The Worlds Hardest Science Fiction Movie Trivia Quiz

 

100 Questions guaranteed to drive you nuts! Coming soon. Here are some examples:

  1. What programming language and IDE did Dennis Nedry use on “Nedryland”?
  2. In the film Freejack, Alex and Brad go to a diner. There is a picture of Albert Einstein on the wall with a quotation. What is the quote and what is the name of the diner?
  3. In which sci-fi movie do Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson appear briefly as insects?
  4. In Repo Men (2010) Remy and Jake watch what scene from which movie?
  5. In the Russian sci-fi comedy Kin Dza Dza!, Uncle Vova and Fiddler share a harrowing adventure on the seemingly insane planet “Pluke”. They meet later in Moscow but do not recognize each other. Finally they see something on the street in Moscow that jogs their memories. What was it?

Food and Science Fiction: 2

Real Science Fiction, Real Food and Real Synthetic Food
In the last post I left off with sci-fi stories appearing before the 1900s. Some of the stories could have been omitted because they are marginal as sci-fi (at best) or they have almost no relevant content relating to food. I suppose so. Once we arrive in the 1900s my task becomes much easier.  By the 1900s Science Fiction is fully recognized as a genre if at times a disreputable one.

The Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth (1904)

H. G. Wells’ “The Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth” now tops my list. This book is by far the most unusual sci-fi story ever written by Wells. If you’ve never read the original story please do. The “Food” (actually an additive or ingredient) is the creation of two scientists, Mr. Bensington and Professor Redwood. Originally called “Food of the Gods” and later, Herakleophorbia the substance causes anything that ingests it to grow enormously.

The scientists setup “The Experimental Farm” where they intend to administer the Herakleophorbia in a controlled manner to animals such as chickens, but the Herakleophorbia soon escapes the bounds of the experiment with horrifying consequences:

“…he could not see it very distinctly, and as it came it made a drone “like a motor car.” He admits he was frightened. It was evidently as big or bigger than a barn owl, and, to his practiced eye, its flight and particularly the misty whirl of its wings must have seemed weirdly unbirdlike. The instinct of self-defense, I fancy, mingled with long habit, when, as he says, he “let fly, right away.” The queerness of the experience probably affected his aim; at any rate most of his shot missed, and the thing merely dropped for a moment with an angry “Wuzzzz” that revealed the wasp at once, and then rose again, with all its stripes shining against the light. He says it turned on him. At any rate, he fired his second barrel at less than twenty yards and threw down his gun, ran a pace or so, and ducked to avoid it. It flew, he is convinced, within a yard of him, struck the ground, rose again, came down again perhaps thirty yards away, and rolled over with its body wriggling and its sting stabbing out and back in its last agony. He emptied both barrels into it again before he ventured to go near.”

It gets worse, as the farm manager Mr. Skinner reports:

“The new Brood are out…and don’t quite like the look of them. Growing very rank— quite unlike what the similar lot was before your last directions was given. The last, before the cat got them, was a very nice, stocky chick, but these are Growing like thistles…They peck so hard, striking above boot top, that am unable to give exact Measures as requested. They are regular Giants, and eating as such. We shall want more com very soon…”

The story is not really concerned so much with food as it is with how human society reacts to change and threats. Ultimately Herakleophorbia leads to the creation of the “Children of the Food” and class warfare with the “little people” –  us.


A Princess of Mars (1912)

This was Edgar Rice Burroughs’s first in what would become the very successful series of John Carter of Mars novels, 11 volumes in all. Food is an element throughout the story however it is generally included as a minor detail, in no way does it play a significant thematic role. Occasionally it appears to underscore the alien environ Carter finds himself in as in this passage:

“On this trip I tasted the first meat I had eaten since leaving Earth–large, juicy steaks and chops from the well-fed domestic animals of the farms. Also I enjoyed luscious fruits and vegetables, but not a single article of food which was exactly similar to anything on Earth. Every plant and flower and vegetable and animal has been so refined by ages of careful, scientific cultivation and breeding that the like of them on Earth dwindled into pale, gray, characterless nothingness by comparison.”

“…Sola returned bearing both food and drink. These she placed on the floor beside me, and seating herself a short ways off regarded me intently. The food consisted of about a pound of some solid substance of the consistency of cheese and almost tasteless, while the liquid was apparently milk from some animal. It was not unpleasant to the taste, though slightly acid, and I learned in a short time to prize it very highly. It came, as I later discovered, not from an animal, as there is only one mammal on Mars and that one very rare indeed, but from a large plant which grows practically without water, but seems to distill its plentiful supply of milk from the products of the soil, the moisture of the air, and the rays of the sun. A single plant of this species will give eight or ten quarts of milk per day.”

In these ripping yarns females are typically responsible for making food and bringing it to John Carter and other males. In this regard Burroughs is conventional in the attitudes he depicts; although we are on an alien world full of spectacular differences, some things never change. Burroughs does depart from the conventional in his description of a fully automated eatery:

“The plaza was now commencing to fill with people going and coming upon the daily activities of their duties. The shops were opening and the cafes filling with early morning patrons. Kantos Kan led me to one of these gorgeous eating places where we were served entirely by mechanical apparatus. No hand touched the food from the time it entered the building in its raw state until it emerged hot and delicious upon the tables before the guests, in response to the touching of tiny buttons to indicate their desires.”

