Who knew that after Shiller spoke, the Spider-Men had no intention of leaving; they loitered behind Shiller's chair until Shiller called out each of their names, after which they sighed sadly, dropped their hands, and left reluctantly.
Not all the Spider-Men had come this time; most were those familiar with the Peter from Shiller's cosmos, who usually had distinct characteristics, making them easy to tell apart.
Still, this was an impressive show of patience; Bruce knew that if there were this many Batmen standing in front of him, he would simply refer to them all as Batman and tell them to get lost. Of course, they probably wouldn't gather around a single person like this—all together—it was a bit too awkward.
More and more dishes were brought out, and today's theme was clearly specialty seafood. It must be mentioned that Gotham's food culture was also quite famous; even Metropolitans would say that the best restaurants in Metropolis were in Gotham.
In fact, many gourmands had risked their lives to come to this city to taste the delicious cuisine. What attracted them the most was that the street food culture here far surpassed that of high-end restaurants.
Perhaps it is adversity that leads people to discover various ways to cook different ingredients. The East District, close to the docks and once Gotham's poorest area, had seafood as the only ingredient poor people could use to stave off hunger.
Living off the sea isn't just about coastal people using marine ingredients to survive; it also means they are the best at eating seafood, with far more rich experience in cooking it than inlanders.
Gotham is located on the East Coast of the United States, particularly the northeast, influenced by both the Labrador Current and the North Atlantic Current. As is well known, world-famous fishing grounds are at the junctions of currents, and seafood from colder waters, more affected by cold currents, tends to have a fresher and sweeter taste.
But cold-water seafood also has its drawbacks due to the low temperatures, growing slower than their warm-water counterparts and reproducing at a slower rate, often resulting in smaller sizes and lower yields, making the larger individuals quite expensive.
However, Gotham's seafood does not have these problems; again, Gotham's wildlife doesn't really adhere to food chains or natural climates. Whether it's influenced by All Things Green or All Things Red, they grow as big as they want.
This has created a unique spectacle in the world: large and sweet cold-water seafood. The only issue is that eating them involves taking some minor risks.
What makes them so big can certainly be considered dangerous, but there's also the possibility that the seafood might jump out of the pot to hit you. Even so, people are willing to take the risks for a taste, indicating just how precious these ingredients are.
But all these dangers are mostly for outsiders; Gothamites have no such worries, especially the poor of Gotham. As the top aggregators of toxins in the food chain, when seafood enters their stomachs, toxins come fiercely, and then leave, weeping and howling.
As for getting slapped by seafood from the pot, it's not considered much of an issue; the non-urgent simply put it back in the pot to stew a while longer, while those too hungry can just blast it with a gun.
Although Gotham's seafood is large, due to coastal pollution, most fishing vessels can only operate in open waters. This means high costs and significant losses, making the ingredients they bring back still very precious. Gotham's poor will try every means to extract every bit of value from them.
Methods like slicing off a big piece of meat for sashimi are eating styles of the wealthy in the South District, but Gothamites prefer to dry fresh fish into fish flakes. When they want to eat, they shave off the fish meat with a special tool and grind it into fish floss with a grinding machine. Then they fry a small fish, intestines removed, until it's crisp, chop it up and mix it with egg yolk to create a special seafood egg yolk sauce. One slice of bread smeared with egg yolk sauce, another with fish floss sandwiched together, and you have a meal.
Of course, there's also the oft-mentioned rye porridge. Rye isn't a particularly tasty food, and the same goes for oats, but they are very cheap and rich in nutrients among the staple foods.
Poor-quality rye and oats are too harsh to eat, so they add a bit of agar and cook rye and spices with fish oil derived from fish belly fat. They let it cool down and solidify into a unique cereal fish jelly. It masks the unpalatable taste of rye and oats and fills your mouth with the savory and oily flavors of seafood and spices.
Gotham's most famous dish has to be the Gotham hot dog. While other places fill their hot dogs with sausages or bacon, Gotham's cattle industry is a mess due to the inability to grow pasture; beef is dependent on imports from other places, and by the time it reaches the lower classes, it is both expensive and poor in quality.
So, the locals invented a special hot dog by cleaning out a cuttlefish's innards. Since it is already tube-shaped, it's easy to stuff with onions and salmon mince, with a long stick of frozen cheese in the middle. This becomes a unique sausage.
When not eaten, they are kept frozen. When ready to eat, first boil then fry them before putting them in a bread roll like a normal hot dog, spread a thick layer of tuna, sprinkle some fried onions, and experience the much richer flavor and seafood merging together, bursting with intense umami in your mouth.
Apart from these classic local foods that blend American elements, Gotham's lower class still favors Indian and Chinese cuisines as the reigning kings.
