The Video Game Chef Cookbook authored by Cassandra Reeder and published by Epic Ink is a very creative cookbook to say the least. I was pleasantly surprised to see a cookbook inspired by video games available for ARC review, since I love unique and themed cookbooks, and I’ve got to say it was a great cookbook to get ideas for dinner from if you want to try out some interesting recipes.
This cookbook’s mission is to bring your favorite video games food to life which it does a very good job at. While some of the food isn’t always exactly from the video game, it is inspired by the video game which is just as great being as some video games just don’t show any food whatsoever. The author did what they could with what they had, and they did a phenomenal job at it.
Thoughts:
° The cover is nice, unique looking, and I was expecting more color from the rest of the cookbook like the cover, but the beginning and end were all black with white and green text. And the rest of the pages were all white with black and green text. And some boxes with information were green or black. I don’t think this is a very big deal though as the coloring didn’t distract from the recipe or the illustrations. And simple is sometimes better.
° Now onto the controversial subject in the other reviews for this cookbook: the illustrations. I know that real food pictures would have been better to know what it would look like, but since this is a themed cookbook I don’t really mind. At least there are some form of pictures, some cookbooks don’t even have those. And the recipe can look like whatever you want because there’s no fixed real image. Just have fun with it! And the illustrations, they are very beautiful, and they look like their coming from the actual video game. The only thing that did bother me about this is that there weren’t illustrations for every single recipe so you had to guess what those recipes looked like on your own.
° There are 76 recipes in the cookbook, each recipe inspired by a different video game which I think is pretty impressive.
Some video games listed: Dishonored, Don’t Starve, Final Fantasy XIV, Destiny, Far Cry 4, Life Is Strange, Undertale, Dragon Age: Inquisition, etc.
° Some humourous quotes from the cookbook:
“The logic of video games dont always make sense. In the real world, it’s not a good idea to eat a roast chicken that came out of a trash can, no matter how many pipe-related injuries you’ve sustained.” (Page 8)
“It can be humorous, like a strange taco in a glovebox.” (Page 8)
“It can even break the fourth wall, like a giant anthropomorphic cheeseburger appearing in the middle of the California desert.” (Page 8)
° I thought some good additions were:
The hints – tips, suggestions, or supplementary information that’ll help you with recipes and ingredients (such as what they are, what they taste like, etc.)
The easy mode tips – how to make a recipe easier and quicker to make (such as using boxed cake mix instead of making a cake from scratch, using a premade spice rub, etc.)
The mods – suggestions for alternative ingredients or cooking methods (such as how to make a recipe vegan, turn something a different color, etc.)
The difficulty levels for the recipes: Beginner, Normal, and Expert
The information blurbs about the recipe – the blurbs tell you about the recipe, where it came from, why it was chosen for this game, etc.
° There are a lot of ingredients for some of the recipes, but I’m sure it would be alright to omit some ingredients if you didn’t mind. And if a recipe seems too spicy, add less spices. Or vice versa if there’s not enough spice.
This was a fun-filled gaming inspired cookbook, and if I’m ever wanting to make a unique meal for fun or I’m having a game themed dinner night I’ll be sure to try out a recipe or two from this cookbook.
I give the cookbook 4.2/5 controllers 🎮
* I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily *
Link: Amazon US (Hardcover)