The first automatic restaurant – on earth – opened on the grounds of the Berlin zoo in 1895.  The first American automat opened in Philadelphia in 1902. It was not until 1903 that Horn & Hardart opened outlets in New York City and later in Chicago (I am not sure of the date). It is not clear if Burroughs was aware of any of these, although Chicago was his home town.

Armageddon—2419 A.D. (1928)

This is it- the “Buck Rogers” origin story by Philip Francis Nowlan. In 2109 America is conquered by the technologically superior Hans who come from Asia. They have powerful aircraft and a disintegrator ray (death ray). Anthony “Buck” Rodgers, a twentieth century victim of accidental suspended animation, awakens five hundred years in the future and soon he and Warrior-Woman, Wilma Deering are leading a revolt against the tyrannical Han.

“They had all they needed for their magnificently luxurious scheme of civilization within the walls of the fifteen cities of sparkling glass they had flung skyward on the sites of ancient American centers, into the bowels of the earth underneath them, and with relatively small surrounding areas of agriculture.”

However, the years of dominion and lives of luxury have lead to complacency and indolence:

“Occasional destructive raids on the wastelands were considered all that was necessary to keep the “wild” Americans on the run within the shelter of their necessary of their forests, and prevent their becoming a menace to the Han civilization. But nearly three hundred years of easily maintained security, the last century of which had been nearly sterile in scientific, social and economic progress, had softened them. It had likewise developed, beneath the protecting foliage of the forest, the growth of a vigorous new American civilization…”

Although “wild” Americans had grown tough, and developed their technology it did not mean flavor kept pace:

“When gathering dusk made jumping too dangerous, we sought a comfortable spot beneath the trees and consumed part of our emergency rations. It was the first time I had tasted the stuff—a highly nutritive synthetic substance called “concentro,” which was, however, a bit bitter and unpalatable. But as only a mouthful or so was needed, it did not matter.”

While in the magnificent Han cities, such as Fis-Ko, Nu-Yok and Bah-Flo there was no reason to ever leave your apartment and no want of food:

“Food, wonderful synthetic concoctions of any desired flavor and consistency (and for additional fee conforming to the individual’s dietary prescription) came to him through a shaft, from which his tray slid automatically on to a convenient shelf or table.”

The story is racist, jingoistic, perhaps prescient, decidedly Non-PC and nevertheless entertaining and still worth a read.

Twilight (1934)

John W. Campbell originally published Twilight under the pseudonym “Don A. Stuart”. The short story first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction. Campbell wrote what is one of my favorite sci-fi stories – “Who Goes There?” Later filmed as “The Thing from Another World” (1951) and again in 1982 as “The Thing”.

Twilight combines the idea of an automated restaurant that serves synthetic food:

“The restaurant had the food displayed directly, and I made a choice. The food was three hundred thousand years old, I suppose. I didn’t know, and the machines that served it to me didn’t care, for they made things synthetically, you see, and perfectly. When the builders made those cities, they forgot one thing. They didn’t realize that things shouldn’t go on forever.”

The story is about a time traveler who, to his regret, sees man’s distant future:

“For, you see, as man strode toward maturity, he destroyed all forms of life that menaced him. Disease. Insects. Then the last of the insects, and finally the last of the man-eating animals.”

“…It was like the machines. They started them — and now they can’t stop. They started destroying life — and now it wouldn’t stop. So they had to destroy weeds of all sorts, then many formerly harmless plants. Then the herbivora, too, the deer and the antelope and the rabbit and the horse. They were a menace, they attacked man’s machine-tended crops. Man was still eating natural foods.”

“… In the end they killed off the denizens of the sea, also, in self-defense. Without the many creatures that had kept them in check, they were swarming beyond bounds. And the time had come when synthetic foods replaced natural. The air was purified of all life about two and a half million years after our day, all microscopic life.”

An interesting side note; just as Philip Francis Nowlan did in “Armageddon—2419 A.D.” Campbell uses the names of cities and states, familiar but distorted by linguistic mutation over the long eons: Yawk City, Lunon City, Paree, Shkago, Singpor, San Frisco, Jacksville, Neva City and Nee-vah-dah.

The Star Maker (1937)

A philosophical “future history” written by Olaf Stapledon. The Star Maker and Stapledon’s earlier work, “Last and First Men” had a significant influence on Arthur C. Clarke:

“No other book had a greater influence on my life…and its successor Star Marker are the twin summits of [Stapledon’s] literary career”

Spanning many worlds, galaxies, a parallel universe and eons of time Star Maker was written when the world was on the brink of the second world war. The book, taken on face value, seems to transcend the political and ethical tumult of the time. However, it is also a commentary on those insignificant and wasteful shortsighted behaviors that cause so much trouble for humanity. Food is not insignificant in Star Maker, but for the nameless narrator food is merely a need to fulfill, a messy problem for technology to solve; people eat but they do not dine. The narrator describes some of the strange newly evolved “people” he meets on his visit to one of the new worlds, the Other Earth.

“The women, breastless and high-nostriled like the men, were to be distinguished by their more tubular lips, whose biological function it was to project food for the infant.”

The efficient dispensing of food and treatment of waste are addressed in the following description of a man who chooses to spend his life in bed where his every need is satisfied:

“During my last years on the Other Earth a system was invented by which a man could retire to bed for life and spend all his time receiving radio programs. His nourishment and all his bodily functions were attended to by doctors and nurses attached to the Broadcasting Authority. In place of exercise he received periodic massage…A vast system of automatic food-production, and distribution of liquid pabulum by means of pipes leading to the mouths of the recumbent subjects, would be complemented by an intricate sewage system.”

