I’m so excited to share the first sneak peek at the new GoT cookbook, due out this spring.
The first volume, A Feast of Ice and Fire, is what set me on this strange and wonderful path all those years ago, so it was such a complete delight to be invited back into the kitchens and halls of Westeros.
This cookbook differs from the first in a few key ways:
– First off, it’s in-world! That means it’s written in the voice of a maester of the Citadel. Maester Alton is a food enthusiast who has traveled extensively to document and personally taste-test (a real hardship, I’m sure) a wide array of dishes from Westeros and far beyond.
– Unlike the first cookbook, there is no side-by-side comparison between a historical and modern dish. However, for the historical food enthusiasts among you, rest assured that I’ll be putting up a bibliography on the blog with citations to account for all the historical recipes I snuck in anyway. ;)
– The photography is GORGEOUS. It was done in Croatia (where they filmed the King’s Landing scenes!) by Lauren Volo. I’m also completely smitten with Brian Reedy‘s woodcuts, which I want to hang in my new kitchen.
– The recipes are all new, apart from a few that appeared previously on either the blog or in the Sands of Dorne ebook. Many of them are canon, but I was also allowed off-book, to add my own dishes that I thought really fit into the world. I cannot describe the pleasure of returning to my deep research dives into historical cookery books, but I hope my delight comes across in the finished recipes!
Check out the cookbook page on the blog for more info, and please consider preordering!
So excited for another culinary tour of Westeros and beyond!! – Alex, Phoebe’s friend
What a long strange trip it’s been. I remember first finding your blog in late 2011 (I think) after the first season had aired. It was my 4th year of med school and I was finally enjoying a little more free time after three years of cramming and sleeping in call rooms. The timing was perfect – I had this cool new show to watch, I could get back to the kitchen after years away, and (finally!) was able to take some carefully hoarded vacation time to attend Gulf Wars in the spring.
I bought the first book the instant it came out, and it quickly became almost as well read as some of my textbooks. It’s falling apart now, with margin notes, and post-it’s all over the place.
Many of those recipes found use when I was feast steward at our Baronial Yule feast in 2015. They had told me to cook for 150, so I grabbed a few friends and we did. Then there was bad weather, and we only had 75 people attend. Never was there an SCA feast where people left so stuffed!
It’s been a lot of years, and a lot of events large and small, and (unbeknownst to you) your work has been a big part of it. So, many thanks from this 14th century Franciscan. I look forward to getting the new book, and starting to build another round of favorite recipes.
Hooray! I love the first cookbook and am excited for this one!
I have ordered the book and am anxiously awaiting it’s arrival.