There’s are a plethora of opportunities for writing social gatherings, parties, and diplomatic events involving food and drink. Not to mention the fact that enough cultures have food as part of welcome rituals that Starfleet’s mission could be partly restated as ‘To Seek Out Strange New Worlds … and Eat Their Foods.’ So, I thought I’d discuss how Inserting some specifics can add interesting ‘ingredients’ to the story – species/cultural references, memories associated with specific foods or just the smell of them cooking, not to mention conflicting tastes, dietary needs and preferences, and even what is or is not considered a polite way to eat.
At the simplest level, sprinkling in alien food references adds a touch of character, a hint of who is there and where they are from. It doesn’t even have to be alien. We started our OF day panel talking about Star Trek cocktails and the one suggested for Kirk is an old fashioned, which actually fits since he’s Midwestern and those are popular there. (Nor is this limited to Star Trek. Emu shared some great examples for X-Men from different places and with different mutant tastes). But it can be taken much further. For instance, on Vesta we’ve had an on-going series of posts with our Andorian Ops Chief (who is also Njessa Ajzure, CO of Tanjura) doing cultural exchange via shared meals. These have been great fun, and I’d encourage anyone stuck for ideas on writing to consider the idea – great character development in sharing why the foods were chosen and why they are favorites.
Food and drink can be such touchstones for memories that shared meals, especially when cooked for the occasion, provide an opportunity for glimpses of backstory and character development. The sight of Romulan ale might make a refugee think of a celebration on Romulus before Hobus, or it might make a human queasy remembering an ill-advised bender. The scent of bacon might remind a Klingon of a glorious targ hunt or put a Tellarite in mind of scent of burning flesh after an attack. Or both.
And then there’s fusion cuisine. Somewhere one of my characters once reminisced that you knew you were getting close to Starfleet Academy when you started seeing fusion cuisine from multiple worlds advertised for every other diner. Just references to Romulan-style pad thai or gagh pizza or an Andorian take on lutefisk, can add a bit of fun to a potluck scene. And even more fun can be had in concocting …er, cooking… it, particularly in collaboration with crewmates from other species and cultures. (This also goes for making mixed drinks. Bonus points for morning after interspecies hangovers).
Cooking adds another aspect to using food in our writing. We all know Captains Sisko and Pike cook. Despite the existence of replicators, I expect a lot of people will engage in actual cooking for enjoyment as well as creating good food, and even those who use replicators may program favorite recipes into them. Recently National Cooking Day (9/25) led to sharing some wonderful posts centered around cooking on #positive-zone channel in the OF discord that really showed how it can be used in story.
Going even further, it can also become a driving part of a plot. For instance, one interesting twist on alien food and drink is that not all of it is safe for all species! We know from Pulaski joining Worf for a tea ceremony that some food and drink can be toxic to other species. And even with things that aren’t known toxins, there is the potential for individuals to have allergic reactions (I have allergies to coconut and have to be careful of human food, so I can only imagine how many alien foods could be problems). Or, given for instance that Orion spices are rumored to be aphrodisiacs, there may be other affects a character might need to deal with. This can make for some fun subplots in First Contact scenarios or diplomatic events.
Of course, you have to imagine there are protocols for this in Starfleet. I once had a character remembering having to try various foods designed to taste bad to his species as Academy training for being polite and diplomatic in First Contact. But not gagging or spitting things out would only be part of that. Another aspect of eating is how one eats – which again can lead to some other interesting First Contact scenes. Think of the first Europeans in Japan being presented with chopsticks. We know both Vulcans and Romulans consider eating with one’s hands to be rude and gross. ENT had an episode involving a species insulted by the sight of food going into people’s mouths. There are bound to be all sorts of unspoken expectations about utensils or order of dipping sauces, or which foods should never touch on a plate… (crazy food requirements are very easy to come up with if you’ve been a parent!)
You might even run into a culture where re-sequenced proteins are taboo, so no replicated meals can be served. Or preparing the food is just as important as eating it for high level gatherings. Endy suggested there might even be a ship that’s just a culinary vessel which your starship could be assigned to escort. That could be famine relief – basically 24th century World Kitchen – or your ship could be bringing a culinary troupe somewhere for some important event or just a good will mission to a very food-focused species. Either way, there are a lot of possibilities for hilarity and/or drama – maybe even chefs throwing fits over Vilm steak turning out medium instead of medium rare.
Food and drink are integral parts of our existence and so should be part of our characters’ worlds too. I hope this has provided some ideas of how to use food and drink to add ‘flavor’ to our writing.
Note: This article is based on a discussion panel from Obsidian Day 2024. While I lead the panel, I’d like to acknowledge that this includes great input from everyone who attended