FORMAT: HARDCOVER | RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 27TH
The global phenomena that is Dungeons and Dragons has movies, cartoon series and even Funko Pops based on it, so it’s perhaps inevitable that the brand would have its own cookbook. Heroes Feast, The Official D&D Cookbook draws from full history of the game to give you a lovely book full of fun cooking projects to try and taste.
In some ways it’s much like every novelty cookbook; it’s got some pre-amble that ties all the recipes in the book to a common theme and then it’s filled with many photos of sumptuous looking food. The food photography is excellent and the recipes well described. The art is very nice, which is what we expect from a D&D book. The whole thing is well-researched and appropiately atmospheric
The book is divided into theme; rather than ‘Brekfast’ and ‘Lunch’, each chapter is D&D race’s cuisine of choice. Humans apparently go for filling, wholesome tavern fair, Elves choose stuff with subtle flavours, Dwarves have heavy foods and Halfling have tasty and sweet choices. We also get a chapter on Uncommon Cuisine and Elixirs and Ales section.
Of course, some of the names of these dishes are changed; Burgers become ‘Tavern Steak’, pasties become ‘hand pies’ etc. Some of the recipes may make you giggle if you’re deep into various bits of D&D lore. Avernus’s own Abyssal Chicken gets it’s own entry. We get Evermead, Goodberry smoothies and Arkhan the Cruel’s recipe for chilli (Halfling flesh optional).
They are some mis-steps. The recipe for Raistlin’s tea is lovely but hardly the bitter brew described in the books. The D&D monster ‘the black pudding’ gets it’s own section but it’s a sweet dish (rather than a blood pudding) and anyone expecting a gelatinous cube will be disappointed. This is not a book about making novelty foods (so no ‘pickled Beholder eyes), rather it’s good food given a thematically appropiate spin. The delayed blast fireball is a cocktail that also lives up to the name.
They are some nods to using food as a prop for games and a way to generate stories and fun, but this is mostly a very pretty book designed to inspire you in the kitchen. We’d loved to see some of this expanded in the future; maybe more cocktails and mocktails in the next one? A great novelty gift for the gamer who has everything and still hungers for more.
