A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook Author: Visit Amazon's Chelsea Monroe-Cassel Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0345534492 | Format: EPUB
A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook Description
Review
"The combination of headnotes and recipes [in A Feast of Ice and Fire] almost reaches the Elizabeth David level of 'put down this book, get out of bed and start cooking.' ... And with their adherence to the imagined geography of Westeros, the authors also might actually outdo Alice Waters in local and seasonal cooking." -Newsweek About the Author
Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and
Sariann Lehrer co-run Inn at the Crossroads, a popular food blog based on A Song of Ice and Fire. Both avid fans of the fantasy genre, they bring to the table a unique combination of artistry, historical knowledge, and love of food.
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- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: Bantam; 1st edition, edition (May 29, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 9780345534491
- ISBN-13: 978-0345534491
- ASIN: 0345534492
- Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.7 x 0.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
I unfortunately ordered The Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook: From Direwolf Ale to Auroch Stew - More Than 150 Recipes from Westeros and Beyond before this one (my incessant need to buy anything asoiaf-related), and it was a disappointent. Recipes that weren't related to the book, no pictures, no glossy pages....pretty much BORING. This, on the other hand, the "official cookbook." It was made by diehard blog fans and GRRM even gives you an introduction. I'm going to break the book down so that you can decide whether or not this book is for you.
INTRODUCTION - you get a short and sweet introduction from GRRM
LOOK/STYLE - this book is gorgeous, with glossy pages and tons of pictures. Looks beautiful!
STOCKING YOUR MEDIEVAL KITCHEN - this will tell you how to properly prepare your kitchen for these recipes (it's not too difficult or expensive) and common substitutes for medieval ingredients. For example, they tell you that aurochs should be replaced with beef or bison (aurochs are extinct). They also tell you how to make sauces that may be required for recipes (examples - roux, medieval pastry dough, medieval fish sauce).
RECIPES BY REGION - the book breaks down recipes for you by region. Pretty cool, huh? There's the Wall, the north, the south, King's Landing, Dorne, and across the Narrow Sea.
BOOK RELEVANCE - recipes are taken from meals straight from the book, and the book is even quoted.
DIFFICULTY - since a lot of these recipes are obviously medieval-esque, it's not always easy. There are lots of pies, soups, and wine, and not always the most common ingredients.
If you love to cook, and you're a fan of the George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, than you probably already know about the blog Inn at the Crossroads. If you've only watched the HBO series, Game of Thrones, then you've missed the wonderful descriptions of food in the series. A big part of Martin's world building is trying to make you experience things on a visceral level, which includes rich, detailed descriptions of meals that you can almost smell and taste.
The authors decided to try and cook their way through the books, and more than that, to do it as authentically as possible using modern ingredients and techniques. They also wanted to update the recipes for modern palettes as well and provide information about both versions. So that required carefully reading the series, then doing the research in old cookbooks, some of which were in other languages. As someone who has researched medieval recipes, I really admire their commitment and dedication. A lot of those recipes aren't exact, and a lot of the words for ingredients aren't commonly used anymore which requires even more research. They succeeded brilliantly.
I got my copy about two weeks ago, and have made a few recipes from it. They all turned out very well, the instructions and ingredients are accurate. A lot of the recipes use exotic ingredients that you may not want to try or that may be hard for you to acquire, the authors have included some recommended substitutions.
While the recipes are heavy on the meat, there are a lot of great side dishes as well including a buttery, cheesy turnip dish that is absolutely a favorite in my household, either the layered, baked version that's more authentic to the period or the mashed, creamy modern version.
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