A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook

by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel, Sariann Lehrer, George R.R. Martin (Foreword)

Ever wonder what it’s like to attend a feast at Winterfell? Wish you could split a lemon cake with Sansa Stark, scarf down a pork pie with the Night’s Watch, or indulge in honeyfingers with Daenerys Targaryen? George R. R. Martin’s bestselling saga A Song of Ice and Fire and the runaway hit HBO series Game of Thrones are renowned for bringing Westeros’s sights and sounds to vivid life. But one important ingredient has always been missing: the mouthwatering dishes that form the backdrop of this extraordinary world. Now, fresh out of the series that redefined fantasy, comes the cookbook that may just redefine dinner . . . and lunch, and breakfast.

A passion project from superfans and amateur chefs Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer—and endorsed by George R. R. Martin himself—A Feast of Ice and Fire lovingly replicates a stunning range of cuisines from across the Seven Kingdoms and beyond. From the sumptuous delicacies enjoyed in the halls of power at King’s Landing, to the warm and smoky comfort foods of the frozen North, to the rich, exotic fare of the mysterious lands east of Westeros, there’s a flavor for every palate, and a treat for every chef.

These easy-to-follow recipes have been refined for modern cooking techniques, but adventurous eaters can also attempt the authentic medieval meals that inspired them. The authors have also suggested substitutions for some of the more fantastical ingredients, so you won’t have to stock your kitchen with camel, live doves, or dragon eggs to create meals fit for a king (or a khaleesi). In all, A Feast of Ice and Fire contains more than 100 recipes, divided by region:

• The Wall: Rack of Lamb and Herbs; Pork Pie; Mutton in Onion-Ale Broth; Mulled Wine; Pease Porridge
• The North: Beef and Bacon Pie; Honeyed Chicken; Aurochs with Roasted Leeks; Baked Apples
• The South: Cream Swans; Trout Wrapped in Bacon; Stewed Rabbit; Sister’s Stew; Blueberry Tarts
• King’s Landing: Lemon Cakes; Quails Drowned in Butter; Almond Crusted Trout; Bowls of Brown; Iced Milk with Honey
• Dorne: Stuffed Grape Leaves; Duck with Lemons; Chickpea Paste
• Across the Narrow Sea: Biscuits and Bacon; Tyroshi Honeyfingers; Wintercakes; Honey-Spiced Locusts

There’s even a guide to dining and entertaining in the style of the Seven Kingdoms. Exhaustively researched and reverently detailed, accompanied by passages from all five books in the series and full-color photographs guaranteed to whet your appetite, this is the companion to the blockbuster phenomenon that millions of stomachs have been growling for. And remember, winter is coming—so don’t be afraid to put on a few pounds.

Includes a Foreword by George R. R. Martin

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference, Culinary, Food and Drink

220 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Chelsea grew up in rural New York, surrounded by cows and an appreciation for small farms. However, her real love affair with food began during a year abroad in Turkey, which sparked a passion for both food and history, as well as leading her to a degree in Classical History. A lifelong artist and fantasy fan, she greatly enjoys foreign languages, treasure hunting, and all things honey. She currently lives in Boston with several other cooks, and even more eaters, including one very happy Manx Cat.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

dude, are you still plugging that literary thanksgiving thing you did? it's time to move on.

argh, i know, but i'm so slow to review books lately, and if i'm gonna put pictures in these cookbook reviews, it only makes sense to provide some context, so cut me some slack, yeah? here, i'll put the link in a spoiler-tag so it is less obnoxious http://bloggycomelately.com/literary-... and there's only one more book to go after this so ppbblltt.

anyway - game of thrones.



so, this is the official game of thrones cookbook. there is also an unofficial one - The Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook: From Direwolf Ale to Auroch Stew - More Than 150 Recipes from Westeros and Beyond , and they both look really good. i should probably buy copies of both of these because i was only able to make five little-bitty recipes because of project limitations and having to include other books like it's some kind of grade-school birthday party, but there were bunches more i would have made, if the project had been "make a kickass game of thrones thanksgiving." because having big special occasion feasts in game of thrones always goes SO WELL.

