Ask This lamb is so undercooked, it’s following Mary to school

[Natalie Hope]

Taris was not what Natalie expected. Compared to Ord Mantell, the ecumenopolis was massive. The night life here must be insane- for the people that could afford it, that is. Natalie walked through the streets on one of the upper levels with her black tank-top and dark jeans. She’d left her lightsaber at home, and by home she meant ship guarded by Mantellian troopers. The only weapons on her were her TacSpork and phrik knuckles, both tucked securely in her jean pockets.

For once in her Jedi Crusader career, she wasn’t on a mission that had a high chance of combat. She wasn’t on a mission for the Jedi at all, actually. No, she was here on her own mission; a mission to learn how to cook the holy grail of quick and delicious foods- Tatooine street food. Natalie’s interest was immediate when ramen showed up on the list of dishes covered. They even brought a Tatooine native to hold the seminar.

Imagine Natalie unlocking the galaxy’s greatest gift to its inhabitants and using it daily? Oh the food she could cook! Prepare some homemade ramen cups for a week, and she’d never have to sprinkle Mantellian seasoning on cups of cheap noodles again! Not to mention she’d be able stir fry and all sorts of other stuff. Natalie’s stomach growled, because of course it did. She wanted nothing more than to get the day over with, having the secrets of good food in her brain instead of not in it. And food in her stomach, obviously.

The seminar building came up and Natalie stepped inside. The lobby was much like one would expect from such an establishment of learning. There was a reception area, a small kitchen and café, and a whole lot lounge seating. Natalie looked down at her EZPhone, making sure she had the address right, and then checking the room number. To make it even easier, there were signs pointing down the hall for it.

Down the hall toward greatness she went, and finally reached the room. It was an auditorium. A twi’lek with blue skin standing just inside the doorway waved at Natalie with a warm smile, lifting a datapad toward her.

“Would you like to enter in a raffle to enter a cooking competition after the seminar?” the twi’lek asked. Natalie tilted her head. She didn’t know the first thing about cooking, which was why she was here in the first place. She did tend to learn better when under some heat. Pun intended.

“Sure!” Natalie signed the datapad and slid into a seat near the back.

@Javier esschoolbus

 

[Trael Osso-Drast]

Trael had been cooking Azar meals from Naboo. While there was still a large array of them he hadn’t yet made him, Trael still wanted to expand his knowledge of cooking to beyond his own cultures cooking. Especially with his and Azar’s anniversary coming up, he needed to find something that would surprise and receive praise from Azar. The biggest issue for Trael was that he excelled at hands on learning, he couldn’t seem to get the recipes perfect just off the cookbook for some reason.

Trael arrived at Taris in a simple t-shirt and jeans. He came completely weaponless, if anything happened he had the Force and the knives in the kitchen. He was here for one thing and one thing alone, new recipes and a demonstration on how they’re made. One of the dishes on the listing of ones shown was familiar to the man, ramen noodles, he had some many years ago when he had taken Param to Zygerria. The cuisine was listed as Tattooine street food, which wasn’t overly appealing considering Tattooine’s unique culture.

Trael made his way through the event center to where the class was being held. As he entered the door a blue Twi’lek stopped him, “We’re holding a raffle to see who wins a chance at participating in a food competition, would you care to sign up?” Trael looked at the datapad that was handed to him quickly skimming through the prize reward and potential to learn from a renowned chef. Trael signed his name and handed over the pad, the chef in question was the only reason he cared to do so.

After that Trael took one of the seats in the back and began to organize his station. He set all his utensils a certain way and quickly organized the pans so he could easily access each one. Once he finished he investigated the dishes he was unfamiliar with, he wanted to discern their use before he was forced to figure it out. With a defeated sigh he just looked forward waiting for the class to begin.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Natalie Hope]

Natalie watched the man start setting up his station on their conjoined area. Two stations back to back, so they'd get to stare at each other like table crossed noodle enjoyers. He seemed to know what he was doing though, so Natalie not so subtly copied him. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? Someone somewhere had said that- Natalie was sure of it. If not, well, sucks to be the guy to be the first and get copied. The seminar was on Tatooine street food, street rules apply.

She looked over the station, and feeling satisfied gave a small, chipper nod. Everything was in place, everything was ready. Her woks were seasoned, her pans were aligned. Taking a quick glance at the man's station, she compared the two and found everything good. Easy. Now she just had to survive the seminar itself. For a few awkwardly silent minutes Natalie stood with her hands on her hips, looking at the two stations. Seemed the seminar giver, speaker? Were they called speakers? Teachers? Instructor? Fuck it, seminar giver, he was late because of course he was.

