Hannibal S3 Ep7: Digestivo

I don’t find you that interesting...

 A bullet inscribed

I won’t miss you

Hits its mark.

The pain, a chill.

 You will.

Poor Will. Death by a thousand cuts – it’s six hundred sixty-six and counting. He’s been beaten, shot and thrown from a train, sawed in the brain* and operated on without anesthetic.  Reading the latest script is draining to say the least. As the bodies hang upside down...I can barely read on.

The last page of the script breaks the bad news 

This is where Hannibal goes to jail.

We all knew Hannibal would end up in the Big House. It’s right there in Thomas Harris’ books and the Hannibal movies. It has been the only thing I have feared more that a brain-eating scene because, as every food stylist knows, there are no smart dinner parties in jail. Unless you’re like Ray Liotta in Goodfellas...faint hope for that.

Mafia meals in jail with Ray Liotta (Goodfellas)

More oysters; more flavour

So I make the most of my one food scene: Verge feeding oysters to Hannibal – in the same way that Hannibal fed Bedelia with his own tastes in mind, not hers. Verger is fattening Hannibal up so he can eat him.

Getting Oysters and Salsa ready for Mads

I decide upon Oysters Rockefeller for this scene because Cordell would think that dish to be quite posh when really, it’s a bit over-produced to bake oysters (which are best eaten raw) in that rich Pernod-scented sauce – and pretentious because Rockefeller was nowhere near the chef or his New Orleans restaurant in 1899 when the dish was invented as a substitute for hard-to-get escargots. (Maybe they all went to Hollywood to get jobs as background snails in Episode 1 to 4.)

If not Now, then When?

Odd to find this in the kitchen sink? Not really. It's Hannibal.

Head Table

What would be perfect for a Hog Magnate’s table? A showy roasted pig head centrepiece. I don’t want to make it too lovely – in spite of his confidence and workmanship, Cordell’s cooking is not and never could be as exquisite as Hannibal’s.  I garland the glazed pig head simply with cauliflower and sausages (or overcooked penises – however you prefer to perceive them) to make the point. But I can’t resist wreathing Ms Piggy’s forehead with a pepper and radish flower crown as a wink to Fannibals.

Speaking of Miss Piggy, Hannibal writer Angelina Burnett tweeted this gem: BBHMM. Who would have thought Kermit could take on Mads' role with such aplomb.

A flower crown for Verger's Roast Pig's head

Yes, that fat-testing knife thing that Verger did to Hannibal is a real thing.

Pig farmers used to stab a very sharp knife into the back of the live pigs to measure the thickness of their backfat. The fat is much softer than the muscle so the farmer could tell by the resistance to the knife where the fatty layer ended and the muscle tissue began.

Although Google will tell you that modern pig farmers now use MRIs to measure fat, I suspect there might be a bit of this knife-in-the-back thing still going on as I can’t imagine most profit-minded factory farms and feed lots are willing to pay the high cost of fat analysis by MRI. Why are we so cruel to the animals we raise as food? Is it because we fear if we cared for them we wouldn’t want to eat them? Especially pigs which are very smart animals – much smarter than the dogs we so cherish.

I swear, this show is turning me into a vegetarian.

And reading this book hasn’t helped.

Great new book by Mark Essig on the history of pigs and pork

Everyone should have an insane Fairy Godmother with a rifle-wand.

Chiyoh is making pheasant pie out of everyone this episode. The girl is everywhere with that shotgun. She’s like Inspector Clouseau’s Cato, jumping out to assassinate people when least expected. Or an omnipresent one-woman cavalry. There was a crazy fight scene in Sogliari’s  elevator between Chiyoh and Jack that was scripted but unfortunately, wasn’t shot due to time issues. It would have been so much fun to see. I just love Jack when he gets mad. (USE THE LADIES ROOM!!!) Another reason we need Season 4 - to see Jack go mano a mano with everybody in the cast.

One of my early layouts for Hannibal cookbook proposal with Hokusai woodcut "Pearl diver"

  

Earlier in the cookbook planning, I wanted to make an octopus recipe for Murasaki because I would use any excuse to show my favorite Ukiyo-e by Hokusai that illustrates an ancient poem about a pearl diver's encounter with an octopus father and son. But then Murasaki became Chiyoh and now she's indelible as our very own crack-shot pheasant hunter. So now, a  recipe for Chiyoh Pheasant Pie is in the works. Which reminds me – I must end here and get back to work on that cookbook as I’m reporting in to Titan Publishing next week.

Next week:  Meeting the Red Dragon will shock, astonish and exhaust you so you’ll need something sweet…even if it’s made from blood.

Hannidinners are all Australian this week

It's all part of last month's contest from The Carousel.com which I am judging this week and will post results after Episode 8 for all of you to enjoy.

 *thank you Stevi Deter for that "train-brain" couplet you live-tweeted yesterday

All content copyright of Janice Poon and Feeding Hannibal. Photos by Victoria Walsh/Feeding Hannibal