but so here's what i made. none of them were complicated recipes and they were mostly just little nibbles, but i bookmarked a bunch of heartier recipes for future makings and if anyone's looking for a caterer for their red wedding feast, look no further!

by region

the wall -iced blueberries in sweet cream





like i said, not the most complicated recipes. but honestly, if this is what they are eating up on the wall, i could throw on a black hoodie and hang out up there. and seriously - the jon snow hoodie is so cute:

you got your antioxidants and your phytonutrients and your sweetish creamy sauce. and served up in my wooden mortar? super stylish.

the north - buttered beets





if you like beets, you will like these. it's literally just beets, butter, parsley, and balsamic. so, they are super-delicious because all of those ingredients are super-delicious, and if you eat enough of them you can totally turn your teeth red for a little while and pretend to be a direwolf. not that i did that. much.

the south - honey biscuits





these really surprised me. i didn't think they were going to be tasty at all, since they were very unspectacular in the ingredients department. i was pretty much convinced they were gonna taste like communion wafers (or satellite wafers, if we're being secular)



but they were pretty damn good! they aren't gonna be the star of the bake-off or anything, but they have a really nice mild flavor of honey and cinnamon and … dough… and they are good both warm and room temperature. sean gaffled these up very quickly, so it's a good thing the recipe made so so many.

king's landing - lemon cakes





these were greg's favorites, not surprisingly. here's what's weird about these cakes that let's be honest, are totally cookies. they are fantastic when you eat them all warm and freshly glazed and you're like I WANNA LIVE IN KING'S LANDING TOO PLEASE but then you have to go and make like seven other dishes and when you come back and try to snack on another one it has hardened into a lemon-flavored rock. and you just shrug and say "oh well, at least it will photograph well" and sean doesn't care - he's just crunching away on them in the corner with his teeth splintering but then the next day they are back to nice soft cookie texture. i don't know what mystical properties i accidentally baked into these cakes cookies, but there's your warning. which makes sense, because everything that comes from king's landing should also come with a warning.

also from king's landing - iced milk with honey





strangely delicious for basically just being honey and milk and cinnamon and octopus-shaped ice cubes. i couldn't stop drinking it until my body finally sighed and started banging the pipes with its LACTOSE INTOLERANT DOWN HERE THX! rudeness.

and those are the foods i made from that book. i will try more recipes after holiday baking tornado passes.

brace yourself. dinner is coming.

come to my blog!

[Nermin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fellow GoT fans, gather around! George RR Martin has an embarrasing admission to make! (Remember GRRM? the guy who filled his books with pages and pages of information about feasts, meals, cooking, drinks, ale, wine and so on?) The thing is.. He cannot cook!!! One would've thought he had been a chef in a 5 star restaurant before writing A Song of Ice and Fire, but no! You guys are all wrong! Of course he goes and explains he is not entirely culinarily challenged, he can still make breakfasts, fry some bacon and stuff, but the damage is done! You can't cook Georgie! But then how can he devote those countless pages to the descriptions of meals? The answer is simple! He knows how to eat and he loves it! He's eaten most of the meals he had described in his books! I admit, before reading this book I was often impatient and bored with Martin's long and detailed descriptions of food in the series. But after reading this cookbook, I see it all in a whole new light!

This book is mouthwatering! I had a hard time controlling my drooling while I was reading this, I mean how can I not? Look at this, for Christ's sake!!!



Anyway, back to the book..

Have you guys ever wondered why Dornish are so fiery, hot-tempered and wild? Wonder no more ! Here's why, because they eat grilled snake and fire peppers first thing in the morning!












This is basically what our brave brothers at the Night's watch are eating! mmm, yummy, these would make anyone want to take the black but wait until you've seen the rest!!!


These are the typical meals in the Winterfell! No wonder Ned was so reluctant to live that place!









And yet another reason to despise Ironborns!!

Ugh



Want to know what they are eating up at Highgarden? Here's what:





These meals are enough to make anyone gay!:D

And finally, here's a recipe for those geeks who want to cook Arya's snitched tart(as shown in the picture below) in their 21th century, high-tech kitchens!



