using my chance to threadjerk with food-related trivia, as it was fun and i got the translation on hand!
Q: What’s Plague Doctor characters’ opinion on sweets? Sergei, for instance, had a sweet tooth back in the Game arc, Lera and Kirill were shown splitting a Twix as well. What about Oleg, Dragon and Gladiolus (Altan)? Do they like sugary stuff?
A: Lera’s more used to fruit/muesli bars. Twix and Snickers bars are mostly reserved for the times somebody is treating her or she’s really craving some food but there’re only vending machines with chocolate and sandwiches in the vicinity. She’s not much of a sugar enthusiast.
Kirill tries to stick to chocolate-flavored protein bars, but when there’s none available can slip up and eat chocolate. He loves chocolate, but doesn’t particularly care about other sweets.
Altan is a spoiler, as usual. Dragon adores pyshki made in St. Petersburg. Might or might not believe the local cuisine peaked with them.
Oleg, like most children of the 90s, used to daydream about chocolate bars and McDonalds outings as something really expensive and unattainable. So did Sergei, actually, but in his case, he still loves that kind of delicious junk food as an adult, while Oleg’s standards have raised so much the only sweets or desserts he considers good are those he made with his own hands. From time to time he’ll make an exception for some super pricey and exquisite chocolates. Other than that, he really loves fruit.
Q: Can we have something about the characters’ (Dragon, Gladiolus, Kirill, Lera, Sergei, Oleg) relationship with food? Must be tough to do specific dishes but what about broad strokes?
A: Lera likes bowl food, donburi, etc. – a single plate with a bit of everything on it. She’s fond of soups, including clear soup, and steamed dishes and doesn’t like heavy homemade meals with lots of fried, greasy food and big servings.
Kirill doesn’t yet have any well-defined gastronomic inclinations (unless you call his love for chocolate that). He can eat anything as long as it’s simple, straightforward and tasty. In fact, his lifestyle has introduced him to a very narrow range of dishes – mostly home cooking and standard, samey meals from cheap eateries. For now food isn’t a point of interest for him. But who knows what the future holds.
‘Love’ is a strong word, but Dragon holds a certain ethnographic curiosity towards any and all national cuisines; whenever he comes to a foreign country he always tries to taste some local dishes. The more unusual the food is, the more interesting he finds it. In his life he’s tried plenty of things, from whale meat to bear preserves and balut. Also it’s worth saying that he rarely eats anything homemade and with regards to cooking… well, he’s not fully incapable of it, he can manage something like rice and premade meatballs. But fancy stuff is beyond his ability.
Oleg is a fan of European cuisine. Despite the fact he can cook anything as long as there’s some underlying interest, he gravitates towards meat-heavy meals and ethnic dishes.
Sergei is, in essence, an omnivore who wouldn’t turn up his nose at anything edible (deprived childhood will do that to you). At the same time, he loves his food nicely served – it’s something he wouldn’t be able to do for himself, so the dish that is plated just right holds twice the value in his eyes. If you simply bring him food, he’ll eat it happily, but if you make it look good too, he’ll just melt.
Oleg, on the other hand, can’t be tricked like this. To him a gorgeously served but shitty risotto will remain a shitty risotto, while a delicious risotto served straight from the pan won’t seem any less delicious because of the appearances.
