The Wizard's Cookbook

October 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 This French import offers recipes inspired by a broad range of fantasy properties, including novels, fairy tales, and TV shows. Brief, evocative sentences opening each recipe explain the references and feature a few plot points or characters, and full-page photos depict the dish in a thematic setting. Grouped into four sections Magical Food for Every Day, Feasts for Special Days, Marvelous Snacks and Sweets, and (nonalcoholic) Bewitching Potions the recipes are sometimes only loosely connected to their theme, like a Dungeons and Dragons garlic tart, ideal for a banquet between fighting arch enemies, but they often include tongue-in-cheek commentary. For Children en Croute, for example, the recipe recommends, In the absence of an obliging infant . . . you can use veal. While entertaining, many of the recipes are quite complex and occasionally call for unusual or hard-to-find ingredients. Experienced teen cooks, or those with experienced adult help, will be the best audience here. Still, fantasy fans will likely enjoy the eye-catching food photography and the mordant humor playing up their favorite stories.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)