Cooking with Neelix: Who Knew Spock Was a Foodie?

by Neelix, Mixologist

27th December 2020

"It is indeed a very powerful recruiting inducement."

- Spock, "The Enterprise Incident" Star Trek (TOS)

Hello, my Alpha Quadrant friends. Your old pal Neelix is here to entertain and broaden your knowledge about a wealth of subjects. I don't want to beat around the bush on this one and just give you the information you so fiercely desire. With that said, our historical file of the day, from the project I've been investigating code named "Shore Leave," concerns a legend of Starfleet history: Spock. In particular, we're going to focus on a specific mission in which Spock had to convince a lovely Romulan commander that he was interested in her, and her mission of subverting the Federation. He was certainly Flirting with Danger, in more ways than one. Personally, that seems surprising to me. The Vulcan I know best is rather stoic. I'm not convinced that he doesn't have emotions. I see the frustration every time I call him "Mr. Vulcan." Of course, I know his real name, but it's nice to try to open him up a little. You can trust me. I once shared a body with him before our captain forcibly returned us to our original states. (I'm told that was a violation of our rights, but I'll leave the legal distinctions for you to parse.)

But Spock! From my study of the historical records, it doesn't seem that he normally took part in Intelligence or Security matters, making this moment fairly unique. Of course, as a member of Kirk's crew, he brings that expertise to that group as well. Intelligence is especially rare there. I understand his captain and Starfleet Security specifically recruited him for this assignment. From aboard the Enterprise, he can play a game of Brinksmanship or instigate a Secret Conspiracy, but if Spock were to have, forbid the thought, actually played turncoat, I could imagine a century later, given the life span of Vulcans, that he could still be quite an asset to the Romulans, even as a simple crew member on, say, a D'deridex Advanced. Not to mention, his Integrity, Cunning, and Strength all rate well among Romulans, so I'm sure they relished the opportunity to entice Spock to join them. As with all good undercover operatives, his abilities blend two cultures, the lie with the truth. Never forgetting his roots, he can upgrade his efforts to mess with his opponent, taking away a potential game-changing weapon before it is deployed. As a Federation citizen, however, he refuses to do harm without endeavoring to replace what he took.

But what strikes me about this personnel file is that he mentions food, a subject that comes up in one way or another in the lore of almost half the files I've found in my Shore Leave investigation. But what we see in the image is instead a drink. A blue drink. And while any Alpha Quadrant denizen might immediately assume that was Romulan ale, my research suggests that it could instead be Romulan whiskey. Also blue.

Now, while I can't seem to get the computers to replicate actual Romulan whiskey (something about an embargo; I didn't understand the nice security personnel that attempted to explain it to me after I tried to reprogram the replicator - I mean, the file's right there, unused!), I think I might have found a work-around with materials that we have available. Unfortunately, this isn't for everyone (especially those underage; sorry Naomi), but I'll share some more culinary delights in the coming weeks that anyone can enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Bourbon Whiskey
• 1 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
• 1/2 oz. Blue Curacao
• 2 dashes angostura bitters

Directions:

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with several cubes of ice. Strain into a lowball or rocks glass. Add crushed ice to taste. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

Real Author's Note: I don't know how many of you decided to watch the new animated series Lower Decks, but in the press kits sent out in preparation for the premier, one of the inclusions was a recipe for and the ingredients to Romulan whiskey, featured in the first few minutes of the pilot. Now, I don't rate as that level of a fan in the eyes of CBS, but luckily TrekCore does, and they were kind enough to put the recipe online, so this is as close to official as we're going to get in this series. Enjoy!

Next time on Cooking with Neelix: We shouldn't drink on an empty stomach. We should drink... so we can drink on a full stomach!

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