D6, Late Afternoon, Streets, closed] Lunch date

[Shiba Naomi]

"I wonder if he will find the answer," she replied politely, wondering if she had any apetite now.

"... Was food so scarce that you would eat such things?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Nope." the man shook his head. "It was a delicacy. A rare treat. They, on the other hand, wouldn't understand why one would eat fish without cooking."

[Shiba Naomi]

Naomi covered her mouth as she giggled.
"Well, I suppose that could seem a bit odd to them... but they probably don't have the joys of fresh fish like the Empire does?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"The heat and the dry air of the area cause the fish spoil quickly, I wager. And because of that, they have always cooked their fish. Well, any meat, really." Xiao Hua pondered, scratching the stubble on his chin, realising that he hadn't shaved for a while.

"And use a lot of spices to cover the taste of rot, unfortunately." he winced.

[Shiba Naomi]

Naomi winced too. "Rotten food?"
Sure, fermented food wasn't unknown to her, but actually rotten food?

"They... eat that?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Well, not rotten... but less than fresh, I'd say. Nothing worse than the heimin back home eat, I'd guess. Especially when there is a famine, or a war." he explained, wondering if she was more naive than she looked, or if she had just misunderstood him.

[elonweis]

Haku looks slightly set upon as he leaves the two alone. There was a line and the man dickered with the gaijin seller before a few coins were exchanged. He brought the fish pakora back along with a few onion bhaji's on a banana leaf. Quietly the man bows and offers them to the Unicorn and Phoenix.