Fake people meat: Tales of Hannibal's food stylist

I wasn't interested in watching Hannibal until I started reading Janice Poon's new blog called Feeding Hannibal. Poon is the lead food stylist and culinary expert on the production of Hannibal. After reading Poon's hilarious adventures and fascinating artistic fakes, I just queued up the available episodes to watch on Hulu tonight.

If you (like me) haven't watched Hannibal, the show follows famed psychopath, serial killer and cannibal Hannibal Lecter. Fans of Silence of the Lambs may recall that Lecter was a brilliant and successful psychiatrist and FBI consultant before he got caught; the show follows his pre-capture exploits. And many of these involve serving human meat to his unwitting dinner guests.

Poon's job is to put together exquisite gourmet meals that look like they were made with human meat. AND they still have to be edible, because the actors are putting them into their mouths during the filming. (Meaning that she can't just use a bunch of rubber props.)

Poon searches Toronto's ethnic markets, butcher shops and slaughterhouses looking for just the right cuts of meat, the most unblemished organs, and the freshest pig's blood. (Her main competition in the pig blood market is the cigarette manufacturers, who use the hemoglobin in the filters of their cigarettes.)

At the end of each post, Poon includes recipes for those who want to follow along at home. Her recipes include both the ingredients that she used (e.g. beef hearts in the Beef Tartare Tarts), suggestions for those who want non-faux-cannibal versions (Poon suggests a mixture of ground sirloin and minced heart), and possible variations (substitute veal heart "if you want to add more flavor, texture, and frisson to your canapé tray").

Poon is doing some amazing work, and she's doing it with both panache and humor. She says her goal in the meal creation is that she wants "the food to look like something you really want to taste - against your better judgment." Hannibal is lucky to have her.

Image copyright Hannibal/NBC