Stapledon was looking at the big (big) picture and mundane details were of little interest to him:

“…Interspersed between these spheres lay the machinery for atmospheric regulation, the great water reservoirs, the food factories and commodity-factories, the engineering shops, the refuse-conversion tracts, residential and recreational areas, and a wealth of research laboratories, libraries and cultural centers.”

The Diary of the Space Traveler (1961)

Byomjatrir Diary (“The Diary of the Space Traveler”)

1961 marks the first appearance of Professor Shanku in Sandesh magazine. Written by Satyajit Ray these stories feature the adventures of the eccentric Professor Shanku and his cat Newton. In The Diary of the Space Traveler the professor builds a rocket ship and decides to take Newton with him but needs a neat and compact food for the cat and invents the Fish Pill.

“Today I tested the fish-pill by leaving it next to a piece of fish. Newton ate the pill. No more problems! Now all I have to do is make his suit and helmet.”

If you want a much better definition of science fiction you can visit Richard Treitel’s site http://www.treitel.org/Richard/sf/sf.html where you will find “Definitions of What Science Fiction Is and Is Not”. Also very interesting is this list “The 51 Sub-genres of Speculative Fiction“. I doubt either resource will prove definitive or wholly satisfactory, but they are interesting.

Whovian or Trekker; Which are You?

What are the characteristics that define a Whovian and a Trekker? Are you neither, either or both? I am both. But I acknowledge there are significant differences and fascinating similarities.

I tend to see Whovian’s as indulging in more convoluted thought – as an example when thinking of (or perforce diagramming) the complexities of time and the inevitable paradoxes that arise. Also I think a Whovian is more likely to think of problem resolution in terms of social engineering while a Trekker may look to a technological solution.

Dr Who is at heart a rationalist and fundamentally a scientist and I think a pacifist (as needed). Although his “diplomatic” style can be very confrontational. Conversely Star Ship captains, at their best, are like philosopher-kings or philosopher-warrior-kings. Not forgetting occasional bouts of “Cowboy Diplomacy”. Still I think they too are at heart rationalists and at least technocrats if not always true scientists. So the similarities regarding rationalism when engaging the universe should appeal to both Fandoms. Where they diverge is in the heavy reliance on technology (and I think a greater tendency to violence) in the Trek universe versus that of the good Doctor.

But if the TARDIS isn’t high technology, what is? Surely it is, just not the same as a Star Ship festooned with weapons. This dichotomy is also underscored in the difference between reaching for your sonic screwdriver instead of your Phaser. Really I think this difference is between being British or American. How often do we hear the Doctor tell his companions “Run!”? Probably just as often as we hear someone on Star Trek yell “Fire!”

Ion Chef Yeoj Wins Battle Taco

[print_link]

By Broga (Galactic News)

Menkar 8, Edo 5 – 20 GY: 11:42 PM, local time

Today, Chef Yeoj won a hard fought victory in Kitchen Arena. Chef Yeoj congratulations on your victory!

“Thanks. It wasn’t easy. Not saying it ever is.”

Can you tell us what happened back there, with the wall and the fireball?

“Oh yeah sure. What the audience may not realize is that the qagh we use are juveniles. Seems like the cleanup crew missed one from last months “Battle Qagh”. Well you could see it was large and more than a little hungry, which makes them angry by the way.”

Right…

“Well first we had to get it out of Kitchen Arena so there goes the wall…”

Interesting use of a pressure cooker.

“Came in handy. Then you got to cook the darn thing…”

So the grease-fire worked to your advantage?

“Yes, exactly. Lucky break really. Tasted great in the tacos. Happy to get the win.”

Thank you Ion Chef.

Roswell Peanut Butter Raspberry Brownies

On July 8, 1947, the Roswell Daily Record announced that the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) had captured a “flying saucer”. Many of the facts surrounding this historical event are curious and open to interpretation. Over time the event has become controversial and is now wrapped in myth. There are many details which are not disputed: the announcement by the RAAF that a “flying saucer” had been recovered, a quick retraction of the flying saucer story and the release of a photograph of General Ramey and Major. Jesse Marcel examining the “wreckage” of a weather balloon.

In this photograph there is a message in general Ramey’s hand which has been enhanced and analyzed by David Rudiak and is purported to reveal phrases such as “DISC”, “VICTIMS OF THE WRECK”, “WEATHER BALLOON” and “SECRET”. To some this analysis is proof that the RAAF had in-fact recovered a real flying saucer and later concocted a cover-up tale involving a weather balloon.

In addition to the initial report of the saucer recovery and analysis of the Ramey photo, eyewitnesses describe strange materials laboriously recovered by the Air Force. If this was simply a weather balloon why bother collecting tinfoil, balsawood and latex? Several people present at the time also described “writing” on parts of the wreckage as resembling “little purple flowers”. I have always thought “What an odd detail to note”. Then, last year I met Allen Granstad at the UFO-CON convention in Nevada. We happened to be looking at a large poster blowup of the Ramey memo.

“Does that say ‘victims’ or ‘penguins’?” I said to no one in particular.

“He could be holding a flyer for a visiting circus I suppose,” The stranger on my right said. He stared at me over his glasses with damp blue eyes. He was anywhere from seventy to ninety. As tall as me but stooped over. Hard to say if his hair was white or very pale blond; maybe he bleached his hair?

