Episode 4

Less
Is more

 Next to nothing.

 Save Hannibal.

 

Hannibal's empty kitchen cold and heartless - altho I think there is still some liver in the fridge...

Normally, I am fairly outraged when there aren’t any food scenes in a new Hannibal script. How is a food stylist supposed to deal with being left out of the fun and blood? And although this episode was all about how each of Hannibal’s victims fared since we last saw them bleeding out on Hannibal’s lawn, surely they had a snack or two in those intervening years. Other than hospital food.

Really, Writer’s Room. Just a pick-up of the Sacrificial Lamb dinner scene from last year? Really?

reheated from Season two - Sacrificial Lamb tastes as good as it did last year.

But given this week’s cancellation of Hannibal, one realizes that a Hannibal episode without food is a small complaint compared to No Hannibal Ever Again.

It's not over til it's over...

We always knew our beautiful show didn’t have the ratings for automatic renewal. But NBC did renew, in large part due to the outcry from Fannibals around the world. For two additional seasons, you amazing incredible Fannibals saved Hannibal. And now, you are doing everything you can to save him again. If you can it will be some resurrection!

antique cookbook from Katia, portrait by Lauren, plushie mini-me and baby wendi by Nancy, flower crown by TattleCrime and buttons, stickers, cards - sent to lucky me!

Working on this show has been fantastic but the most moving experience of all has been getting to know you – reading your tweets and comment and seeing your Hannimeals, your fabulous art, hilarious GIFS, generous praise – and occasional swag (thank-you for the lovely thoughtful presents you sent me!) You really are the most wonderful community on the internet.

Our Fearless Leader's winning ways 

 Although Bryan is doing a new series, Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods”, he has said he foresaw no problem doing both shows and is very motivated to find a new home for Hannibal. Still actively looking for a broadcaster, he even hinted at the idea of a feature movie that would tell the final story of Hannibal and Will. And why not – Hannibal has quite the track record on the big screen.

Saturn Award to Bryan for Best Network Show (plus wins for Hugh for Best Actor and Lawrence for Best Supporting)

There are lots of extenuating circumstances and conflicting complications – like Hannibal’s current streaming agreement with Amazon which  disallows an arrangement with Netflix. And the very avid support of international distributors which, however strong, is contingent on the NBC deal. But anything is possible in the wacky world of Hollywood dealmaking. So we live in hope.

couldn't resist retweeting @hanni_candyman's Disco Hannibal "I will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor
(illustration by Omix)

#SaveHannibal

Will Hannibal be saved? Who knows what the Fates have in store?

Mostly, we should remember – there is still so much more Hannibal on our plates this season. We still have 9 glorious episodes to thrill upon. Instead of drowning in the sadness of NBC's departure, we should relish the feast that is before us with all the love and keen attention we have always given this most deserving of shows.

Now serving Season 3 – Team Hannibal’s best effort yet.

The rest of Hannibal’s summer stretches out before us in all its splendor. Let’s pour the wine and dine!

(Dear assistants, Victoria @victoriaMwalsh and John @Crustcrumbs - if you are reading this, could you comment with a cocktail suggestion to boost our spirits?)

Feeding Fannibals one episode at a time. With love.

Next week:

Hannibal is really, really bad. Don't make sausages for dinner when you watch Episode 5.

Last word as always to you and your Hannidinners and Hannibal art.

Yuwei made this portrait, a jello brain and jello heart that looks just like the cover of Art of Hannibal!
It was for an art project and Tiny Hanni looks like he wants a slice!

Solya made this Sacrificial Lamb and blogged about it:
http://filmsandpies.blogspot.ca/2014/06/cooking-with-hannibal-rack-of.html

Hui at The Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC designed this Hannibal-inspired butcher paper for her art project 

Episode 7 Yakimoto

Stumbling down blind alleys

Bloodless tears stain your cheek,

 

Looking too close

You cannot see.

Twins in the dark.

Killer be killed.

Be free and bleed.

This episode of Hannibal is named Yakimono -- the course in Kaiseki dinner that is grilled meat, often marinated and skewered then seared over hot coals.  Pretty much describes everyone in this episode after they each have a run-in with Hannibal.

     When I get the script, I use the search function to get a quick idea of what food I will be required to make in the new episode. In Scene 51, Hannibal is taking a roast coming out of the oven. And that’s all. What, no smart dinner parties this week? I have a little anxiety attack -- the only thing worse than being overworked is not working.

There must be more food scenes somewhere...  

     I read through the whole script. It’s a jaw-dropping page-turner. I see the plot is thickening and boiling on so many burners it’s not surprising that Hannibal has no time to make dinner this week. I know how I feel after a week of having a lot of people over for a big party. Finding their cigarette butts in the herb wall. And he had to make that clay roast dinner too. Plus have a big sleep-over. And laundering that plastic suit. Really, sometimes all I can do is shove a roast in the oven and I don’t have half the things to do that Hannibal does WTHOUT HELP!!!! My advice to him is get a cleaning lady. OK, he may have a few things in the basement to hide – don’t we all. But you are who you are and as they say, no man is a hero to his valet. Hannibal, get help.