"Take Wyn, & putte in a potte, an clarifyd hony, an Saunderys, pepir, Safroun, Clowes, Maces, & Quybibys, & mynced Datys, Pynys and Roysonys of Corauns, & a lytil Vynegre, & sethe it on þe fyre; an sethe fygys in Wyne, & grynde hem, & draw hem þorw a straynoure, & caste þer-to, an lete hem boyle alle to-gederys … þan kytte hem y lyke lechyngys, an caste hem in fayre Oyle, and fry hem a lytil whyle; þanne take hem owt of þe panne, an caste in-to a vesselle with þe Syrippe, & so serue hem forth, þe bryndonys an þe Sirippe, in a dysshe; & let þe Sirippe þe rennyng, & not to styf."

Pretty simple, isn't it?



All joking aside, I think the authors of this book have done an incredible job, taking all the food mentioned in ASOIAF series, finding their medieval and modern recipes and such. It's no easy job!
Feast of Ice and Fire is a fun book for ASOIAF geeks that can be 'devoured' in just a few hours. However it is strongly recommended that you read the book with a full stomach or you may end up drooling all over the book like I did.

[Maryam Rz. · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 STARS! This cookbook with its creativity took my breath away.

They were made of words. Big meaty nouns, crisp fresh verbs, a nice seasoning of adjectives and adverbs. Words. The stuff that dreams are made of … very tasty dreams, fat free and calorie free, but with no nutritive value.
Writing I’m good at. Cooking, not so much.
—Introduction by George R.R. Martin

While I only tried some small dishes and cakes and desserts, the ASoIaF quotes, the research done in crumbling medieval cookbooks, the creative ideas for turning courses to their modern versions, and much much more utterly impressed me!

Hopefully, I'll reread in summer and try out some of the food with a couple of my friends! We're going to make a feast of this; a feast of Ice and Fire...

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should have reviewed this some time ago. I heard about this book on NPR long before reading the Ice and Fire series. The meals served in the books are amazing and help to pull you into the story. *A Feast of Ice and Fire* brings those meals into our world.

I have made a few of the recipes and they were a huge hit. My daughter especially loved the honeyed chicken. The sauce is rightly to be kept on hand for many other dishes.

What I truly appreciated was the dual quality of the book as historical research and modern cookbook. The authors pulled our own historical foods into both the fantasy of Ice and Fire and into everyday cooking.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly nerdy, and insanely cool.

[Shala Kerrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

The Sister's Stew is my favorite of the recipes I've tried out so far. Living in Alaska, most of the ingredients can be locally sourced and it's rich and delicious with bread on the side. It's one that I plan to make at least once a month come winter, just as a special treat.

My daughter was also very enthused about it, she hasn't read the books and dislikes the tv show, but has enjoyed the blog quite a bit. She sat down and read it like a novel, the recipe introductions read easily and conversationally. Then she grabbed a saucepan and made herself the iced honey milk which she declared is one of her favorite drinks.

There are recipes for fruit dishes, desserts, vegetable side dishes and breads.Main courses are made using all sorts of ingredients like different kinds of poultry, beef, bacon, rabbit, fish and even rattlesnake.

Gorgeous photos, well researched and delicious, impressive rustic food. I recommend this not just to fans of The Song of Ice and Fire, or of the show Game of Thrones, but to anyone who is interested in food history, cooking or medieval reenactment.

[I received a complimentary copy of the book to review on my craft blog- Don't Eat the Paste. My reviews are always my honest opinion]

[biblioceraptor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I umm...read this cover-to-cover and it's a bloody cookbook.
I love how some of the recipes come in a 'modern' version and also a 'medieval' version.

Most of the recipes are not ridiculously-complicated or difficult, and only have one or two specific/exotic ingredients per recipe, but if you're dedicated, it's a non-issue.
And there are plenty of things in here which are meals/food you'd eat normally anyway, except the recipe in here is better because the ingredients are more natural/un-processed haha (because margarine and artificial preservatives do not exist in Westeros).
BUTTER ON MY BUTTER

All the recipes have been tested by the authors, and includes a little description or discussion about their experience making it, or what they thought about the dish, so whenever I go and make anything from it, I know I will get a delicious end-result. :D I have not been disappointed by anything I have created from here. Like, it just always tastes of pure, wholesome, real-food goodness!