“My name’s Granstad. Allen Granstad”

We shook hands

“Karellen. Bob Karellen,”

“Pleased to meet you Bob,”

“Are you a fan of Mr. Rudiak’s analysis?”

“As much pareidolia as insight. Very amusing to hear what someone on the outside thinks about all this,” He waved his hand the conversation at large.

“Do you think there’s any truth to it?”

“Oh yes. But none of this. There was never any saucer!”

“Tell me more. I’m always looking for a good story.”

He told me he had been stationed at Wright-Patterson in 1947 and had examined the Roswell wreckage when it was brought there after the crash. Later that day I visited Granstad at his home where he continued his story. One of several diplomas in his study informed me he held a doctorate in chemistry.

“I entered the room and people where just standing around holding bits of wreckage. I looked at one of the pieces and immediately yelled ‘Everybody needs to get out of here now! Put everything down and get out!’

“Why?” I asked.

Granstad went to his desk and opened the bottom drawer from which he pulled a photo album. He opened the album. His right hand is missing two fingers and the index finger is missing the tip. He turned the pages with his left hand and pointed at a drawing:

trefoil

“The Trefoil radiation warning symbol. Now familiar, but in1947 it was virtually unknown,”

“Little purple flowers,”

“What?”

“I’ll tell you later Doctor. How did you know what the symbol was?”

“Years ago, having failed as a giant-shrimp aquaculturist and surviving a near-death experience in the process, I decided to change careers and give-up marine biology for the safety of chemistry. Or so believed. Then in 1946 found myself working in the chemistry lab at the University of California Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley where the trefoil symbol was created that year. Later in 1947 I transferred to Wright-Patterson where I took part in the investigation of the wreckage.”

Granstad continued “After we got everyone out of the room I closed the door and asked for a Geiger counter. Someone brought one; I pointed it at the room containing the wreckage. The needle went nuts! The fools had been handling radioactive material.”

“The weather balloon was radioactive?”

“There was never any weather balloon!”

“What was the source of the radiation?”

“NEPA” he said.

“NEPA? What is that?”

“The project for Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft, NEPA. Launched in 1946 by the United States Air Force. I didn’t know it at the time but later found out one of the NEPA prototypes crashed strewing radioactive waste across Roswell.”

“So they covered it up?”

“Would you like to admit your brand-new atomic airplane exploded and showered radioactive fallout on people and a bunch of sheep?”

Granstad stood up and said “Would you like something to drink or eat?”

“Sure. I’m not particular.”

In a few minutes Granstad came back carrying a tray of brownies and a glass of milk. I took one of the brownies.

“Mmm, peanut-butter. These are great.”

“Thanks Bob.”

“Tell me, how could the USA have been so advanced as to have a working atomic powered aircraft in 1947?”

“Nazis.”

To Be Continued

Commodore Roach Shrimp and Potatoes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Commodore and his crew travel the galaxy in search of the most delicious foods, in particular crustaceans. Harvesting these aquatic arthropods can be simple or dangerous depending on the species. For this preparation the commodore recommends the giant shrimp found 20 miles deep in the abysmal seas on the water planet Cabeiro orbiting Kepler-93. The best weapon is a stun-harpoon. Aim just behind the eye socket and mind the shooting spines.

1 green pepper chopped

1 red pepper chopped

3 red bliss potatoes quartered

1 white onion course chop

2 tbs fresh Italian parsley chopped

1 tsp Chinese Black Bean & Garlic paste

1 tsp Tamari

2 tbs olive oil

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

¼ tsp black pepper

1/8 cup white wine

Parboil ‘taters in microwave 2 minutes

Rinse in cold water to stop cooking and remove starch

In mixing bowl 1-teaspoon pepper ¼ salt, ¼ tsp granulated sugar  1/2 tsp paprika

Toss in potatoes and coat

Pan Fry taters in oil

Fry until GBD

Set potatoes aside in warmer

Sauté green pepper, red pepper and white onion

Add red pepper flakes

Sauté until onions are translucent

Add Tamari, BBG and parsley

Deglaze with white wine

Add shrimp, Toss

Cook until shrimp are pink – do not over cook

Add potatoes, toss and serve

Food and Science Fiction: 1

What was the first science fiction story to feature food?
As I began to write this post, I really had no idea. I thought this would be easily answered thorough research and that a chronology would be established and a nice neat list would emerge. However, before I could answer that first question I realized I had to answer another question: what is the first science fiction story? And there is no clear consensus on this that I can find. People don’t even agree on what science fiction is. Which lead,  annoyingly,  to yet another question; what is science fiction?

I read that one way to define a science fiction novel or movie is that it is always about what may happen or what will happen. I am not content with this and, like Robert Heinlein I also need some science. Or in Heinlein’s case the “scientific method” and its effect on society. Throw in themes of  hubris and offending technology versus the “natural order” and you have a formula I recognize as science fiction. If we accept these definitions, sci-fi then cannot exist before the invention of science. Asimov is widely quoted as saying  “true science fiction could not really exist until people understood the rationalism of science and began to use it with respect in their stories”. If I accept this (I do not) science fiction is a by-product of the Age of Enlightenment and or the Industrial Revolution, hence no sci-fi until the 1650’s or as late as the 1800’s. But I also recognize the science of the natural world and empirical investigation, that of classical antiquity, not only Asimov’s modern (and western) definition. So in my search for the first sci-fi with food references this gives me a starting point thousands of years in the past and a broad definition of sci-fi.

