Not That It Will Kill You

On the right corner, there were constant notifications of Sazzy banning accounts. But it didn't seem to discourage the chat.

At this point, anything I said would only encourage these people. So, ignoring most of them, I tried my best to look for valid questions.

GiveThisDogSomeFood : Is it alright to release these recipes? These ingredients are basically poison!

"Thank you GiveThisDogSomeFood for the question! To answer whether it is ok to release these recipes. The answer is that these ingredients are only native to this planet, and some of them also require special harvesting methods, so random people cannot just harvest these poisons. Furthermore, this livestream is to spread awareness about the different types of cultures and their food recipes. I would not recommend anyone to personally cook these recipes themselves, since they require quite some expertise in handling these poisons. However, thanks to the taste sharing software of Jolt.kek, even if you do not have the ability to travel to this planet, you can still taste the cuisine from the Venenum people."

Plating the clams, I placed one plate onto the taste analyzer, and one in the middle of the table. Making sure that the taste analyzer had successfully digitalized the food, I gestured to the audience to try it.

"Since it's in a digital form, you can't get poisoned, so feel free to try these dishes."

I grabbed some Vine noodles, separated them into two plates, and then digitized one as well.

Then looking over at the chat again, I found the next valid question.

NeverTooPoorToEat : Aren't these recipes too simple? They use so little ingredients!

"Thank you NeverTooPoorToEat for the questions. Venenum cuisine commonly uses less than five ingredients. This is due to the fact that they use poison to neutralize poison. This reaction does not take place the moment the two poisons meet but rather when they enter your body or react with your body. Thus most dishes do not contain many ingredients to avoid diluting either one of the poisons or to increase the chance that something would react with one of the poisons, thus making the dish poisonous."

Looking at the time, there was still quite a while before the tofu could be considered done so I continued to answer questions.

WoofWoofGimmeFood : You said that the adults allow children to pick those red berries, but why would they allow their children to face such harm. Isn't that too harsh!

"Thank you WoofWoofGimmeFood for the question. Red berries indeed cause quite a serious rash for those who are careless enough to touch them, but since this rash can be easily cured. Even though it is painful, it is not too harmful, so it is used to train children to be more careful. For those who do not learn their lesson, there are worse plants that will teach them this lesson instead, at a very painful cost."

"Some of the fauna can cause corroding on touch, or have incurable toxins on their leaves, fruits or even bark. Being too careless in the forest will most certainly be quite costly. So having the children learn how to properly take care of themselves with a more tame plant allows them to gain experience on what not to do in order to keep themselves safe!"

ThinkOfMyStomach : Why can't the Venenum people just buy non-toxic food? Why must they force themselves to eat such dishes?

"Thank you ThinkOfMyStomach for the question. Certainly, it may be foreign to many of us to essentially risk our lives every meal, however the Venenum people have been living in this environment for a very long time. Their ancestors probably did not have the level of technology that we enjoy today. Furthermore, there are not that many profitable non-toxic objects that can be sold to make a living. The food they make is also a form of culture that has been passed down for many generations. To put it simply, there are many complex reasons why they still use poisonous ingredients in their dishes, even to this day!"

While answering some of the more valid questions, the chat was becoming more calm at a visible rate. Some of the more daring viewers had sampled the clams or the vine noodles and were rating their tastes. Some of them were more interested in the cultural background of these dishes instead. Overall, the chat seemed to become a little more peaceful.

WhatCannotBeEaten : Chef, I still find it hard to believe that these dishes are edible. Sure you can take advantage of the taste sharing software to avoid us being poisoned, but if the original food is poisonous, I don't think showing us these recipes or talking about the culture will prove anything. After all, anyone can lie.

"Thank you WhatCannotBeEaten for your viewpoint. What you said is true, anyone can lie. These dishes were taught to me by a friend who is part of the Venenum ethnic group, and I can prove that they are genuine."

Taking a fork, I swirled some Vine noodles and brought it up to my mouth. Taking a bite, the noodles made a very satisfying sound. Chewing, the slight sweetness of the noodles started to spread around in my mouth. Like a poison, its intensity grew the more I chewed, and its taste remained even after swallowing.

"If you notice, the taste that appears the most in these dishes is sweetness. The poison in these ingredients are actually sweet, so once you neutralize the effects that these poison use to harm you, what is left is only sweetness. However, the poison does not only give out sweetness. In the clams, there is a reaction between the mild poison in the Red wood and the clams which produces a spicy flavor. Red wood contains a mild edible poison that is removed naturally by the system as long as its concentration is not too high. It is often used as a sweet snack. This is why the first taste in the Red wood clam is sweet, followed by spicy, and then salty."

"Seeing that I am alive and well even after eating these dishes, you can see that these recipes are genuine. However it is up to your own judgment to believe what I say. Now, moving on, I think it is time that our tofu is done sitting."

Walking over to where I left the tofu, I poured out the excess water and flipped the bowl that I made the tofu in over. Tapping the bowl slightly, the tofu fell onto the plate with a delicate plop. Taking a knife and splitting the tofu into half, I put one plate onto the taste analyzer and the other plate next to the Vine noodles.

"This tofu is another type of reaction between two poisons. Instead of being sweet, it has a different sort of taste. Although a slight sweetness is present, there is also another type of flavor that you would expect to come from a bean product instead of from a mixture of two poisonous berries. This tofu can be fried to make it much crispier in texture. However, it is edible even before frying."

Taking a spoon, I scooped a bit of tofu and tried it on the stream.

Looking at the chat again, the number of viewers had decreased by half, but most of the people left were those who were here for the food or the knowledge. Smiling a little, I responded to a few more viewers before I ended my first stream.

The moment I pressed the stop stream button, Sazzy got up from where she was sitting and dashed over to taste the food that was cooked. Feeling tired, I left the dishes to her and headed into my room to lie on my bed.

Closing my eyes, I felt my remaining strength melt away and leave me. Sighing, I allowed my mind to slowly empty its thoughts. I could feel the bed sink under my weight. And before I knew it, I had slipped into a deep deep sleep.