"Do a lot of cooking?" Natalie asked, raising her hazel eyes to the man. Call the coast guard, Natalie's ice breaker was out of commission. Stabbing things was so much less stressful than cooking and... talking to people. And now that she already spoke, she lost the ability to play her inner actress and play the innocent valley girl she was so good at pretending to be. Fucking up all ways to zhellday.

Thankfully, she wouldn't have to suffer long. A human man with black hair and a rather cheery disposition stepped out onto the stage. The rest of the room clapped when he stepped out, but Natalie in the back just stared. She had no idea who the man was. Natalie stole a glance to the man at her conjoined station to see if he recognized him. Didn't matter.

"Hello people! Today you've come to learn how to properly stir fry," the man said. "Assistants will be coming around with ingredients. The first thing we're going to learn is fried rice. Don't fuck this up, it's easy."

@Javier esschoolbus

 

[Trael Osso-Drast]

Trael had setup his station relatively quickly, though it wasn’t in a particular order for cooking. He set it up to his preferences as he liked to have some organization when doing certain things. He couldn’t help but notice the person across from him copying his organization. It didn’t really bother him as it just meant he wouldn’t have to stare at a cluttered mess, hopefully.

He was waiting patiently as the person leading the seminar was late. Which wasn’t ever a good sign in Trael’s mind. How could someone be trusted as an instructor if they were late? Was this person even serious about their craft if they couldn’t even show up on time? He was pulled from his inner musings by the person across from him, “I cook regularly.” He said, to some that might seem a lot and others not so much. In his mind it wasn’t as he spent more time doing other things. Though if he had more time to cook he definitely would.

Trael wasn’t the most outgoing person after his imprisonment, so he would simply respond more than converse. It wasn’t long until the speaker arrived. He seemed cheery, which meant he wouldn’t shy away when speaking. Trael was confused as to why the man was receiving an ovation, there was no way Tattooine street food was this popular. He didn’t recognize the chef, his focus on Naboo cuisine preventing many unfamiliar foods cooks from appearing on his radar.

Trael looked at the ingredients as they came around, he had used most of them before. The ones he didn’t he could easily figure out that they were for seasoning of some kind. He separated the ingredients based on what he assumed they were. He then carefully listened to the instructions that the chef gave. They started off with the prep Trael chopped the various ingredients and prepared them according to the directions. “Ok now we get to the part people fuck up.” He started, “We will begin to cook the egg fried rice, don’t be stupid.”

@TheDudeMike

 

[Natalie Hope]

The man's three word response had Natalie nodding at her own lack of ability to start a conversation. I mean, what kind of person just waltzes into a place and doesn't give a girl any form or reason to mock them? Absolutely unfair behavior, if Natalie had a say about it. Granted, that said more about Natalie's people skills than anything about the man. No no, Natalie, you were right the first time. THEY'RE the problem, not you. You're precious. Thanks, mental Nat!

"I microwave regularly," Natalie said in response. Not to brag, but she was known in her corner of the galaxy as what one might call a ramen girl. If ramen was on the table, she was also at that table. Add some fried foods that were terrible for your health but delicious and she would be at the table and never leave it. Food was such a staple of herself that she had actually invested in a TacSpork. It was both the dumbest and greatest invention of all time. Now she was always ready to eat! Or stab something. Maybe both.

Natalie looked over the ingredients as they arrived. Pre-cooked rice, eggs, a mixture of veggies. The way the presenter said "don't be stupid" made Natalie look over at him. He looked as if, despite his cheerful appearance, he was going to already berate some poor souls at the front of the room. How hard could fried rice be, honestly? It was just rice with extra steps! Though the fact the rice was pre-cooked sent Natalie for a loop. She had to PREPARE things a day before!? Uhg!

"Start by chopping your vegetables. Chop them real small. Big pieces take longer to cook," the presenter explained. Natalie picked up one of the larger knives and began chopping the vegetables. She wasn't fast, despite having plenty of experience swinging a blade around. Oh! Tiny kitchen lightsaber! YES! Perfect! Can cook and cut at the same time. Nat, you're a genius! Just to make sure she was doing it right though, she glanced up at the man to see how he was chopping. Mr. RegularCook. Yeah! That was it!

@Javier esschoolbus