Updated on June 1, 2015
Geek Cookbook – my list of favourites
I love cooking… a lot. When I am not at work , I’m mostly up to no good in games or crafts. But there are also times when I am in the kitchen cooking or baking and trying my hand at new recipes.
Luckily it seems I am quite proficient at cooking since family and friends have the tendency to gather when they hear I am working on something in the kitchen. And often I am asked to provide food and drinks for parties and little get togethers. One of my experiments are the so called Bailey’s brownies which seems to be quite the hit. No matter how many batches I make, I always have too few.
Lately there have been some ideas for little parties for when the summer weather is less than sunny. And bsides the usual bbq partes and pub outings there were some other ideas being thrown around. With things like a Warframe bootcamp, Diablo 3 – PS4 grindfests, GoT viewing parties and more.
So why not combine my love for fun and cooking? I plan to use this opportunity to try my hand at some new (matching) recipes
Since I still have some coupons for books I decided to look around and see if there is a new geek cookbook that I can add to my collection. And the following titles I either own or have made it to my list of books that I want to have.
The Game of Thrones Cookbook
If you read the books you know there are a lot of foods and drinks being mentioned throughout the chapters. And I have to admit some of the names and descriptions sounded extremely tasty.
Two fellow fans thought the same and so Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer tried to replicate a number of dishes from the books. Initially they did this through their own website on Inn at the Crossroads. After a while they let the author George R.R. Martin know that they had a site with foods inspired by his books. The story goes he liked the site and mentioned it to his publishers. And voila! now here we are with an official cookbook.
And I have to say the book looks amazing and many of the foods and drinks mentioned are things I want to try out. And the fun thing is that with choosing for the different places in GoT they have the seasons covered. The recipes feature food from the North which seems perfect for winter, while the Dorne recipes seem a sure choice for the summer.
I am looking forward to try some of the recipes out and I have an idea that the “Beef and Bacon Pie” will be a popular one. Although I am more of an “Baked Apples” kinda girl myself. I will definitely order this book soon.
Available on bol.com for €26,99 / amazon.com for $23,49 /amazon.co.uk for £ 20,42
Wookiee Cookies: A Star Wars Cookbook
This Star Wars cookbook has been around for awhile and is pretty popular among fans. And since many of my friends are big fans this seems to be the perfect Geek Cookbook for me.
Inside the book you will find 27 recipes with titles like Hoth chocolate, Bossk Brownies, Han Burgers and much more. It was intended for a younger audience who could try their hand at cooking meaning the food in it is relatively easy to make. So if you expected an in-depth book with actual recipes based on food and drinks from the expanded universe, you will be disappointed. But other than that it will contain plenty of recipes which will do well on a Star Wars movie night or a RPG party.
As for the recipe to finally make a proper Tatooine Sunrise or Dark Side Daiquiri? I’ll have to keep looking and experimenting.
Available on bol.com for €20,99 / amazon.com for $4,02 /amazon.co.uk for £ 12,22
Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook – Discworld
‘They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach which just goes to show they’re as confused about anatomy as they gen’rally are about everything else, unless they’re talking about instructions on how to stab him, in which case a better way is up and under the ribcage. Anyway, we do not live in a perfect world and it is foresighted and useful for a young woman to become proficient in those arts which will keep a weak-willed man from straying. Learning to cook is also useful.’
Okay, I already have this one. But truth to be told, if you are a fan of the Discworld series you have to have this book.
While not a real cooking book perse, it has recipes, words of wisdom and lessons in proper etiquette. The recipe titles and descriptions are hilarious. Strawberry wobbler, spotted dick, toffeerat onna stick and much more. Despite this all of the recipes work and are relatively easy to make and taste quite nice.
Nanny has some comments to share in the books and some of the popular characters (Rincewind, the Patrician, the Librarian etc.) share their own favourite recipes in the book.
As a fan this is a fun book to read, because it combines the Discworld charm with laughter and some good food. Like always this book has been beautifully illustrated by Paul Kidby.
Available on bol.com for €16,99 / amazon.com for $15,61 /amazon.co.uk for £ 8,79
Kitchen Overlord’s Illustrated Geek Cookbook
This cookbook was made after an successful kickstarter project back in 2014. The author has written a few other (unofficial) cookbooks like a Doctor Who book and a Hobbit cookbook. But in the Kitchen Overlord multiple fandoms are being represented. You have Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, Battlestar Galactica, Dune and even Monty Python so a solid choice is there for most geeks. The book is also beautifully illustrated and the recipes are very easy to read, understand and use. Some of the recipes do look like a bit of clever presentation of standard dishes. But other recipes do require more work and can be easily adjusted with herbs and spices to your own taste.
I love that it spans so many areas and era’s in fandom. This is a true Geek Cookbook for me.
The only downside is that so far I have only seen it available on Amazon.com for $24,95. This means that there are chances that for foreign countries they book will be more expensive thanks to custom charges. So be warned if you live outside the US, some countries require import charges which can make the book almost twice as expensive.
Still I might try and get it so I can make that rum punch for a party.
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