During Encounter at Farpoint they said they tied the replicators in with the environment that some stuff is "real" and not just holographic... But if Riker wasn't using the magic of holography/replicators in These were the Voyages... to make all that food with the 22nd century crew... He then would have spent hours cooking just have those few brief conversations. It just seems weird that Holograms would eat real food, as much as that Riker would eat holographic food.... Did he take left overs for the crew of Enterprise D and Admiral Pressman while they were in a treasure hunt race with the Romulans?
Obviously, if the program were set up for the holo-characters to eat, the food would not be real. As for the amount of time Riker was obviously spendin' on the holodeck durin' the events of TNG 'Pegasus', that's really the least of ENT 'These are the Voyages...' problems.
Maybe the holo-food got recycled when the holographic characters eat? And I have to disagree just slightly with od0. Of course the TNG crew runs to the holodeck in times of crisis. Didn't you see the one where Geordi hooks up with the holographic starship designer while the ship is facing imminent disaster?
Yeah, but that wasa full episode on its own. Take TNG 'Pegasus', Riker was up nights worryin' about Pressman & the ship, coordinatin' the search with Data, takin' stress relief work out sessions with Worf, visitin' sickbay for injuries sustained from workin' out with Worf, and meetin' with Picard about the classified mutiny aboard the Pegasus. Now, add in all the holodeck time he spent in ENT 'These are the Voyages...' and it just doesn't make sense. At least Geordi's holodeck time was directly related to the crisis at hand, while Riker's just seemed to be one more damn thing for him to be doin' while his hands were already full, while also bein' the one thing that would be the easiest thing to not do while he was doin' everything else.
^I know. I was kidding. Bermaga happen to see one holodeck crisis episode and think that everyone runs to the holodeck in an emergency. Still, one of the nice things about ENT was that they weren't relying on holodeck stories (no comment on "Unexpected") but of course they forget that for TATV.
Maintained texture consistency and flavour... Riker was kneading. it had to be real food. He was cooking! otherwise all the reactions would have to be faked by the computure mimicking what cooking is supposed to look like. I'm just curious about what happened to the food as it was eaten by the holographic character who might not be equipped with digestive systems, stomaches or poop shoots... Unless they are?