Hannibal attempts to coax Will Graham into opening up about his feelings regarding killing Hobbs during one of their sessions together by serving him a meal that features small bits of human flesh as part of its ingredients.

He describes how he would harvest organs from people he found unpleasant or disruptive while they were still alive, then consume them afterward.

Ingredients

If you enjoy bloody thrillers with just the right mix of camp, NBC’s Hannibal is for you. A prequel to Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs films, Hannibal stars Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Hannibal Lecter; their interactions with FBI criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) will give you chills; their sessions with Hannibal as their master are riveting – not forgetting Hannibal is an expert at psychological manipulation!

He attempts to coax information out of Will by asking leading questions that eventually come back around to him. Furthermore, he fosters Will’s paternal feelings towards Abigail by cultivating her attachment. This shows his intent for Will to become obsessed with Abigail.

Hannibal gave Abigail a drugged mushroom tea during one of their sessions to try to convince her she belonged with him and Dr. Bloom’s family; when asked what she saw she answered that it was family.

Abigail spends most of her time away from Hannibal at Hannibal’s kitchen preparing various meat-based dishes – roast veal with spinach and mushrooms along with slices of human lung, liver and leg.

After consulting with the BAU, it becomes apparent that all the victims were diabetic, and that their unnatural comas were caused by kidney failure due to constant exposure to glucose in their urine. Their killers fed sugar water directly into their bodies so as to maintain this long-term exposure of glucose in their system.

Hannibal revealed to Will that Hobbs wasn’t haunting him – rather, his own corruption was. Killing Hobbs felt good like how God does; it showed Hannibal was striving to form his own family with Abigail and Will as part of his obsession.

Directions

Hannibal gave Abigail Hobbs mushroom tea and then asked her to imagine her ideal family. This was an amusingly ironic response to Will’s previous session with Lecter wherein he lamented feeling as though he doesn’t have an immediate family unit to lean on.

While Abigail was hallucinating Lecter and Bloom as her parents, Hannibal sat in her kitchen enjoying an exquisite sausage-and-egg dish before sipping wine from his glass and smoking his cigar.

Make Hannibal’s Egg in the Hole at home easily! Just start with a slice of bread, cut out a hole in its center, fry in some olive oil until its center becomes hollow, add an egg, continue frying until its white has set, sprinkle salt and pepper before enjoying! This delectable dish can make for an unforgettable breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner meal that won’t disappoint your friends and family – not forgetting a nice glass of wine or beer to go along with it all! Plus it’s super simple so get cooking now and start enjoying! This recipe will soon become part of your home life, whether entertaining guests or enjoying yourself; its results will always be delectable and satisfying!

Preparation

Hannibal opens the episode by making Abigail an elaborate meal incorporating human flesh from victims he has murdered – from roast veal and something resembling claret sauce made with human lungs, Lecter is truly an accomplished chef but I believe he may have gone too far this time around.

Abigail’s dinner is interrupted when a forensics team arrives to conduct another sweep of her apartment to examine the crime scene and discover several shoe prints and fingerprints belonging to Jesse Turner and other boys around his age, all victims from Abigail’s own family. Abigail becomes concerned, knowing she was involved with his murders in some way.

Hannibal and Abigail converse over dinner that Hannibal has prepared for her, inviting her to open up about her childhood and relationship with her adopted parents – something which she does. Conversation then moves onto Abigail’s guilt over the Turner family murders; Hannibal inquires as to any memories of her biological father that she might possess; offering tea that he believes will aid with hallucinations while encouraging her to trust him more fully.

Hannibal drugging Abigail with mushroom tea is an interesting way to build their relationship and cement the idea that they have created an unconventional family unit together. I don’t expect this will end well for either party involved, however.

Hannibal’s subtle manipulations throughout this episode were deeply unnerving. He has an uncanny knowledge of each person he talks to, knowing exactly how each responds and nudging them towards what he wants them to do, such as encouraging Crawford to bring his wife for dinner or getting Abigail to trust him. Hannibal is truly master of manipulation – something none of the characters recognize at first. That makes Hannibal so dangerous.

Taste

As previously stated, this episode was one of my personal favorites and more disturbing than some others. Given recent events like Newtown and Boston Bombings, some viewers may be wary about watching Hannibal in general, yet within this show’s context this hour-long journey stands as one of Hannibal’s best performances yet.

While watching the episode I noticed that Hannibal gave Abigail tea with a distinct mushroom taste. Though subtle, this addition added another creepy element as cannibalism is part of this show’s plotline. Additionally, serving it out of a footed teacup added even further creepiness to this scene.

I found it intriguing that she hallucinated while taking the tea – this seems to be an accurate depiction of what it feels like to take psilocybin, although its effects can become much stronger with increased dosage.

At every point during this episode it becomes apparent that Hannibal is playing Abigail while she is under the influence of drug. He attempts to draw her closer, which seems successful as she begins hallucinating with images of Hannibal and Dr. Bloom being transposed onto images of her parents; smiling as she tells Hannibal she sees family.

Will’s lament of feeling that his father had died is an interesting reminder that Hannibal is gradually chipping away at Will’s defiance by cultivating fatherly feelings between Abigail and him, another way in which Hannibal can build bridges to break through his resistance to him.

Hannibal fans have been sharing their own mushroom tea recipes on Bryan Fuller’s website, inspiring an impressive response that includes Japanese ramen, Italian veal saltimbocca, German schnitzel, Korean bibimbap, Indian chicken curry, Argentinian empanadas and Venezuelan hayacas!