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A baking enthusiast from Madison, Wisconsin concocted a fantastical dish called the "King's Hand." Its inspiration came from the most expected place.
His dream.
A 28-year-old data analyst named Arseny told Buzzfeed News his creation occurred to him in the midst of a dream where the "King's Hand" was part of a celebratory feast of some sort.
Said Arseny:
"I wish I remembered more about the King's Hand dream other than King's Hand, [but that's] kind of the nature of it, right?. Normally you don't remember a dream."
The dish took the shape of a hand "made of M&M cookie" and stuffed with, of all things, a Greek salad.
Because, why not?
I had a dream where there was a food called “King’s Hand”, a hollow hand made of m&m cookie, filled with Greek sala… https://t.co/jTS4P6tCZ0— neo-cannolialist (@neo-cannolialist)1607288275.0
Introducing King's Hand.
@thatfrood/Twitter
And the innards.
@thatfrood/Twitter
The artist sampled his fantastical edible.
@thatfrood/Twitter
He enthusiastically declared:
"At the end, I was stunned by how well it turned out. I was super proud of it and I took a bite out of it. I was like, heck yeah."
Delish.
@thatfrood/Twitter
He told the news outlet he typed out the ingredients immediately after waking up:
"...so that all of my friends would know it—and then I also kind of would force myself to have to make it now that I put it out into our friend group, although they of course told me not to."
His love for The Great British Bake Off inspired his baking ambition.
But he admits it may not have served him well in this particular endeavor.
"I remembered how it looked, but I never saw anybody making it."
"So I just had to conceptualize what it is that I would have to do to even make this dream food resemble what I remembered it looking like."
"I watched The Great British Bake Off and I enjoy baking, but I don't know if that experience helped me too much with this process."
On Twitter, the baker shared his creative process.
some people would like to know how to make King’s Hand. I don’t claim to know all the answers, but here is how I di… https://t.co/TfUoluB9Ck— neo-cannolialist (@neo-cannolialist)1607292069.0
@thatfrood/Twitter
@thatfrood/Twitter
@thatfrood/Twitter
At one point, Arseny said he "felt like a complete idiot" when he realized what he was doing.
"I was thinking, 'This doesn't make sense,' but of course it doesn't make sense. I saw it in a dream."
"This recipe isn't real, and I'm not following any, so I kind of just made it up, which I think is reflected in the thread—but listen, people, if you try to do it, don't trust everything that I've written."
The next step was making the cookie dough—which he said was "some recipe off online."
Then he nailed it.
Next, make m&m cookie dough. I just took some recipe off online. Fill your mold with the dough. Set the oven to a l… https://t.co/xQBh2JgxH0— neo-cannolialist (@neo-cannolialist)1607292071.0
@thatfrood/Twitter
@thatfrood/Twitter
@thatfrood/Twitter
@thatfrood/Twitter
He continued:
Take it out and scoop out dough for the base and to make it hollow. Flatten the scooped out stuff into a thin sheet… https://t.co/nxBHW7Gj3H— neo-cannolialist (@neo-cannolialist)1607292073.0
@thatfrood/Twitter
@thatfrood/Twitter
@thatfrood/Twitter
And now, for the final step.
Take it out and freeze it! Gotta be cool and solid to demold. Chop up the Greek salad meanwhile. When it is solid r… https://t.co/h8wQIhhWXr— neo-cannolialist (@neo-cannolialist)1607292075.0
@thatfrood/Twitter
@thatfrood/Twitter
@thatfrood/Twitter
@thatfrood/Twitter
Then came the taste test.
"It's hard for me to tell you how King's Hand tasted. I dreamed it up in my dreams, so when I bit into it, it was very rewarding."
"I was like, oh my god, I'm eating my dream food. If another person were to bite into King's Hand, they could barf. I don't know."
People tweeted their varied responses, staring with this Twitter user who also brought their dream dish to life.
@MarisaElana @thatfrood I dreamt veggie burgers with shou puerh tea and made it the next day https://t.co/KYiIq2N9o9— ghost bird (@ghost bird)1607355208.0
@thatfrood You and Robert Pattinson need to team up and open a restaurant. Do it for the Influencers. https://t.co/hAxNHMS6Il— 🌙 (@🌙)1607305220.0
@wellshaken/Twitter
@thatfrood @___maryboy there is a filipino cake/dessert format called brazo de mercedes or “arm of our lady mercy”… https://t.co/CrVZ2BIULi— NIC☁️LE (@NIC☁️LE)1607293248.0
@thatfrood The peasants could only afford Kings Hand once a year, at Michaelmas. They had no expensive silicone so… https://t.co/YR9JlQewD9— Lady Kathryn de Blurb (@Lady Kathryn de Blurb)1607313948.0
@thatfrood This is a perfect example of a King's Hand. The crunchiness of the biscuit pairs wonderfully with the sl… https://t.co/FCNoVFL9oH— Worry Boy (@Worry Boy)1607305197.0
@thatfrood @r00fiedr1nker A great homemade King’s Hand. I haven’t had one in ages. Once I had a dream about a type… https://t.co/deqFnwdupd— George W Kush (@George W Kush)1607296880.0
@thatfrood dude i had to get in on this https://t.co/qD1U6X5sQA— andrewhussie (@andrewhussie)1607405991.0
@thatfrood Last night I dreamt I made “cucumber cookies.” They were batter dipped cucumber slices, fried, coated in… https://t.co/4YoguZKOaH— Tara VerMilyea (@Tara VerMilyea)1607352382.0
@thatfrood This is not helping the case for legal cannabis at all. https://t.co/No6DMKChNk— funky milk (@funky milk)1607313798.0
Arseny encouraged those who were curious about tasting King's Hand to attempt recreating it for themselves.
"I think if they want to know how King's Hand tastes, they should bake it themselves and tell me."
"Somebody actually did that, so I have one testimonial; they baked it and they said it's sh*t."
He got a taste of how online reactions are not always positive.
"I'm just constantly watching the thing refresh and seeing what everybody says. Some things are very mean. I think people need to think about the fact that I do see these."
One person did not mince words when they told him:
"This is disgusting."
Arseny continued:
"I don't know why people are reacting like, 'this is absolutely disgusting.' It's just cucumber and M&M cookie. They're not even blended together. The texture is fine. I gotta say, they're both crunchy."
Arseny's tweet of his "King's Hand" received over 167K likes.
While cucumbers and M&M's together is not a typical combo compatible for most palates, it apparently is a recipe for viral success.