I'm just devastated there is no recipe for puppy foetus in here.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because it makes absolute, total sense to read a diet book and this at the same time..

I love that these women researched and put together such a great collection of recipes. They don't look far fetched or over the top (see: Hunger Games Cookbook!) and it's a nice touch that they include both modern and medieval versions of each recipe.

Alas, I had to realize, I will never cook from it. I cannot justify some of the high fat, super caloric goodies in the book...that said, the seafood stew looked *amazing.*

Great eye candy book and companion to the Song of Ice and Fire books!

[Julie]

I created a new exclusive shelf for cookbooks, because I don't want this sort of thing cluttering up my 'currently reading' shelf when it might take me years to technically finish this, but I don't feel quite right putting it into 'read' until I've cooked literally everything either. So! A special category for a special type of book, the kind that you don't read from cover-to-cover.

We have this tradition now where Caitlin comes over, I cook food from A Feast of Ice and Fire, we marathon-watch Game of Thrones, and then I cry into my sleeves over plot developments. With season 6 outpacing the book series, we'll probably be doing this more often once it starts airing -- which I'd be totally happy to do, because the four things I've made from this book so far have been so goddamn delicious. It leaves me excited to keep cooking, which is the sort of motivation I need to stay on this wagon. Some of the future recipes look more time-consuming than others, some have stranger ingredients -- will I ever find an entire snake and cook it? I don't think so -- but others are surprisingly simple, probably due to their authentic, bare-bones medieval origins. (Also, it turns out that I already basically make myself a Winterfell breakfast every single weekend, which is appropriate.)

The descriptions are engaging, the pictures mouth-watering; the recipes are creative, and imaginatively-extrapolated from the ASOIAF books themselves, along with little snippets and quotes from the books; and they've been grounded in historical culinary research, some of these recipes even stretching back to the Roman Empire. Just a really well put-together book, and organised by region in ASOIAF, so you can see the thematic/culinary influences in each geographical location, which really makes the world feel real.


bean and bacon soup (modern)
NOT PICTURED because we wolfed it down too quickly. But it was delicious -- we tried the modern version because we needed to use up some feta cheese.


iced blueberries in sweet cream
I'M OBSESSED WITH THIS DESSERT and just want to keep making it forever. The sweet cream is intolerably delicious.




almond-crusted trout && turnips in butter (modern)
This baked trout was a goddamn miracle. I just want to bake all the fish now and cover them in this almond mixture. I mean, I do have these gigantic bushels of parsley and dill to use up now, soooo...

We did the modern version of the turnips because the book's description was so starry-eyed over them. My passion for the trout outshone everything turnip-related, though, so in future I'd probably be cool just doing some standard mashed potatoes. But I still want to try the medieval armored turnips, because they look awesome (and who doesn't love a gratin?).



---

I'll edit this 'review' as I cook more things from the book!

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books. And I love food. So books about food are the perfect combination. :-)
I found this little treasure by chance when looking for different editions of the A Song Of Ice And Fire books. Thanks to amazon, I was able to read (among others things) the intro by George R.R. Martin himself and was hooked.
The two fans, who have started looking up and cooking the dishes, have done a marvellous job here and one can tell from page one how committed they are and how much they love the story, the characters and, well, the food of course. Already my mouth is watering and I am planning a feast with some friends who like the books too. ;p

The structure of the book is very well chosen too, so you get different dishes a they are typical for certain regions of Westeros and the Free Cities. Moreover, what I find most practical is that the authors have searched for and found certain ingrediants with which one can cook modern versions of the meals. That makes it easy to try dishes that might otherwise be more difficult or even impossible to make due to the lack of a medieval herbage store. Also, the introduction, where older spices are introduced as well as the list of possible menus is great. *thumbs up*

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looks really good. It just arrived at the LASFS library, and I'm the first to borrow it. It starts out with tips on putting together a medieval kitchen.

