[Dragaera] Unstoppable Force vs Immovable Object

[Jon Lincicum]

John Dallman wrote:
> In article <454928D6.3010409 at comcast.net>, lincicum at comcast.net (Jon 
> Lincicum) wrote:
>
>   
>> I'd say it's far more likely she just gets "Mr. Valabar" (and some 
>> of his staff) to show up and cook her a meal in the Imperial kitchens
>> from time to time. After all, I bet the palace's cooking facilities 
>> are just as good (if not better than) Valabar's.
>>     
>
> I dunno. Have you ever tried doing serious cooking in someone else's 
> kitchen? How you have it arranged and your knowledge of the exact 
> behaviour of the equipment (particularly the stove) are really important. 
>
> It's something that cooks "inherit" through learning in each other's 
> kitchens. I learned to cook from my mother, who learned from her mother. 
> I found my grandmother's kitchen almost unusable, because I couldn't 
> find anything, while my other could drive it easily, and could drive 
> mine fairly well because it resembles hers, without resembling 
> grandmother's very much at all. 
>
> Now, the Valabar family have been working in the same kitchen, learning 
> from each other and optimising the kitchen for the Valabar style, for 
> many generations. Their bond with its facilities and layout will be 
> quite extraordinary. Trying to go somewhere else and cook the same would 
> be quite hard. Sure, someone who left and went to work elsewhere would 
> adapt over a period of a few weeks - and would be skilful enough that 
> even their less-than-perfect work with unfamiliar facilities would be 
> very good. 
>
> But trying to /be/ Valabar's in the Imperial Palace would be harder than 
> it sounds. 
>   
Well, if it's that important, I'm sure the Empress could just commission 
an exact replica of Valabar's kitchen to be built in a special room next 
to the main kitchens in the Imperial Palace.

But really, a Valabar's meal, as described in /Dzur/, strikes me as the 
kind of experience that wouldn't really work as "take-out".

Majikjon