In the case of many modern sci-fi stories food may be used to underscore the differences between the familiar and the alien. However finding very early stories that qualify both as sci-fi and reference food is not so easy, even with the very generous parameters I established. So in the case of proto-science fiction‎ I must settle for just a mention of food and a perhaps tenuous sci-fi pedigree. Here then is my, by no means definitive, list.

Daedalus and Icarus (ca 1325 BCE)

The myth of Daedalus and Icarus may qualify as the first recorded sci-fi because of these elements: description of the invention of wings held together by wax (technology),  the alteration of the natural order by allowing men to fly, and the warning theme of man’s all too limited science proving to be his undoing. But where’s the food? The honeycombs from which came the bee’s wax? They got the feathers from one kind of bird or another; did King Minos ever wonder why Daedalus and Icarus ate so much fowl?

There are a few oblique references as father and son take flight Daedalus looks back at the island of Crete and sees a fisherman catching fish, a shepherd with his flock and a ploughman in the field.  Then, before poor Icarus plummets into the Aegean,  they fly by the island of Calymne which is “rich in honey”.

Ramayana and Mahabharata (circa 4th century BCE)

The Ramayana and Mahabharata are the longest epic poems ever written, 50,000 and 200,000 lines of verse respectively. Acting as a literary Rorschach test, they are seen as spiritual revelation, religious homage, holy text, historical accounts of alien visitations and Sanskrit literary fiction. The Ramayana has even inspired a comic book version set in a distant post-apocalyptic future; Ramayan 3392 A.D. The Ramayana and Mahabharata and their antecedents, the Vedas, are among the most fascinating and imaginative writings in history. For some, the passages describing warring gods, “flying cars” and weapons of awful destructive power are readily accepted as early science fiction. For me, the meaning of the amazing events and descriptions of technologically advanced apparatus remain open to the vagaries of interpretation, translation and the distortions of time and culture.

While there are many incidental references to food in both epics, some are symbolic of spiritual nourishment or food is the analog of wealth or used as proof of religious devotion. But there are other references, which are integral to the story and so for this exercise the more compelling.

In the following passages from which I quote, we have Romesh C. Dutt to thank for the conversion to English verse around 1898-1899. The epics are ascribed to the Indian poet Valmiki. However, like Homer and the Iliad the stories have grown in the public domain. The story of the Ramayana is nominally about the efforts of prince Rama (seventh Avatar of Vishnu) to free his wife Sita, from her abductor Ravana:

World-renowned is Rama’s valor, fearless by her Rama’s side,
Sita will still live and wander with a faithful woman’s pride,

And the wild fruit she will gather from the fresh and fragrant wood,
And the food by Rama tasted shall be Sita’s cherished food!

Sita, is described as “god-like” and is directly related to life giving food, as she was born magically and spontaneously from a field furrow. Later in the epic she is exiled to the wilderness and lives on wild fruits which today bare her name; Sita-phal called the food of exiles.

Later in the story Rama’s brother Bharat, speaks to Rama of flying cars (Vimanas) and food:

Guard thy forts with sleepless caution with the engines of the war,
With the men who shoot the arrow and who drive the flying car,

Guard Kosala’s royal treasure, make thy gifts of wealth and food,
Not to lords and proud retainers, but to worthy and the good!

For various reasons (read the full story) Rama does not want to return from exile and accept the crown so a learned Brahman, Jabali, is sent to persuade Rama using sophistry and the secular augments of “Nastikas”, the non-believers:

Ah! I weep for erring mortals who on erring duty bent
Sacrifice their dear enjoyment till their barren life is spent,

Who to Gods and to the Fathers vainly still their offerings make,
Waste of food! for God nor Father doth our pious homage take!

 And the food by one partaken, can it nourish other men,
Food bestowed upon a Brahman, can it serve our Fathers then?

Finally, there is a rather gory passage about a sacrificial meal including the sacrifice of a horse:

Birds and beasts were immolated for the sacrificial food,
Then before the sacred charger priests in rank and order stood, 

And by rules of Veda guided slew the horse of noble breed,
Placed Draupadi, Queen of yajna, by the slain and lifeless steed, 

Hymns and gifts and deep devotion sanctified the noble Queen,
Woman’s true and stainless virtue, woman’s worth and wisdom keen! 

Priests adept in sacred duty cooked the steed with pious rite,
And the steam of welcome fragrance sanctified the sacred site, 

Good Yudhishthir and his brothers, by the rules by rishis spoke,
Piously inhaled the fragrance and the sin-destroying smoke! 

Severed limbs and sacred fragments of the courser duly dressed,
Priests upon the blazing altar as a pious offering placed, 

Vyasa herald of the Vedas raised his voice in holy song,
Blessed Hastina’s righteous monarch and the many-nationed throng!

True History /  True Story (ca 150 CE)

It is much easier to find early fiction that features food, than to agree on which story is the first true science fiction. Many have called True History (written in the 2nd century) by Lucian of Samosata (ca 125 AD – 180 AD) the first sci-fi story. Regardless of your personal view on this, there are food references in True History as the protagonists travel on a sea of milk, cross a river of wine and find an island of cheese. They catch and eat the wine-fish which makes them drunk.