     As I contemplate this episode's food styling duties, I wonder if it’s a people roast in the cannibal’s oven. Bryan Fuller, font of all that is Hannibal, emails to say he’d like it to be a nice roast beef. Hmmmm. Beef. This tells me that Hannibal is being very very careful. He knows people are beginning to talk so he should lay off the people-snacks for a while. I will make the most ostentatiously obviously-not-people  beef ever roasted. Like a billboard in the oven that says “Move along…no people-eating to see here folks.”

the unseen giant roast beef

     I imagine a full rib rack of beef on long bones. Frenched like a rack of lamb. My regular butcher doesn’t have the cut I want so I have to go to his competition. The new butcher is shocked at my request. I have to re-explain the whole ‘It’s for Hannibal” thing. I say, OK, like those dinosaur rib steaks you have – like that only the whole rib roast and don’t cut them into steaks. How many ribs asks the butcher, unsure of my sanity. Nine, I say, no, ten. Or twelve. What’s the maximum you can give me? (cows have 13 pairs) Nine, he says, getting used to the idea and starting to loosen up. Anything else is illegal because it would be from a deformed cow, he jokes. When it’s ready, John, my assistant, goes to get it and when he lugs it back to the studio, we gather around in awe of the sheer size of this giant thing of flesh.

     OK it’s big. But big is not enough. It has to be Hannibalized. I think about Chris Hardagon, our wonderful wardrobe designer and I realize -- nothing says Hannibal more than a plaid suit! I can definitely make a plaid pattern on this sizable canvas of beef! 

   I score it in a diamond pattern like an Easter ham and lace the tracings with rosemary and thyme making a nice Crawford Tartan plaid. Bias-cut to be more slimming.  Reminds me of my days as a couturier draping massive ballgowns on oversized Mothers of the Bride.

     Enough of the beefing. Except to say I had to cut it down by one rib – it wouldn’t fit in the oven. That’s a big roast.

    When we go to shoot the scene, the director says, “Isn’t that roast kind of big for one person?” One person? Hannibal is not one person. He is a surgeon, an artist, a psychiatrist, a flower-arranger, a gourmet cook, an oenophile, a brew-meister, a boy who lost his sister, a man who can’t stop killing, and a god. And he gets hungry.

     Now you may be shaking your head and saying, I don’t remember seeing a big roast in this episode. Three little words: Cutting. Room. Floor. It didn’t makethe final edit.

     So here is the only place you will see my plaid roast. So I’m also posting other meals not ready for broadcast but ready for you to share in the Hannibal joy.

More of your photos of the Hannimeals you've been making

Lindsay F sent a great photo of her Blue Plate Special: Huevos High Life and homemade pork sausage.

Lindsay's Huevos High Life

Aleks and Maria made a special dinner for friends to celebrate Hannibal’s Season 2 premier: Mushroom Cappuccino to start and delicious looking Not Meat Pie. Followed by Strawberry-Apple soup and a bit of drinking.

Mushroom Cappuccino

Not People Quiche

Marina & Alicia have Friday Foodie Hannibal dinners and sent photos. Roasted leg of lamb with gremolata, rosemary and garlic redskin potatoes, and asparagus.

Roasted Leg for Friday Foodies

Alex S says “I gave Hannibal's non-people silkie chicken soup a whirl last spring! I managed not to mess it up despite being a novice cook and it gave me the opportunity to check out the many Asian supermarkets near my home.”

Alex's Adventures in an Asian soupbowl

Katie and Aaron wrote: We'd been planning to do a dinner plus Hannibal night for a few weeks and finally pulled it off last night, to great success. 2 pix of Osso Buco

Osso Buco with Katie and Aaron

Shanks simmering on the stove 

Jens wrote: Tried my hand at a variation of the tandoori liver. added fava beans (because liver and fava beans)and substituting risotto for couscous while adding honey for some sweetness to the match the liver and spices. 

Jen's gorgeous results: Tandoori liver on couscous with fava beans

roast hearts

Hannichefs, thank you for sharing! 

Next week: Will and Jack plan to go fishing but Hannibal has bigger fish to fry: Truite au Bleue.

. Except where noted, all content copyright Janice Poon 2014

Hannibal S3 13: Wrath of the Lamb

Twisted torment of our lives

Swallowed by the lashing sea

Red moon burns the dark of night

Bedelia...have you won

your second chance 

to lose this deadly game of love.

Wha...ARE THEY DEAD?

Or perhaps...

In Blake's epic painting of Dante's Inferno, Antaeus lowers Virgil and Dante to the final Ring of Hell. Are Will and Hannibal likewise lowered to safety by the gods for their future amusement?

Blake's painting of Philosopher-Guide and Poet-Seeker being lowered by Antaeus to the 9th Ring of Hell

Or are they poets in love...

