#i mean some people have NICE barbequeue grills

[somecunttookmyurl]

yeah "barbeque" is a VERY different concept/experience. In the US it's a whole type of cuisine with specific cooking methods, sauces, etc etc and so you get actual barbequeue restaurants. As a result I think even with backyard barbequeues Americans get a little more Extra about it.

A barbequeue here is putting a shitty portable grill outside and shoving some hamburgers/sausages on it during the 3 hours a year it stops raining. A lot of the time it isn't really even planned in advance because that is a fool's errand, and also a guaranteed way to make it rain You won't have to give it up because "it's not a thing we do here" but your chances of having a backyard are probably slim. (In which case you can do it in the park)

Humble american fool here and I need to know. Do you guys do backyard barbecues in Scotland or would I have to give that up if I moved there

Yeah they are pretty common although not sure if you’re talking full on southern BBQ with a fancy smoker etc

[nuka-rockit]

BG3 Companions Cooking Headcanons P.1

Gale

canonically an enthusiastic cook. When spending his year of isloation in his tower after the breakup with Mystra, he had to find something to distract him from his heartbreak, sense of doom and research into the orb. So like many people stuck alone at home, he got into cooking. And because Gale is Gale – and he can never do anything at less than 120% - he got very good at it.

cooking is a way for him to ground himself. Its such a mundane, non-magical task that relaxes him (although he does use the occasional mage hand to help out). It reminds him of little Gale Dekarios, with his mum at the kitchen at home, long before he ever became Gale of Waterdeep.

hums when he cooks. He doesn't realize he's doing it until someone points it out. When they do, he gets flustered.

his favourite things to cook are recipes that take a while. Stews, slow roasts, anything that needs to simmer for a few hours at low temperature. He likes the way the smell of a nice warm meal fills the air, enhancing the anticipation of getting to indulge when it's done.

a very neat cook. He doesn't like messes, so he usually makes sure the utensils and dishes are clean by the time he goes to sleep. The simulacrum does the dishes usually, but he still checks them over just in case.

Karlach

not a great cook. She is the opposite of picky and will eat almost anything. When cooking herself this usually translates to "It's just burned on one side, it's still good to eat" or "C'mon, no one has ever died from a bit of crunchy potato. I think."

Loves the simple, grounded stuff. Fried bacon, mushy peas, buttery rolls, apple pie, a nice hot soup. The stuff you can get at taverns to wash down with a pint. She's seen the indulgent, lavish feasts of devils like Raphael or Mizora in the Hells, and she doesn't care for them. As long as it's warm, tasty and filling, its good enough for her.

Needs A LOT of food. The engine burns more than just fuel, it also sets her metabolism into overdrive, which means she gets hungry quickly, especially after a fight. She easly beats any of the other companions in the sheer volume of food she can consume in one sitting, to the astonishment (and even admiration) of the team.

Very open about her praises for the other companion's cooking. Considering her eating habits it may not say much about the quality of the food, but she is so sincere and enthusiastic about even the most mediocre of meals that even the companions that don't like cooking generally like cooking for her.

After one of the less edible meals she produced for the camp, Gale actually tries teaching her how to cook. It turns out she doesn't have the patience for things like chopping and peeling vegetables properly or evenly, or pays much attention to detail when it comes to spices (less is more in Karlach's eyes, which had interesting results when she got hold of the hot peppers), but she does have a very nifty hand at grilling and frying. After a while, her preferred meal to cook for the team is campfire barbequeue, and it is not just edible but tasty, to everyone's collective relief.

Lae'zel

Part of her training involved feeding herself in emergency situations, so she does know some basic cooking skills. She never really needed to use them before though and sees elaborate cooking as a waste of valuable time. As long as it's edible its good enough. The meals she cooks tend to be very spartan as a result.

She is very unfamiliar with the majority of Faerûnian food, which often leaves her at a loss at how to properly prepare certain ingredients. Of course she would never admit this and just makes a guess at how to cook things based on how close they look to an approximate Gith ingredient, with less than ideal results.

If (or rather, when) someone complains about her...unusual cooking, she will call them pampered and pretend it's exactly as she intended it to be. Even when she can barely choke down her creations herself. She has a well-trained poker face after all.

Eventually has to admit to herself she is not great at cooking in this plane, and since she is a perfectionist it bothers her immensely. It ends with her teaching herself he proper preparation times for a few dozen common Faerûnian foods as well as the most ideal way to prepare them. She doesn't become a master chef, but her cooking eventually becomes more consistent and a lot more edible.

won't admit it, but every now and then she gets homesick for Gith food. The meals with the other companions aren't bad (mostly), but they're a constant reminder of how alien the Sword Coast is to her – and it turn, how alien she is to it.