Cuisine: Turning on the Squick

[eaterofkittens]

The humans of Carcosa likely have ancient recipes for the various organisms. They have classified dinner worms and dessert worms.
But its not enough to put invertebrates on the plate. You need to put it in your players mouths.

1. Compare the texture to something unfoodlike. Car tires, Cotton Swabs, Rough Paper, Balloons full of rubber bands, Wax, Styrofoam...

2. Put up a fight. Make it throb, squeal, chirp, hiss, and flee. Remember that stuff Calvin's mom served him? The green slime that tried to eat his face? Delicious.

3. Reskin a familiar dish. Carcosa has no cows so cheese it out but what if lasagna was made with mushrooms and smooshed locusts sprinkled with flaky white fungus? Baked over a bed of Lava for two hours, leave to cool. Add beetle secretions to taste.

4.  Remove the dangerous part. The stinger, the mandibles, the poison sac, the egg gland, the orange membrane...

[jcstephens]

Any wilderness survival guide can provide "food" for thought. Two of my favorites from the US Army's manual: "Anything that walks, crawls, swims or creeps is a potential source of protein", and "Bird's eggs remain edible at all stages of development".

[eaterofkittens]

In my game, there are edible ping pong balls called Deliciouspheres, white orbs soft like marshmallows. There is a vermillion tonic which tastes like citrus and iron and acts like a potion of haste. Basically an energy drink but it bubbles from a natural spring near an alien city.
Bizarre Foods is another great resource.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcaVQFIIzUE
Skip to 20:50
The Uok is a fat white grub the size of a sausage.

[eaterofkittens]

“As I bit into the nectarine, it had a crisp juiciness about it that was very pleasurable - until I realized it wasn't a nectarine at all, but A HUMAN HEAD!” Jack Handy