Like the inconsolable Percy Bysshe Shelley drowning in a storm in the wild voracious sea by Lerici. Unlike rascally George Gordon Lord Byron who lived a long life or their mutual poetpal the luckless Keats who was too ill to join the fun at Shelley's seaside retreat.

painting of Shelley's funeral pyre where Byron snatched Shelley's burning heart from the flames

Or (cue the hip-swivelling sound track)...

Could they be crack athletes -- like two magnificent Elvises in Blue Hawaii high-diving off cliffs then popping up above the crashing waves much to the shock and awe of all who witness their dare-devilry? Well, maybe only one Elvis - Hannibal probably spent some time diving for pearls or swallows or something off the cliffs of Japan. Can Will even dog-paddle?

Ahh, good old Elvis preparing to cliff dive

 Regardless, as Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest: 

                          "Nothing of him that doth fade 

                           But doth suffer a sea-change

                           Into something rich and strange."

Behind the cloak of network cancellation, both Will and Hannibal are definitely probably Becoming something Rich(er) and Strange(r)...in our imaginations.

Shelley's gravestone

And what of Bedelia? 

She’s clearly back on those painkillers or some Hannibal-administered psycho-med. Who is she protecting herself against as she conceals a sharp-tined fork in her palm? Girl does love The Game.

Ms Anderson getting final touches from Katie Brennan for the very last scene as special effects crabby pyro-guy prepares to smoke up my pit-roast leg of Bedelia

Who's cooking legs now?

In my opinion, only Hannibal could make a roast such as that grand fruit and flower garnished kalua-roast leg smouldering on Bedelia’s table. So we know he survived. (After all, my cookbook isn’t out yet and the cooking method and presentation so obviously is something only our Hannibal would know how to execute. Right?)

tying up ti leaves

Size matters.

When we were shooting the final scene, the lovely Richard Armitage came by my prep station with compliments but asked me why I made Gillian's leg so big. He thought her legs were much slimmer. Gillian and I had already discussed it. I apologized that I had to made the roast bigger than her leg so it would have presence on the long table. She modestly said she thought it was pretty close to the actual size of her leg. Not really. She has no idea how tiny she is! 

A bit about roasting the leg:
Like Gideon's "Pinhead" roast leg, Bedelia's leg was made of pork loins stitched together over beef and lamb leg bones. I couldn't think of a special way to prepare it - Bryan had emphasized that he wanted it to be "the most beautiful thing I ever made" which is a pretty tall order. But happily, my brother came up with the idea of pit-roasting it, Kalua style. So I wrapped it in ti leaves, decorated it with tropical fruits and flowers and lay it on a bed of coals -- with ice to represent the Lake of Ice in Dante's Inferno. In the original script, Hannibal was going to slice it so I had to make it open at one end. But in the final script, Bedelia alone was seated for dinner so I had no need to worry about resets and it was a fairly stress-free shoot.

I hope more guests show up - that's 12 lb of pork in there...

There are two guest chairs at Bedelia's dining table. 

So who else is coming for dinner? 

Wow, wouldn't you just love it if Bedelia was meeting the in-laws? Uncle Bowie and Lady Murisaki?

Maybe Will is dead.  

Or has been saved by Jack who was hovering in a nearby helicopter because he was in on it the whole time. So Will is in the hospital. Or is back with Molly giving it one more try.

Or maybe not.

I'm pretty sure Will is alive. As a matter of fact, I think he’s in the kitchen helping Hannibal drain the vegetables. And why? Hasn’t Hannibal always cooked alone? Well he can’t if he’s in a wheelchair! Which still fits with the number of dining room chairs. Will is cooking under Hannibal’s instruction and any minute now, they will emerge. Will pushing Hannibal’s wheelchair and Hannibal cradling the vegetable platter in his lap. Which still leaves a chair for David Bowie or ... Jody Foster!

Oh that's just silly. I guess I should stop my wild speculation. Maybe there are three chairs because the fourth one was moved to make room for the camera dolly. 

We will never know. That is until somebody somewhere somehow saves Hannibal and Bryan gets to tell us another bedtime story.

MOAR!

Fannibals at San Diego ComicCon waving hello!

It's not over til it's over.

In the meantime, Fannibals, keep the flame alive. Email (janicepoon8@gmail.com) me photos or descriptions of your Hannimeals, your thoughts and your funny/sad stories and I’ll post them all here for us to all enjoy. Or tweet a message to me and I'll screen-grab your photos: Janice Poon @FeedingHannibal (Twitter link is at the top of this page).

 FunkoPop custom made (with tiny clay-baked thigh!) by talented sculptor Helen 

We will always have Hannibal if we keep him alive in our Memory Kitchens. So keep on cooking!

Annabel Lecter's brilliant chocolates You can order them from www.conjurerskitchen.com

Just as soon as I figure out who made this Sanguinaccio, I'll caption your name here!

Daniel and his Hannidinner

A close-up of Daniel's lovely Hannibal inspired meal

Add caption

Gabriel just tweeted this Saturday before Hannibal's Finale. A sweet bye-bye!

Look! It's Hanni & Will's mask! Just like Beverly's kidney pie.
Way to go, Jodi!