Fics like Astronaut Food

Orin Mesova was supposed to have a simple job. Cook food for aliens once, then never interact with aliens ever again. Then, his food made them cry. And howl. And scream in euphoria. And now they want him to keep cooking for them. Orin and his coworkers whisk eggs, chop veggies, and season meat for their new unusual benefactors, desperately serving as humanity's first intergalactic impression. Along the way, they'll learn more about themselves, their new universal neighbors, and the nature of food and culture on our world and beyond. Every meal they cook and every story they coax out of an alien paints part of a portrait of interplanetary politicking and scheming, with food serving as the only key capable of untangling this centuries-old web. And, somewhere along the way, they might form bonds with some of these aliens. Unapproved, government-prohibited bonds.