Adventures in Food, Cooking and Domestic Land Life

Cam is curious about Mermaid food and Rita fills him in

"What's this? Shredded seaweed? White bait?"

" Rice noodles. "

"Oh."

Some Pods do cook things. Mostly Pods in completely deserted areas, like up in Beaufort's Sea where they make what they like to call 'marshmallow'. "

"Ondina tried to make that for us."

" Ondina should not be allowed anywhere near food preparation. Especially in my kitchen. "

"Can you cook? Like beyond noodles?"

Cam found himself shifting back from her look.

" That's a yes, Cam. "

"Figured. So any chance you could cook tonight instead of Ondina?"

"Considering Ondina is banned from the kitchen, I may as well."

"Human or Fis- Mermaid food."

" I have a recipe book with 'Mermaid' food. Some use various fish, others use more Mermaid only ingredients. I'm sure you'll like something in it."

"Where'd you get the book? Don't think you'd get that in a shop."

"My Grandmother. She lived on land and gathered the ocean adaptation of land recipes. Some Pods of outcasts gone back into the sea changed foods to be more ocean friendly."

"Cool."

"Can we see the book? I'll contribute to the land person's influence on the choice of the meal."

Rita is cutting onions for cooking and the Mermaids come into the kitchen. Written as Nixie,Lyla and Sirena so this would be set in S1

"Rita? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." The Mermaid wiped her eyes and smiled at them.

"You're crying."

"I'm not. It's the onions."

"The onions are making you cry?"

"It's a thing."

Ondina comes to the house while Rita is doing housework e.g hoovering or dusting

"What you up to?"

"Housework, you could always try it Ondina."

"You've got it handled, and anyways I'd just make a mess of it."

"That's nothing new."

"Hey! I'm not that bad."

"Last time you did the dishes you broke every plate in the house, I had to go out and buy more."

Weilan comes into the kitchen to find a bombsite after Ondina attempted to cook. Set during S3

"Rita , have you seen-" Weilan trailed off as she walked into the kitchen to see the counter covered in a range of pans and plates, most of which covered in some sort of crust. "What the hell happened in here?"

Rita was sitting at the breakfast bar staring at the mess, open laptop in front of her and a cup of tea steaming beside her.

"Ondina tried to cook. "

Weilan warily walked towards the pile of dishes half expecting to see rats climbing from it.

"What was she making?"

" I have no idea. But whatever it was, I am not cleaning it up. "

Weilan gingerly poked at some a hardened crust that vaguely resembled rotted and dried up cheese. She shuddered in disgust.

"Yuck. What even is this? "

Weilan turned away from the unidentifiable gunk to face Rita. The other Mermaid sat holding a cup of tea in one hand while typing on her laptop with the other.

"I'm not sure," Rita set her cup down, "Ondina makes things up as she goes along, usually with disastrous consequences , and then forgets to clean up. "

"Remind me never to eat anything she makes," Weilan cast her eye over two plates coated in a green sludge.

"I've never had any of her cooking, I refuse to eat it."

"Mermaids don't cook. We eat raw fish. Why is she so obsessed with it?"

"I have no idea, but I wouldn't mind if she followed an actual recipe or asked for help instead of ruining my pans."

"Ondina doesn't seem the type to ask for help," Weilan said while slipping into the seat beside Rita, who shifted her laptop aside. Weilan's barbed comment didn't go unnoticed by Rita.

"Ondina takes a while to warm up to new people. You know she was here for almost a full Moon cycle before we had a proper conversation."

"That's just bad manners,"Weilan said," if someone lets you stay in their home, the least you can do is be polite. Like wai po (grandmother) says 'Manners make the Mermaid'."

"A wise Mermaid is Shui."