(Continued, after reading through it)

One neat feature in the cookbook is that many of the recipes are presented in two styles -- medieval and modern. For example, "Beef and Bacon Pie".
The medieval version is a two-crust pie filled with diced bacon, flavored with salt and pepper, red wine vinegar, raisins, prunes, dates, and beef broth.
The modern version is a single crust beef pie topped with a bacon lattice, the beef flavored with onion, carrot, potato, salt and pepper, rosemary and/or other savory herbs. (Neither recipe is complete! Buy the book (available on Kindle, too) or go to the authors' blog and hope for the best.)
This book is lavishly illustrated, contains a nice variety of recipes, and the medieval/modern pairing is a very nice touch.
Strongly recommended.

[Wendy Holliday · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books and food. I love when books talk about food I love. This book talks about food in books I love and I loved this book.

Excellent job making the recipes easy, delicious and attainable.


An excellent companion book to the series. Despite just coming back from lunch, these are mouthwatering!

Akin to Lobscouse & Spotted Dog: Which It's a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels for the Patrick O'Brian books.

[Hayley DeRoche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 5 stars based on the balls and gumption it takes to publish a cookbook with recipes that call for "1 rattlesnake, approximately 2 pounds, cleaned and gutted" and "5 pigeons, cleaned and dressed."

The photos of the medieval vs the modern recipes add a nice touch. The breakfasts, while similar, offer different incarnations for the various parts of Westeros, and while I don't *need* two pages telling me how to serve toast and eggs with jam, if GRRM can do the same, why not these lovely innkeepers? It's practically canon to do so!

[Ashlee Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exquisite book. Makes me wish I was a cook ... and even though I am most definitely NOT ... I can tell you I'll definitely be trying a few of these recipes. The pictures are mouthwatering. I loved that each recipe had a "medieval" version and a "modern" version - such an ingenious touch! The book is split into sections based on regions: the Wall, the North, the South, King's Landing, Dorne, and Across the Narrow Sea.

The recipes include delicious-sounding things such as Iced Blueberries in Sweet Cream, Honeyed Chicken, Arya's Snitched Tarts, and Cheese-and-Onion Pie. While such things as Duck with Lemons, Stuffed Grape Leaves, and Broth of Seaweed and Clams may be a bit ambitious or beyond the taste of a few of us, the book is still a masterpiece, and if you are a fan of Martin's books, or the television series, you should check it out. And don't forget to visit the cookbook authors' blog, Inn at the Crossroads, as well (www.innatthecrossroads.com).

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

GAME OF THRONES COOKBOOK!!!!!!

I really liked the research behind the recipes as well as offering a more "traditional" medieval recipe and a modern version of most dishes. This is apparently based off a blog, The Inn at the Crossroads, which I have since started following. Has great pictures, too. (there's another Game of Thrones cookbook by some other people but it isn't near as nice)

Includes some oddball recipes for the more adventurous gourmand, like snake (blech)

I just finished baking the modern Wintercake - it smells great (haven't tasted it yet)

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! This book contains a lot of the traditional English favorites my Mom used to make, plus a sampling of new dishes I can't wait to try. Very helpful that for many of the dishes, there is both a medieval recipe and a modern recipe.

Bonus: since GRRM didn't write it (he can't cook), this book does not hold up publication of The Winds of Winter.

[Masooch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed how this book is broken up into the different lands the characters are based on, with a modern twist to these recipes. Only made a few, but quite delicious!

[Elisabeth Orion · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think a cookbook counts as 'read' if you read the foreword out loud to anyone who would stop to listen, if you enjoyed the tips on how to make your table look 'Westerosi' at the end of the volume, and if you managed to whip up a grand total of five vegetarian recipes for a huge Game of Thrones theme dinner, while again reading out the featured quotes, proving that this dish really is authentic dragon-and-zombie-world-cuisine.