French cuisine has too high requirements for ingredients. The best the poor in the East District can get are the scraps discarded by upscale restaurants, questionable in both completeness and freshness. Gotham has fewer French-Italian eateries, and the tradition of French cuisine isn't well-preserved; being able to supply high-end restaurants is already commendable.
Italian cuisine has retained pizza and pasta, but unfortunately, most chefs capable of making authentic Italian meals serve the Twelve Families, and the Italian-style food among the common folk has been changed beyond recognition.
Conversely, the East Coast of the United States has always been a popular choice for Chinese and Indian immigrants, and there's really no other reason for this than its prosperous economy and the opportunity to earn more money.
In this era, hardly anyone comes here in pursuit of some dream of freedom; most people are here entirely to take advantage of the currency exchange rate, and despite Gotham's disorder, the criminal industry truly makes money, which is why it is the preferred destination for many Asian immigrants looking to work.
Of course, immigrants also brought with them their culinary delights and didn't at all mind adopting Gotham's local cooking methods, creating many unique immigrant foods in the process.
A portion of Gotham's Chinese immigrants came from the once Hongmen, also known as the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, and a significant number from Fujian, but no matter where they were from, they were residents of coastal cities with their unique techniques for cooking seafood.
They brought a boon to the slums of Gotham—various congees, noodles, braised foods, and mixed vegetables. Stalls could be found on every street in the East District, day and night, regardless of the weather.
At dawn, looking down from a higher floor, one could see each stream of steam rising from the mass of low, disorderly huts in the East District, a victory totem for Gothamites who survived yesterday, accompanied by loud and heavily accented cries of vendors, like a charge call for living fearlessly through today.
The widespread popularity of Chinese cuisine also relates to the nature of their restaurants' services: I arrive before the sun, I don't leave before the moon, I take orders during murders, I deliver meals during gang wars.
Day and night, they rush through every renowned scene in Gotham, speeding through flames on a delivery scooter when chemical plants explode, and dock vendors just finished stacking pots and pans, draping a towel over their shoulders as ships sink.
Their will to survive is even more absurd than the city itself, able to knock down giant seagulls to take home for soup, or wrestle with squid monsters to bring back a tentacle for salt and pepper squid. Many local Gothamites have learned the line often uttered by Chinese restaurant owners: no matter what, people need to eat.
By comparison, Indian owners aren't as fierce, but their tolerance toward food is more astounding. All Indian restaurants in Gotham use water from the Gotham River, and even native Gothamites have to gamble on whether they'll get sick after a meal of curry.
Of course, Indian food is quite recognized in Europe and America and does not suffer from the same hygiene issues as in its home country. But they indeed can stew anything; with enough spices, even an alien stewed in a Gundam can taste deliciously fragrant.
Indian restaurants mostly don't deliver; they only serve food in-house. Big pots filled with curry line up at the entrance, the intense aroma of spices detectable from two streets away—a perfect lure for customers.
Once inside, don't ask what kind of curry it is. Grab a stainless-steel bowl, take a spoonful of red, a spoonful of yellow, a spoonful of green, then scoop two large spoonfuls of rice from a wooden barrel. If you're fortunate, add a pair of fried fish, and sprinkle with chili powder after mixing.
The heat from the staple food and spices is enough to perfectly offset the physical exertion from manual labor, making it especially popular with dockworkers. After a meal at noon, they can even fill plastic bottles with curry to take home and pour over rice for another delightful meal.
Of course, there are also Turkish, Belgian, and some Northern European cuisines here, but they tend to have just one or two specialty restaurants, or they are so expensive that only those with means can afford to indulge occasionally.
Gotham's wealthy are somewhat peculiar too, not following the Europe and America trend of doggedly pursuing authenticity in certain European cuisines. They prefer local dishes, with flavors stronger than French and Spanish cuisine, and unequivocally refuse to compromise by eating bland food.
This has led to the rise of many fusion restaurants in Gotham. For over a century, countless talented chefs have infused local Gotham flavors into various cuisines, merging those with shared characteristics together.
With their chaotic yet genius minds, unconstrained by norms and employing utmost imagination, they have created some culinary marvels that stand out in the culinary desert of America.
When dish after dish is served, vibrant in color, and rich in aroma, it's like a punch to both the eyes and noses of the diners.
At this point, the advantage of communal dining becomes apparent as Gothamites at the table commence in-depth discussions about every dish, explaining the ingredients, cooking methods, and flavors.
Just as everyone at the table was getting ready to tackle the curry crab, Bruce snapped out of his reverie, paused briefly, and then called out, "Wait, not all the dishes are out yet."