Object

Betazoid Salad

A colorful Betazoid salad presented in a shallow serving bowl: bright, jewel-toned vegetables and unfamiliar Betazoid garnishes tossed in a glossy, aromatic dressing that gives off a faint floral-sweet scent. Modest in portion, the salad glitters under candlelight and bears the careful, ceremonial placement marks of a formal offering. MISTER HOMN sets the dish before the table with precise, deferential motion; MRS. TROI lifts a bite and tastes it, while other diners react to the intimacy and ritual surrounding the plate.

2 appearances

Purpose

Served and consumed as an edible dish during a Betazoid meal ceremony; delivered to diners to be eaten as part of the dinner service.

Significance

Functions as a cultural prop that concretizes Lwaxana's ritualized advance and amplifies the telepathic, intimate atmosphere. The salad's ceremonial presentation heightens Picard's social discomfort, provides a tactile focal point for the ambush, and helps set up subsequent comic and diplomatic maneuvers (the deployment of Data as a diversion).

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S2E19 · Manhunt

Candlelit Ambush — Lwaxana's Betazoid Advance

The colorful Betazoid salad is ceremonially presented and eaten; Mrs. Troi takes a bite as part of her ritual, prompting Homn to strike the chime — the salad thereby functions as the trigger for the ceremonial sound that alters the scene's rhythm.

Before: Set in a shallow serving bowl on the table, pristine under candlelight ready to be sampled.

After: Partially eaten after Mrs. Troi tastes it; remains on the table as part of the meal and ritual sequence.

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S2E19 · Manhunt

Deploying Data: A Diplomatic Diversion

The Betazoid salad is ceremonially presented and consumed by Mrs. Troi; her taking a bite triggers the ritual cue (the chime strike) that heightens the intimacy and provides Picard an opening to comment and then summon Data. The salad functions as both food and a staged prop for ritualized interaction.

Before: Placed on the small table by Mister Homn in a shallow serving bowl, glittering under candlelight and awaiting tasting.

After: Partially eaten; used as the ostensible reason for the ritual chime and the ensuing conversation about cultural dining customs.

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