I am sure this has been pointed out before. BUT I’M DOING IT AGAIN.

Watched “Rapture” again and realized the locusts are the Dominion, which hovered over Bajor, but did not attack on account of the peace treaty. Which Bajor wouldn’t have been allowed to sign if they were already in the Federation. Then the locusts went to Cardassia to do what locusts do.

cardassiangoodreads:

One of the things in the fandom that frustrates me about people trying to ignore that Kira had some legitimately illiberal beliefs (like her support of the d'jarras caste system, initially preferring the conservative fundamentalist Winn for Kai over a moderate like Bareil) is that I think the fact that Bajoran politics and religion include some genuinely yikes stuff is what makes the way early DS9 handles its postcolonial story so good. It’s really easy to make the colonized culture (Bajor) all good and the colonizer culture (Cardassia) all bad – but it does neither of those things, there are negative things about traditional Bajoran society and culture, and positive things about Cardassian society and culture. Not only does that kind of grappling with “what do we keep, what can we leave behind” make for a much more honest portrayal of a formerly-colonized nation rebuilding after independence, but it also challenges the audience to have more genuine support for anti-colonialism. Because in most real-world cases, the original culture wasn’t perfect – no culture is – but still, colonialism is bad, the things colonizers do are human rights abuses, and every people deserves the right to self-determination anyway. This is a thing that comes up in a lot of genuine postcolonial literature (especially in terms of women’s rights and patriarchy – Season of Migration to the North and high school literature class favorite Things Fall Apart come to mind as books that are anti-colonialist but still often show the colonized culture [Sudan and Nigeria respectively] in an unfavorable light in that way) and it’s cool to see an American TV show from the 1990s grappling with these ideas in a sci-fi context. I complain a lot about DS9’s politics especially re: race and pluralism but I think this aspect of it is pretty good, one of the things that most drew me into the show initially, and not remarked-upon enough. And despite being a 30-year-old show it’s a particularly salient message I think for a lot of modern fandom social justice culture, where people too often conflate being oppressed with being virtuous – when in fact, whether someone is a good person or believes in good things is irrelevant as to whether they deserve human rights of the kind that Bajorans were denied during the Cardassian occupation. And you should have to seriously consider ideologies that differ from your own in order to truly reject them, which DS9 does more than any other Trek show with its non-Federation alien characters in general.

foodreplicator:

Now we’re talking classic Star Trek cooking. Hasperat is, of course, that well-known Bajoran dish which is said to be spicy enough to make your eyes water. It is mentioned several times in both Next Generation and Deep Space Nine and seems to be a loved Bajoran dish. Apparently the key to strong hasperat is the brine it is pickled in before serving.

You’ll see lots of versions of hasperat online - it is one of the easier Star Trek recipes to replicate as it is essentially vegetables rolled up in a tortilla. However, most of them derive their spiciness from the addition of hot sauce or fresh chilies - not a brine. I wanted to make a brined version to experience the full eye-watering potential of the hasperat. This means you need to start a week in advance of when you want to serve it, but I think the results make it worth the effort. 

(Read more about hasperat at Memory Alpha)

Replicate your own
(Makes ¼ pickled cabbage, which is enough for about 6-8 wraps)

You will need to start a week in advance.

¼ white cabbage
1 litre water
250ml vinegar
1 teaspoon of sugar
125g salt
3-4 hot chillies to taste, chopped fine (depends on how spicy you want it)
Juice of one lemon

Start by preparing the brine. Add the water, vinegar, sugar and salt to a saucepan, and heat until boiling. Stir until the salt is dissolved and add the chiles and lemon juice. Leave to cool.

While the brine is cooling, prepare the cabbage. Remove the heart or woody stick of the cabbage, and pull the leaves apart, leaving them whole if possible. Leaving them whole will make it easier to layer them in the tortilla at the end.

Place the brine in a bowl or jar in which the cabbage leaves will fit, and add the cabbage, making sure all leaves are completely submerged in the brine. You might need to put a small plate or saucer over the cabbage to ensure it stays fully submerged. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 days, up to 7 or 8 days. After 4 days, taste the cabbage. If it is not strong enough, return it to the brine. Keep tasting it until it is at your desired level of spiciness and pickled-ness.

To assemble the hasperat
6-8 flour tortillas (buy some or make your own - recipe below)
The completed pickled cabbage leaves
Baby spinach leaves
Any other additions of your choice - suggestions: shredded carrot, more chillies, avocado, capsicum.

Lay the tortilla out flat. Add a layer of baby spinach leaves on the tortilla. Take a leaf or two of the pickled cabbage and lay them flat on top of the spinach. Add any other vegetables or toppings you wish, and then roll the tortilla up by folding in the sides and rolling it up. Cut it into two pieces and experience the true tongue-searing goodness of hasperat.

Flour tortilla recipe
(Makes 6-8 tortillas)

2 cups plain flour
1 pinch of salt
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup boiling water

Combine the flour and the salt, and then mix in the oil. You may need to rub the flour between your hands until the oil is integrated and the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Add the boiling water a little bit at a time, stirring each time, until a rough ball is formed.

When the dough has come together into a ball (you may not have needed all the water), move it to a floured surface and knead for a few minutes, until it is soft and elastic.

Put the dough back in its bowl and cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest for 20-30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 6-8 balls and roll out on a floured surface until they are fairly thin (you could also use a tortilla press or similar).

Cook them one at a time in a heavy frying pan (you do not need to add any oil or butter to the frying pan). When the top starts to bubble, flip the tortilla over and cook the other side.

As each tortilla is cooked, remove it to a plate and make a stack of them. These can be covered with a clean tea towel to keep them warm and pliable.

Notes

• The brine used for the cabbage can be used to pickle any vegetables of your choice, and you can also add whatever spices you like to flavour it
• If your cabbage is too salty after being in the brine, soak it for a couple of hours in cold water
• The flour tortillas could also be made using butter instead of the vegetable oil if you prefer

cowboyworf:

i keep seeing posts about “bajorans should have done x,y,z after the occupation instead of what they did” or “they had so much political infighting for no reason” or “they should have been grateful they had the option to stay in their homes instead of resorting to terrorist acts” and its like. you know they were victims of occupation, genocide, concentration camps? you know they were tortured and murdered and enslaved? you know that rebuilding a government perfectly after not having one due to occupation is a concept not based in reality? you know that “getting to keep your homes” isn’t some noble act, especially when they still have to interact with their RECENT oppressors, most of which believe the occupation was justified and think your people deserved to die in masses?

these people watched their families, their whole families, get slaughtered and we’re expecting them to just get over it and play nice ??

like i get it, cardassian women are pretty and garak is just a simple tailor or whatever, but maybe we should acknowledge that dealing with a life of collective trauma, for both you and all of your people, isn’t exactly going to disappear overnight ????