They enter a vineyard made up of women who are half grapevine (women above the waist and below rooted to the earth) who’s grapes the men try to pluck to the displeasure of the grapevine women. The protagonists later take sides in the war between the inhabitants of the Sun and the Moon. Some of the combatants are Millet-shooters and Garlic-fighters; some wear helmets of giant beans, and the Stalk-mushrooms who use mushroom caps as shields and stalks of asparagus for spears. Also we meet the Puppycorns and dog-faced men who fly on winged acorns.

We are told that the moon men all eat the same food; smoke from flying frogs cooked over coals. And all they drink is dew squeezed from the air. We learn that their noses run with honey and they sweat milk from which they make cheese.

During their travels they eat a lot of fish and meet the Broilers, an eel-eyed-lobster-faced people, the Mergoats (men above and catfish below), and the Crabclaws, the Codhead, Solefeet and the Clan Crawfish.

True Story is an outlandish satirical yarn, the spiritual parent of Gulliver’s Travels and Hitchhikers Guide.

Theologus Autodidactus (ca 1268 and 1277 CE)

May have the first description of food broken down to sustain life – metabolism. Not sure if this qualifies as proto sci-fi or just a new scientific postulate. It is at least about food. Theologus Autodidactus also criticizes the idea of wine being used as self-medication, an idea held by Ancient Greek physicians as well as some unorthodox Muslim physicians in his time, despite the Islamic prohibition of alcohol. The novel further argues that the consumption of alcohol, along with the prevalence of homosexuality among a small minority of Muslims at the time, were the cause of the Mongol invasions. Not much of a postulate coming more than a century before the advent of  “Occam’s Razor”.

Demonstrating knowledge of biology, astronomy, cosmology and geology Theologus Autodidactus attempts to explain Islamic religious teachings in terms of science and philosophy.

The Golem of Chelm (ca 1540)/ The Golem of Prague (ca 1560)

Are the elements of the Golem folktales (there are numerous versions) science fiction? Is there any science in the stories? Is there a  connection to food? On the surface, no, no and no. But I cannot stop thinking of this spiritually motivated object-lesson also as a tragedy of hubris and the misguided human manipulation of the natural order with profound if misused knowledge. Ok, that does sound a little like sci-fi. Well then, what about the food? There are the vicious and ludicrous claims underlying the “Blood Libel”, that Prague Jews were using the blood of Christian babies for rituals. In the story the libel is the inspiration for Judah Loew ben Bezalel, (16th century chief rabbi of Prague, known as the “Maharal”) to create a golem to defend the ghetto from anti-Jewish attacks and avenge the libel.  There is also the sacred scroll that in some versions of the tale is placed in the mouth of the golem, and this symbolic manna that brings the lumpen clay behemoth to life. The themes of secret knowledge used to create a  pseudo-life that would inevitably turn on its creator and destroy him seem all too familiar as themes in modern sci-fi.The history of imbuing the inanimate with life is long – Pygmalion, the Golem, Frankenstein. I think it is the implacable and mute irresistible force of the Golem that makes it scary. Qualities reminiscent of cyborgs and the silent all-powerful Gort.

Somnium (1620 – 1630)

In Somnium (“The Dream”) a fantasy written between 1620 and 1630, by Johannes Kepler, a young man (Duracotus) is transported to the Moon by magic. The story describes how earth looks when viewed from the moon, and is considered the first scientific treatise on lunar astronomy. In the story the boys’ mother, the Icelandic witch Fiolxhilda gives her son (banished for prying into her magic) a drowsing draught to help him survive his journey to the moon during a solar eclipse. Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov have called this the first science fiction story.

The New Atlantis (1627)

I hesitated including this in the list. Although it has all of the criteria necessary to be counted as early science fiction: a speculative discussion of what science might be in the future, descriptions of an “idealized” society, ruminations on food, drink, horticulture, animal husbandry, and a description of a “eugenics” program. Frances Bacon also anticipates many inventions that did not happen for centuries. The New Atlantis is almost a definition of “speculative fiction”. Nevertheless, I felt it wanting. At times it just seems like a big list as the “Atlanteans” enumerate all the wonders of their society to the visiting Englishmen.

One redeeming quality of the work is the frequent mention of drink, brew-houses, cider, ale and wine; the pursuit of piety and the social ideal is thirsty work:

“I will not hold you long with recounting of our brewhouses, bake-houses, and kitchens, where are made divers drinks, breads, and meats, rare and of special effects. Wines we have of grapes; and drinks of other juice of fruits, of grains, and of roots; and of mixtures with honey, sugar, manna, and fruits dried, and decocted; Also of the tears or woundings of trees; and of the pulp of canes. And these drinks are of several ages, some to the age or last of forty years. We have drinks also brewed with several herbs, and roots, and spices; yea with several fleshes, and white-meats; whereof some of the drinks are such, as they are in effect meat and drink both: so that divers, especially in age, do desire to live with them, with little or no meat or bread.”

Man does not live by drinks or cocktails alone and the story has much to say about cooking and baking and food of all kinds:

“Breads we have of several grains, roots, and kernels; yea and some of flesh and fish dried; with divers kinds of leavenings and seasonings: so that some do extremely move appetites; some do nourish so, as divers do live of them, without any other meat; who live very long. So for meats, we have some of them so beaten and made tender and mortified,’ yet without all corrupting, as a weak heat of the stomach will turn them into good chylus; as well as a strong heat would meat otherwise prepared. We have some meats also and breads and drinks, which taken by men enable them to fast long after; and some other, that used make the very flesh of men’s bodies sensibly’ more hard and tough and their strength far greater than otherwise it would be.”

