**Presented in vertical video format
**Sushi table
**Seaweed baked for dryness
**Tuna, imitation crab, real crab legs (bling bling), and veggies
**Q&A:
***How do I eat this? Finger food and scoop. "This is what we call a sharing plate."
***Herr Dr Prof asks: Could you demonstrate how to consume this with a fashionable but short dance? Reach up with the chip, down across & scoop, eat, repeat. ("It reminds me of the 470s.")
***Amani asks Gareth to explain the ethernet. Gauthier pulls her aside to explain. 
***Rice preparation? Instead of water, filled that ~~flavor space with a light vegetable broth
***Demographic? Under-50s on Aeldrum. Willing to do Empire Club ads on his social media! 
****I am the #4 food channel on BikBok. That's not nothing!
**Ultimately, seems like a cool idea, but it's impossible to eat (the seaweed will not hold weight)
**Doesn't smashing the like button degrade the device faster? 
**At least one Asmadi prince has joined BikBok before the night is over
*Finally: Goriss the Cook, Orcish Directorate Chef (5 for Presentation, nat 1 on original dish, 7 on stew)
**Riffing on the idea of a raw chunk of meat, but "we're civilized around here, so it's well done."
**Marinated in balsamic vinaigrette that is reminiscent of a several day old bottle of wine from someone else's kitchen
**We gathered high quality veggies, but prepared them in a way to remove any identifying features of them
**Mixed in a little bit of seaweed into the veggies and the vinaigrette
**Q&A:
***How did you get it to twice the recommended temperature? You put an oven inside an oven. 
***It's very tough on the outside. How will we elves eat it? Typically it's stewed afterwards for Aeldrum clients.
***Why the seaweed? Inspired by an orcish fisher who picks up seaweed when he nets a dolphin.
***How did the vegetables fit into the story? They represent the many types of additional seaweed that would have come from the ocean.
***But what are the vegetables? You're stuck on the question of what was the food, rather than what the food could be.
***What would be the primal version of this dish and what would be the civilized version? The primitive version would be the dolphin removed from the water and beheaded, then the meat removed via claws or sharp rocks. The pieces of meat would then be passed to everyone with the plants that would be attached to the dolphin. 
***Will prepare a stew by making a very salty broth with lots of seaweed. Designed to make the eater feel like they are the young orcish man
Farandole:
#Gorris
#Ramsey
#Gareth
#Gilles
Gauthier:
#Giles
#Goriss
#Ramsey
#Gareth
Cassie:
#Gilles
#Ramsey
#Gareth
#Goriss
Amani
#Goriss
#Gilles
#Ramsey
#Gareth
*Gauthier shifts her vote from Gilles to Goriss, giving Goriss the win from Round 2.
*We observe there'll be room for a fourth in the final round, as Bill's locked in. Wild card single elimination?? 
BikBok - Aeldman Canon Social Media Platform
Four Ducat Bucket - Wine Available from Trader Jeaux's
Category:Session Summaries