text;

[ofgoldenfoil]

[ Aurican is doing a school project, but his altruism doesn't always mean he understands what is really needed among human societies. ]

I have a school project. It is about how to help people.

The whole blackout made me realize just how much we all rely on the power to make our own food. Back home, my nestmates and I only have to be concerned about when the bats arrived (they always did) and we eat them. When the blackout happened, I was able to feed myself by hunting in the woods.

[ Aurican is a very neat eater, but by human standards it is still very gory. ]

But I know not everyone can do that. Not everyone can bite hard as I can or breathe fire.

I wonder if there is a way to keep together ways of food keeping without electricity. I am making a paper show off these methods can help when the next emergency comes. I ask for advice and resources.

Comments

[illuminescent]

A great many of us come from lands where electricity is poor, or not available at all.

[ofgoldenfoil]

Yes. So am I. But I never encountered cooking before in my world, until I came here. So I wonder how it happened without electricity.

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[leaflets]

I remember reading about ice boxes in school before... You have giant blocks of ice and they keep stuff from going bad. Maybe something like that?

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[ofgoldenfoil]

I remember Kang building something like that to a neighbor during the blackout. I don't know how a wooden box can keep ice cold though.

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[leaflets]

It's really science-y but I'm not good at science so it's just weird.

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[ofgoldenfoil]

I'm slowly understanding it myself.

Do you know the ways of preparing food without electricity?

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[leaflets]

I've never tried it but you can use fire. Like a campfire!

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[ofgoldenfoil]

That's one way. I cooked animals by burning them before, it seems to last better than raw meat. I'll put that down.

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[leaflets]

You cooked...whole animals?

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[ofgoldenfoil]

Not completely. Sometimes prey is just too big of a meal for me to eat in one sitting, so I eat as much as I can and cook the rest with my fire breathe.

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[leaflets]

Doesn't eating it raw make you sick?

[ she's assuming he's human, and last she checked raw stuff hurts them... ]

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[ofgoldenfoil]

[ Aurican keeps forgetting to introduce himself as a dragon WHOOPS ]

No. I've been eating bats raw before I came here, there's no problem with me.

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[leaflets]

Are you a human? You must have a really good stomach if you are.

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[ofgoldenfoil]

No, I'm not a human. I'm a dragon.

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[leaflets]

A dragon??? Really?? How are you typing?

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[ofgoldenfoil]

The Porter gave me the power to change into a human form.

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[leaflets]

But if you're a dragon shouldn't you be too big for the Porter?

[ofgoldenfoil]

No, because I am just barely bigger than the horses that live here.

[leaflets]

Oh. Do you like being a human?

[ofgoldenfoil]

Sometimes. I like to carry things. I can touch things with better senses. But the human body is overall weaker than my original form.

[leaflets]

Can you fly as a dragon?

[ofgoldenfoil]

Not yet.

[leaflets]

But you can breathe fire. That's so cool!

[ofgoldenfoil]

Thank you. It is very helpful but I do not use it that often.

[leaflets]

You should! If I could breathe fire I'd do it all the time.

[illuminescent]

With fire.

[ofgoldenfoil]

Is that all? How do you preserve them?

[ofgoldenfoil]

My fire has a decent range, I don't want to burn anything down.

Permavid

[governorkang]

On our world, the most common way of preserving food is using salt or smoke. It's not always the most appetizing thing when you haven't had fresh food in while, but at least you don't go hungry.

[illuminescent]

Not as they do here. We eat much of what we cook, or give it to others.

text

[tacticianing]

Ice can be used to preserve food, although it depends on ice being available. I'd be interested to know if you find other methods.

[ofgoldenfoil]

So all of your prepared food have a short life?

Permavid

[ofgoldenfoil]

How do you smoke or salt them?

text

[ofgoldenfoil]

I'm interested in all methods. How does ice work?

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[tacticianing]

It's the same operating principle as a refrigerator or freezer. If you bury food in ice, or at least keep ice next to it, it'll keep it from going bad for a while.

[governorkang]

I never learned how to do it myself. You can look it up, though. I doubt the techniques have changed much with newer technologies.

[illuminescent]

Yes, just so.

[leaflets]

/oh, that's a good reason. Can you still breathe fire as a person?