A Futuristic Meal Poem by Sheena Blackhall

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Some food on the table would not be eaten,
Only the eyes and nose would sample food

Food contained many flavours,
In bite-sized mini mouthfuls

Music & poetry would only be heard at intervals
The diners might eat in a mock aircraft,
The engines' vibrations would awaken the appetite.

Scientific equipment would replace traditional utensils

And now for the main menu:

Why not try:
Italian Breasts in the Sunshine:
Almond paste topped with a strawberry sprinkled with fresh black pepper.

Or perhaps:
Diabolical Roses: deep-fried red rose heads in full bloom

Or maybe
Divorced Eggs: hard boiled eggs cut in half; yolks removed
Put on pureed potatoes, whites placed on a carrot

Or even:
Milk in a Green Light: a large bowl of cold milk, a few teaspoons of honey, Black grapes, red radishes lit by a green light.

And finally, the tour de force for the truly adventurous

The Tactile Dinner: A multi-course meal for Futurists
Each diner was given Pyjamas
Each set covered with different material
Sponge, cork, sandpaper, or felt.

Each guests in their given pyjamas.
Entered an unlit, empty room
Each unseeing guest chose a dinner partner by touch

The first course was a 'polyrhythmic salad,
A box with a bowl of undressed lettuce leaves, dates and grapes.

The box had a crank on the left side.
No cutlery. the guests ate with their right hand
While turning the crank with their left
This produced music to which waiters danced
Until the course was finished.

The second course was 'magic food',
Served in small bowls covered with tactile materials.
The bowl was held in the left hand
The right hand picked out balls made of caramel
Filled with different ingredients
Dried fruits/ raw meat/garlic/ banana/ chocolate/ pepper.

The third course was a 'tactile vegetable garden, '
A plate of cooked and raw green vegetables, no dressing.
Eaten without the use of hands,
Eaten by burying their face in the plate of vegetables
Feeling the frisson of the greens on their face and lips.

Each time a guest raised their head to chew,
Waiters sprayed their face with perfume.

I leave for your consideration:
Immortal Trout
Dates in Moonlight
Devil in Black Key
The Excited Pig (raw skinless salami in a bath of coffee & Eau de Cologne)

Myself, I prefer Cullen skink
Haggis, or Rumbledethumps
Cranachan, Irn Bu, haddock and chips
Eaten facing a North Sea Gale
While Dolphin watching
Off Aberdeen harbour of course