EBC Culinary Conversation: Vice-President Istillian

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EBC Culinary Conversation: VP Istillian
In this first instalment of the series, Istillian takes readers on an tasty Oceanian food journey

Written by Klatonia






Welcome to the Europeian Broadcast Corporation's first Culinary Conversation! In this series, we invite Europeia's citizens to open up about their food habits. What makes them salivate? What makes them gag? As food is a powerful trigger of emotions and memories, we want to know how food has shaped the lives of our guests, so we can know them better.

Our first guest in the series: our own Vice-President Istillian!


What region of the RL world are you from?

I live in Perth, Western Australia, although I’m originally from Hobart, Tasmania.

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Credit: Google Maps

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Credit: Dietmar Rabich, licensed under CC BY-SA-4.0

Is there a regional dish or delicacy your region is or should be known for? How is it prepared? Do you know its history?

Tasmania is incredibly well known for its variety of local food, and the state is affectionately known as “the Apple Isle” as they have an abundance of apple farms, produce a variety of ciders, and export a lot of their fruit. Notably, they are known for things like Ashgrove cheese, King Island beef, Coal River Farm chocolate, and Tasmanian Atlantic Salmon; but the thing I remember most from growing up there was the pies, and to quote the local history: “In 1942 Alfred Gough, a local butcher, created a pie so proper that it impressed even the gentry at Hobart’s National Theatre. And so the National pie was born.” The company impressively boasts the logo: “Stick it in your National pie-hole.”

I love a good meat pie, with crumbly pastry, but you absolutely can’t keep me away from a chicken and Camembert pie from the Richmond Bakery.

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Credit: mustdobrisbane.com

What’s your favourite comfort food?

Tim Tam slams and a hot Milo on a cold winter’s night.

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Credit: fussfreecooking.com

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Credit: McDonald's

Is there something that you ate once and that nobody could ever make you eat ever again? How did that happen?

When I was about five or six years old my Dad took an interest in hunting, catching and cooking mutton birds from Bruny Island, a practice that has been a part of Tasmanian Aboriginal culture for tens of thousands of years.

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Credit: ABC

But ... I remember when he tried to cook them he'd heard of how badly they smell, so he decided to use the shed to barbecue them. Next thing I know, there's smoke and fire coming out of the shed, and my Dad is outside hurling on the back lawn, and the smell still haunts me to this day.

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Credit: sexyloops.com

He served it for dinner that night and it was absolutely awful, I still gag a little when I think about it.

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Credit: CuriousKai.blogspot.com

What is your go-to dinner? How do you like to prepare it?

If I can’t think of anything else to make, I’ll make ramen. It’s delicious, easy to do, and it’s such a classic nutritious meal – ideally with chicken, eggs, carrot, spring onion, and any other veggie that works well. If I have the ingredients available, I’d make a chicken parmigiana with ham, cheese, chunky chips, and a Greek salad on the side.

Is there a food that you’ve come to associate with NS or Europeia? A snack, a meal or a drink that evokes NS/Euro even when you eat/drink in RL, away from the game?

Yes! For Thanksgiving 2020 my wife and I tried making a pumpkin pie for the first time! It was absolutely delicious, and she even decorated it with the profile picture I use here. For a snack, a friend from another region shared a recipe for Jalapeno poppers, which I’d never made or tried before, but they have since become a favourite of mine because they’re so easy and fun to make, and I always think of NationStates and my friend whenever I make them.

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You’ve been convicted for the gruesome murder of the Supreme Chancellor. Despite your vehement declarations of innocence, Europeia has scheduled your execution by stoning at midnight, tomorrow. What do you request for your last meal?

A King Island beef steak cooked rare, a hunk of Rutherglen cheese with crusty baked bread from the Tartine café in San Francisco, Oysters Kilpatrick fresh from the Bay of Fires, and a glass of Talisker whiskey. A slice of classic baked vanilla cheesecake made by wife, and a hot coffee for dessert (she’s a pastry chef by trade, and by god does she make the best cakes.)

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Credit: BlueLink.co.jp




This first instalment probably made everyone hungry. We hope you enjoyed this culinary trip down under and that you now know the Vice-President a little better!
 
This is such a fun idea for an article!! I learned a lot and it was very entertaining. Thank you to the both of you
 
Honestly I had such a good time answering the questions from you Klat, and food is my favourite thing to ponder! Well, maybe not mutton bird...
 
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