The English were at sea for a year as they searched for the island of Atlantis. Fortunately the “Atlanteans” understand the medicinal uses of food and seem to have a cure for scurvy:

“…Soon after our dinner was served in; which was right good viands, both for bread and treat: better than any collegiate diet, that I have known in Europe. We had also drink of three sorts, all wholesome and good; wine of the grape; a drink of grain, such as is with us our ale, but more clear: And a kind of cider made of a fruit of that country; a wonderful pleasing and refreshing drink. Besides, there were brought in to us, great store of those scarlet oranges, for our sick; which (they said) were an assured remedy for sickness taken at sea.”

Unlike the mocking, even satirical tone of Thomas More’s “Utopia”, Bacon believes “New Atlantis” describes an attainable improvement on society, if not in the present, then in the future. Pet peeve: how anyone reading New Atlantis (or any work by Bacon) could mistake the heavy prose style of Bacon for that of Shakespeare is beyond me.

Frankenstein (1818)

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley may not be seen as the inventor of modern sci-fi because Frankenstein is viewed as a gothic horror novel first and sci-fi second. Although it has all of the elements of modern sci-fi: the hubris of Victor Frankenstein, science-gone-wrong and the monster turning on the creator. And the food? I won’t go too deeply into the Prometheus connection except to note MWS seems to see the gift of fire as leading to the loss of innocence and humankinds’ lust for hunting, killing and cooking meat. Near the end of the book the monster tries to convenience Frankenstein to allow him to escape to South America: “I will go to the vast wilds of South America. My food is not that of man; I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment. My companion will be of the same nature as myself and will be content with the same fare. We shall make our bed of dried leaves; the sun will shine on us as on man and will ripen our food.” The monster suggests his superiority to blood-thirsty man because he eschews meat. I think lamb would be great with acorns and berries. I see a recipe coming on.

A Tale of the Ragged Mountains (1844)

In Poe’s tale of mesmerism and time travel, the only mention of “food’ is the protagonist’s habit of drinking a strong cup of coffee followed by morphine for “breakfast”. Precious little by way of sci-fi either but I include it because I am clutching at straws.

“His imagination was singularly vigorous and creative; and no doubt it derived additional force from the habitual use of morphine, which he swallowed in great quantity, and without which he would have found it impossible to exist. It was his practice to take a very large dose of it immediately after breakfast each morning—or, rather, immediately after a cup of strong coffee, for he ate nothing in the forenoon…”

No explanation of the mechanism that transports him through time is ever attempted. Although the mysterious nature of the Ragged Mountains and his morphine altered state may be factors.

The Mysterious Island (1874)

Jules Verne wrote the novel as a sequel to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The story begins in the American Civil War, during the siege of Richmond, Virginia. Five northern prisoners of war escape by hijacking a balloon and land on the Mysterious Island. Food is mentioned constantly through out the book. First there is no food, then there is too little food. Or the food is not good enough. They are always looking for food, preparing food, eating food or wishing they could eat:

“a few handfuls of shell-fish, which was indeed wretched and insufficient food”, “…and procure more strengthening food than eggs and mollusks…”

“Herbert offered him a few handfuls of shell-fish and sargassum, saying,— “It is all that we have, Captain Harding.” “…it will do—for this morning at least. He ate the wretched food with appetite, and washed it down with a little fresh water, drawn from the river in an immense shell.”

There is almost a recipe of a sort:

“This game was eaten fresh, but they preserved some capybara hams, by smoking them above a fire of green wood, after having perfumed them with sweet-smelling leaves. However, this food, although very strengthening, was always roast upon roast, and the party would have been delighted to hear some soup bubbling on the hearth…”

“…Pencroft only considered them in an eatable point of view, and learnt with some satisfaction that their flesh, though blackish, is not bad food.”

“The settlers in Lincoln Island had still one privation. There was no want of meat, nor of vegetable products; those ligneous roots which they had found, when subjected to fermentation, gave them an acid drink, which was preferable to cold water; they also made sugar, without canes or beet-roots, by collecting the liquor which distils from the “acer saceharinum,” a sort of maple-tree, which flourishes in all the temperate zones, and of which the island possessed a great number; they made a very agreeable tea by employing the herbs brought from the warren; lastly, they had an abundance of salt, the only mineral which is used in food… but bread was wanting”

Bitch, bitch, bitch. These guys were never happy. A fascinating aspect of the book is the shear variety of animals they kill for food, many of which are today extinct or endangered.

The Time Machine (1895)

H.G. Wells embraced and wrote about all aspects of carnality: sexuality, mortality and hunger; the need to survive and what you will eat to do so. Food and eating are at the heart of this story. It is after all food that defines the relationship between Morlock and Eloi.

“…the Journalist was saying—or rather shouting—when the Time Traveler came back. He was dressed in ordinary evening clothes, and nothing save his haggard look remained of the change that had startled me.”

“The Time Traveler came to the place reserved for him without a word. He smiled quietly, in his old way. ‘Where’s my mutton?’ he said. ‘What a treat it is to stick a fork into meat again!’ ‘Story!’ cried the Editor.

‘Story be damned!’ said the Time Traveler. ‘I want something to eat. I won’t say a word until I get some peptone into my arteries. Thanks. And the salt.’”