Now, for the actual recipes, dear reader, i can warmly recommend the Cheese-and-Onion-Pie (featured during Joffrey's wedding as one of the 77 courses), the Summer Greens Salad (A Clash of Kings), and Buttered Carrots served by Cersei. Following a Southern/Kings Landing theme I topped it all of with not just one, but two desserts: Arya's Snitched Tarts, which she stole in Harrenhal and which, sadly, sound more delicious in the book than what had turned out in my kitchen. The American authors made me use way too much sugar on those. And finally Lord Caswell's Cream Swans, photos of which i will continue to show to my coworkers and friends, whether they want me to or not.

[Justine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to this book, I went back to Westeros, it was so great!! I loved it!!

Now, I'm super hungry, and I really want to make some of these delicious recipes!

Martin's introduction is great - just like all of his introductions in different books, be they about Westeros or not! - and the recipes are adapted to fit the seven different realms; there are traditional medieval dishes, and their modern version!

A feast for the eyes; now, let's taste it!

[Aja: The Narcoleptic Ninja · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this cookbook and there are a lot of recipes in here that I want to try. I like that everything is separated by the place the recipe originated from, and also includes photographs of the finished product as well. Some of them seem a little impractical, but overall, I'm very happy with this book.

[Majesta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read that made my mouth alternately water (lemon cakes!) and gag (honeyed locusts). The inclusion of the medieval recipes with theirs is a very nice touch to see what people were using to cook with.

[Emily Mai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poached pears were a smash hit 👌😂

[Pixie Unger · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love this author! I have her Warcraft cookbooks, the Elder Scrolls one, her Hearthstone cookbook and her Overwatch one. I have borrowed the Star Trek one from my local library. Five stars for any of them.

I don’t know what went wrong here. After such a successful run, I have a hard time believing it was the author. Excessive oversight, maybe? A publisher who cheated out on the photography?

I have no idea.

But for the first time in my collection of cookbooks by Monroe - Cassell, there isn’t a picture for every recipe and the ingredients are not things I can acquire. I can’t comment on its success as a fan of the books or the show, but as a cookbook fan - it gets a hard pass.

[Hanka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nejsem magor, abych četla slovo od slova u každého receptu. Ale poctivě jsem prošla každou stránku a přečetla si úvody a někdy i suroviny. Nicméně konečně nekonvenční kuchařka, něco z ní určitě zkusím, i když recept z chřestýše nebo z kobylek určitě vynechám. Hm... mám hlad.

[Coquinegra · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's FUN!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not the kind of person to read a cookbook cover to cover (is anyone?), so my reading experience when it comes to this kind of literature is always a bit more clinical--I pay attention to design as much as I do to content.

This book follows the format of the blog fairly closely. Entries begin with an excerpt from a ASOIAF book to give context to the following recipe. Recipes are broken down by ingredient, then instruction, and capped with a picture of the final product. If the recipe is inspired by or taken from a medieval source, the source is quoted before the ingredient list (and often translated out of Middle English or Latin by the authors).

As a sometime student of medieval cookery, I found the detail given to the medieval content very satisfying. The opening of the book has a brief section on period spices and the available herbs and cuisine of the time (and, it's assumed, mirrored in Westeros).

The comparison and contrast between medieval and modern recipes was also a really pleasant addition. I can understand the desire to keep the book limited to more conventionally successful recipes (eg, the ones suited to a modern palate), but I think including both period and modern versions gives the reader the option to play it safe with familiar flavors as well as recreate that authent...ish Westerosi experience with the period options.

Overall, the book was gorgeous, well researched, and easy to understand. I have minor complaints about the lack of recipe-in-progress pictures but, well, it's pretty packed with content already, and pictures would probably have tripled the size of the finished book. They could also have formatted the instructions more clearly (with numbered or bulleted steps, rather than modified block format paragraphs), but that, too, would have added a lot of bulk. That much whitespace would probably aid comprehension, but is hard to justify publishing.

