It feels like an inevitable symptom of a fandom becoming very popular is that it will spawn its own cookbook. Over at Starburst Towers, we’ve looked at cookbooks for every franchise from Doctor Who to Fall Out and from Supernatural to Star Wars. So it’s about time that Critical Role, the current big thing, got its entry into the world of novelty cookbooks. The Exquisite Exandria Cookbook is a robust hardpack crammed with well-posed photos of food, some nice illustrations and quite a lot of recipes.
Food is a common feature in the Critical Role show. This makes quite a bit of sense; each episode is roughly five hours long, and the storytelling is improvised; the cast is going to get hungry. So, inevitably, the characters are going to be hungry. As such, fantasy foods have been invented on the spot, and some of the show’s more memorable scenes have revolved around food.
The book’s central gimmick is that it’s written by a small band of adventurers out to explore the world of Exandria, so the recipes are broadly presented by theme. This means it’s the sort of book you flip idly through while looking for cooking project ideas. The prose is as rich as some of the recipes, and they’ve taken pains to make this feel part of the world of Critical Role; this book is aimed squarely at franchise fans who like to cook rather than cooks looking for something geeky and novel.
Luckily, they’ve paid as much attention to the recipes as well as the lore of the show. It’s filled with some lovely ideas, and they’ve used the world of Exandria as a springboard to explore various ideas. There’s enough here for all levels of cooking skill. These are well thought-out, working recipes that just happen to be squeezed between entries entitled ‘Muffins of the Shadow Baker’. And on that note, of course, memorable moments from the show are included, from Black Moss Cupcakes (including Dust of Deliciousness) and Lord Eshteross’ legendary cookies. Alas, it does not show the reader how to summon a legion of magical cats to do the cooking for you; you’ll have to figure that bit out yourself.
The Exquisite Exandria Cookbook is a theme-heavy geeky cookbook and reminded us a lot of Dungeons & Dragons-themed Heroes Feast. If you liked that (or you just like food and Critical Role), then get this.