The Time Traveler then tells his guests the story of his journey to the distant future and his first meal with the Eloi:

“…With a pretty absence of ceremony they began to eat the fruit with their hands, flinging peel and stalks, and so forth, into the round openings in the sides of the tables. I was not loath to follow their example, for I felt thirsty and hungry.”

“Fruit, by the by, was all their diet. These people of the remote future were strict vegetarians, and while I was with them, in spite of some carnal cravings, I had to be frugivorous also. Indeed, I found afterwards that horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, had followed the Ichthyosaurus into extinction…”

“And suddenly there came into my head the memory of the meat I had seen in the Under-world. It seemed odd how it floated into my mind: not stirred up as it were by the current of my meditations, but coming in almost like a question from outside. I tried to recall the form of it. I had a vague sense of something familiar, but I could not tell what it was at the time…”

“Then I thought of the Great Fear that was between the two species, and for the first time, with a sudden shiver, came the clear knowledge of what the meat I had seen might be. Yet it was too horrible! I looked at little Weena sleeping beside me, her face white and starlike under the stars, and forthwith dismissed the thought.”

“…I tried to look at the thing in a scientific spirit. After all, they were less human and more remote than our cannibal ancestors of three or four thousand years ago. And the intelligence that would have made this state of things a torment had gone. Why should I trouble myself? These Eloi were mere fatted cattle, which the ant-like Morlocks preserved and preyed upon…”

“…However great their intellectual degradation, the Eloi had kept too much of the human form not to claim my sympathy, and to make me perforce a sharer in their degradation and their Fear.”

Well, that’s my list of the earliest examples of sci-fi books with food. I have arbitrarily set a cutoff point at 1900. Unfortunately this means I can’t include H. G. Wells’ “The Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth” first published in 1904. Not to worry, I’ll make another list.

If you want a much better definition of science fiction you can visit Richard Treitel’s site http://www.treitel.org/Richard/sf/sf.html where you will find “Definitions of What Science Fiction Is and Is Not”. Also very interesting is this list “The 51 Sub-genres of Speculative Fiction“. I doubt either resource will prove definitive or wholly satisfactory, but they are interesting.

T’Pau Pad Ga Pow (Tofu with Thai basil)

[print_link]

Vulcan version of the Thai dish made with marinated tofu. Created by the Vulcan T’ Pol after visiting San Francisco in 2150. The dish became a favorite of Minister T’ Pau and was later named after her. Sometimes a very un-Vulcan version is made with chopped shrimp and fish sauce. This version is vegetarian.

 

Ingredients

 

1/8 cup light soy sauce

1/4 cup Thai Basil

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

16 ounces extra-firm tofu (marinade recipe below)

10 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 shallots, thinly sliced (or 1/2 cup sliced onion)

1-10 Thai Bird Chilies (substitute Serrano or jalapeño peppers)

2 kaffir lime leaves (bai ma-gkrood), finely slivered (substitute with regular lime zest or juice)

2-3 tsp. black soy sauce (semi-sweet kind)

Peanut oil for stir-frying

Dash of ground white pepper

 

Directions

 

Remove the tofu from the marinade and drain. Pat dry with paper towels.

Cut into ¼-inch cubes.

Heat a wok on high heat. Coat with 1/8 teaspoon peanut oil and heat until it shimmers.

Add tofu and brown on all sides – about 3 minutes. Set aside.

Julienne half of the basil. Leave the remainder whole

Chop the garlic, bell peppers and slice the shallots and chilies. Add peanut oil to wok and cook the bell peppers first for about one minute.

Add the garlic, shallots and chilies cook for 30 seconds

Add the slivered kaffir lime leaves and the julienne basil

Add black soy, light soy and whole basil leaves

Add the browned tofu

Cook everything until basil leaves are wilted

Sprinkle with white pepper

Serve with plain white rice (use jasmine rice if you have it)

 

Serves 6

 

Tofu Marinade

 

5 tablespoons rice vinegar

3 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

3/4 teaspoon Thai chilies chopped

1 teaspoon chopped basil leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh garlic

1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 

Marinate tofu for a minimum of 1 hour.

Plasma Burn Bloody Mary

[print_link]

Ingredients

 

¾ cup vodka
1/4 cup aquavit
4 cups tomato vegetable juice
2 tablespoons fresh grated horseradish
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon Tabasco

1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

½ cup Old Bay seasoning for garnish

6 cucumber spears for garnish

 

Directions

Mix ingredients excluding the Old Bay and cucumber. Chill mixture, liquor and glasses. Mound the Old Bay on a plate . Wet the rim of the glasses with water. Dip rim in Old Bay. Pour mix into glass, add a cucumber spear and serve

Meat Nectar (meat slurry)

[print_link]

Meat Nectar is a favorite of insectoids throughout the quadrant; a sweet and cool (won’t burn the proboscis) meat slurry enjoyed by larvae and adult alike. We like our’s served room temperature,  just like Mom used to make – before she was swarmed and devoured.

Ingredients

1 lb slow roasted low-myoglobin animal protein

1 oz. phospholipid

1-tablespoon salt

Directions

Cover meat with seasonings and slow roast until tender. Allow meat to cool. Finely grind meat. Mix ground meat with roasting liquid. Centrifuge with emulsifier (phospholipid) until well combined. Chill and serve. For a more traditional flavor, leave the mixture at room temperature for several days before serving.

A website devoted to Science Fiction, food, parody, criticism humor satire and commentary