This isn't any Chez Panisse shit, but it's also not a book for beginner chefs. Many of the techniques are not described in excruciating detail, and some basic culinary skills are assumed (cutting butter into pastry dough, for example). Recipes vary from taking less than an hour to taking overnight to taking weeks or months (hello, homemade booze!) Overall, it was a fast, enjoyable, delicious-looking read.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, I want to comment on the layout and content. The book is well laid-out with the dishes grouped by region. There's a good variety of entrees, breakfasts, drinks, vegetable dishes, and desserts from each region. The pictures are beautiful and really make everything look beautiful. The recipes are generally pretty easy, but there are more challenging ones. The authors seem very aware of what is reasonable and what is not while still catering to the enthusiasts that would like to cook a 77 course wedding feast.

What I find most enjoyable is that the authors include the mention of the food in the text and a medieval source (or at least a source for most of the recipes). It's really exciting to know that these recipes are actually like what people might have eaten.

As much as I can talk about how wonderful the set up is, it's a cookbook, so naturally some cooking must be done to truly judge it. I made the Medieval Baked Apples and they did not look as beautiful as in the picture (they were quite mushy). That certainly could have been user error, but I need to recount my experience as it happens. I've also made the crusty white bread; it looks beautiful and tastes great. The recipes I've tried are all really easy.

I still want to try a few more recipes, so my rating may be upped, but at the moment I'm going to stick with the four stars. It's really nicely put together and the recipes seem really doable for everyone.

Update 1/24/14 - I made the Modern Blueberry and Lemon Tart and it is fantastic and was very easy. I am upping this review from 4 stars to 5.

Update 5/30/14 - I have made the medieval buttered turnips (which were okay, but not worth the work) and the medieval baked apple (which were much better with the right kind of apple). The modern applecakes were delicious but a royal pain. The honeyed chicken was fantastic too and had a lovely contrast of sweet and sour flavors, but I recommend adding cornstarch to thicken the sauce (and was again, very easy). The medieval lemon cakes were a bit hard. They were better the next day, but not one I'm going to make again.

Oh! I and I almost forgot to mention! I did a variation of the Modern Blueberry Tart using raspberries! It turned out great! I used half cinnamon sugar and half regular sugar on top.

[Aves]

I haven't tried any of the recipes, but many of them look intriguing. Except for the snake and the locust ones. But for the adventurous souls out there, the recipes with non-conventional ingredients are something new and interesting to try. And for the less adventurous types, there are still many recipes that look wonderful.

This isn't a book where you need to be acquainted with George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones series to be able to use or understand the recipes. Indeed, the only potential stumbling block would be that some of the recipe names reference characters or places specific to the books. Also, the little excerpt describing the food at the start of each recipe will be meaningless to people who aren't familiar with the books.

But other than some trivial issues, the recipes are everyone-friendly.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy a good cookbook. And when I look at the recipes and go 'well I don't have snakes or locusts' it really challenges me to think outside of my normal recipe book. Good thing I can look at those & usually come up with a suitable replacement.
This is definitely a great have if you are a fan of the books/show. I love reading the descriptions given or displayed in the works so this is a nerdism for those who would like to be fantasy cooks. Even if you are not a fan this gives a great variety of foods that would be created throughout a medieval world. Scaling from the bleaker worlds of a snow dominated climate with hearty soups & breads to the more whimsical pallets of the lands across the sea with the combinations of spices within one dish.
The authors have even included some double recipes within the text. If one is not comfortable making the traditional 17th century version there is often a modern rendition suggested.
I highly recommend the Lemonsweet, essentially a honey lemonade which is really wonderful.

[Aspasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did a Game of Thrones program last night at my library and I had checked out this book to get ideas on what kind of food to serve. This cookbook features more meal-type food and I was looking for finger foods to serve. I eventually found some cute Game of Thrones-themed snacks on Pinterest, but this fan cookbook was still interesting to read. This cookbook was the creation and brainchild of two women who have been fans of the Game of Thrones series since it debuted in 1996. They created a blog (Inn at the Crossroads)solely devoted to the food and dishes mentioned in the books. In this cookbook they divided dishes by regions, found a medieval version of a dish and modern version of the same dish. There are recipes here that can enjoyed by all cooking skill levels and would make wonderful dishes at a Games of Thrones viewing party and could be used to hold over a GoT fanatic until the next show season or book comes out (whichever comes first).


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