Chelsea Monroe-Cassel

Anyone who has spent a lot of time in the fantasy video-game world of The Elder Scrolls will have wondered what some of the food and drink on the tables of Balmora, Skingrad and Whiterun would actually taste like in real life. How do kwama eggs taste, or horker meat? Why are slaughterfish and mudcrabs staples of a Tamriel diet? What about the meads served at Jorrvaskr in Whiterun or the Thirsk mead hall in Solstheim? What is it about skooma and moon-sugar that turns Khajiit from pussycats show more into ravenous tigers? How did the meme-ascendant sweetroll become so ubiquitous as an ice-breaker between the guards of Whiterun and milk-drinkers? For my part, I've always wanted to know what snowberries might taste like when plucked fresh from the snow-swept peaks at the Throat of the World.

Of course, in the real world you can't raid a Morrowind kwama mine to gather some eggs from the queen (picking up an unlikely ebony cuirass from a sunken chest along the way), or scout along the northern coast near Winterhold to pick off horkers as they lounge in the icy surf of the Sea of Ghosts. But what Chelsea Monroe-Cassel has done in her official Elder Scrolls cookbook is take inspiration from Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim (mainly Skyrim) to create real-world facsimiles, many of which look appealingly simple even to a lazy n'wah like myself, who is as hopeless in the kitchen as Lydia is when she's stood in a doorway.

From simple recipes like braided bread and mudcrab dip to snowberry crostatas, kwama egg quiche and the ambitious horker loaf, this is an impressive achievement by Monroe-Cassel. There are of course a lot of obvious, regular substitutes for the fantastical meals (normal crab meat for mudcrab, fish for slaughterfish, eggs for kwama eggs, etc.) but some, like skooma and the horker loaf, require an effort of creativity that Monroe-Cassel meets surprisingly well. There are, naturally, some minor disappointments: for all the varieties of mead, I still don't know how sujamma from Morrowind tastes, whilst snowberries, which I always imagined as tasting ice-cold but with a zesty kick, are basically just cranberries.

That said, the book manages to be impressively diverse whilst remaining accessible and reasonable (thankfully, skeever recipes are absent, and eating a Daedra heart might be going too far, had it been included). It's not my area, but I don't see why this book couldn't be a respectable addition to the recipe-book genre, fantasy trappings or not. (I'm still awaiting the mead-hall start-up in the restaurant industry.) With this storied tome in front of you, and mortar and pestle to hand, there's plenty of opportunity to craft Restore Health and Regenerate Stamina concoctions. Fortify Magicka effects are unconfirmed, perhaps for legal reasons. show less

Our family recently hosted a potluck medieval/Game-of-Thrones themed party. Of all the food that was shared, the following came from this cookbook: lemonsweet, beer bread, leek soup, Sansa salad, buttered beets, pork pie, honey cakes, and fruit tarts. All the items were delicious, but most of the guests chose the pork pie, made with ginger, dried currants and dates, as their favourite.

The cookbook was well laid out, with photographs of all the dishes (even the honey-spiced locusts, which we show more left off our menu). The recipes were easy to follow, and there were both medieval and modern versions for many of the dishes. I really enjoyed the cooking and the meal itself, especially the fact that it involved mostly natural unprocessed ingredients. However, the amount of butter and egg yolks that went into the meal was mind-boggling. This is not the type of food to indulge in on a regular basis, but it made for a fun evening.

This cookbook is perhaps not the one to choose if you’re mainly interested in authentic Medieval cookery, but if you’re a Game of Thrones fan, you’ll probably enjoy it very much. It includes an introduction from G. R. R. Martin himself and many quotes from his books. show less

Plomeek Soup from the original series, from Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and from Enterprise? Greenbread from Deep Space Nine? Quadrotriticale Salad from the original series and from Discovery? Uttaberry Cruffins from The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine? Tarvokian Powder Cake from The Next Generation?

What will make your perfect meal from the STAR TREK universe?

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Here readers will find recipes for Sauces and Garnishes; Sides, Starters, and Snacks; Soups and Stews; Breads and Baked show more Goods; Mains; Desserts; and Drinks. Several menu suggestions are also included.

Although primarily designed to be a cookbook . . . with easy-to-follow instructions and [for the most part] ingredients likely to be included in a well-stocked pantry . . . the true highlight of this book is the inclusion of the culture from which the dish originates and a brief explanation regarding the development of the dish or its importance to the culture or if there are specific times when the dish is served. Fascinating reading, indeed.

Each recipe is accompanied by a list of ingredients, suggestions for diplomatic plating, what the dish pairs well with, cooking time, other times specific to the recipe, time needed for preparation, difficulty, and a full-page, full-color photograph of the dish.

Although a Contents listing provides page numbers for each category of recipes, readers may find the absence of an index of recipes to be rather frustrating when they find themselves relegated to thumbing through the book page by page to find a specific recipe.

Nevertheless, this book promises many hours of happy cooking and delicious eating!

Recommended. show less

Even if you're not a fan of the books/show the recipes in here are fantastic. I like the fact that they've given you both a historical version and the modern version of the recipes. I've found quite a few recipes to add to my collection and those who are more adventurous (from across the Narrow Sea with snake and locust) or those who's husband won't die if he eats fish (King's landing has a good amount of seafood recipes) will probably pick up even more. Don't forget the lemoncakes!

Recipes show more are arranged by what regions you would commonly find them in the realm, not by type of dish, which was fine with me. Especially since there's an index, a table of contents, and the beginning of each section tells exactly what's there. And for those who have trouble designing their own menus, the kind authors have done that for you. And even if you choose to ignore the prepared menus, they gave suggested pairings with each recipe. They've also included a little snippet from the books regarding each recipe.

Very happy with this book. show less