I am a huge geek and love to throw geeky parties. Sometimes I have had a hard time finding recipes that fit my theme or just aren’t nerdy enough. I am thrilled to see more cookbooks geared toward pop culture nerds like myself – especially video games and science fiction! Let’s take a look at some new Spring releases to prep you for some awesome cookery this year!
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Street Fighter: The Official Street Food Cookbook
I didn’t get into Capcom’s Street Fighter game franchise until I was well into my adulthood. I don’t have as much nostalgic love as some do (my husband!) Before 2020 struck, we were going to host a fighting game party. I am thrilled to see the Street Fighter: The Official Street Food Cookbook to kick off my party properly. This game is loved by millions of people around the world and the characters are widely recognized. I cannot wait to learn how to cook the many street foods from multiple cultures inspired by some of the world’s most cherished characters.
Street Fighter: The Official Street Food Cookbook is filled with all kinds of goodies. Most of us love street food – and this cookbook covers street foods from all around the world. There are dishes like Spanish tapas to Japanese food stall recipes.
Next to each recipe is a character that the dish is inspired by. This includes some character history and other nerdy information. For instance, the character Ken Masters has a Spaghetti Carbonara dish that is American and Japanese inspired, just like his origins. I can’t wait to see what they have for Cammy and Chun-Li!
What I love about this cookbook is that it is street food, but not stereotypical junk food. These dishes are legitimate and wholesome recipes that don’t rely on a deep fryer. In addition, there are recipes you can use for weekday meals. For households like mine – filled with nerds – I can use the Street Fighter: The Official Street Food Cookbook every day.
Many of the recipes have a listed difficulty level, cook time, serving size, and dietary notes. This is really helpful for designing a menu and keeping tabs on the little details that might go unnoticed.
This cookbook is great for all levels of chefs and encourages us to keep leveling up our cooking skills!
Star Wars: Galactic Baking: The Official Cookbook of Sweet and Savory Treats From Tatooine, Hoth, and Beyond
I know many of us are going to be very inspired by the Star Wars: Galactic Baking: The Official Cookbook of Sweet and Savory Treats From Tatooine, Hoth, and Beyond. These delightful bakes are going to transport us into the Star Wars universe and give us a glimpse into the future of baking.
This cookbook appeals to all ages as the bakes can be incredibly easy or fairly difficult. There are recipes inspired from the all three trilogies!
I love how Star Wars: Galactic Baking: The Official Cookbook of Sweet and Savory Treats From Tatooine, Hoth, and Beyond is divided up. We have chapters based on the different worlds in Star Wars. This includes: frozen worlds, desert worlds, cities and space stations, green worlds, and swamp/volcano/mineral worlds. Some examples of those recipes are Hoth Cocoa Cream Puffs, Forest of Endor Log Cakes, and Swamp Vines.
These recipes are not just inspired by specific planets and cities. Included are dishes specifically for the Rebel Alliance, Jedi Order, or even the Imperial Army. I think the Resistance Ration Bars are a cute idea, especially if you were going to have a costume party.
This cookbook is exclusively for baking, so don’t expect any alien spaghetti to pop up. There’s a variety of sweet and savory recipes that are great for all times of the day.
Gotham City Cocktails: Official Handcrafted Food & Drinks From the World of Batman
We all know Bruce Wayne loves his elaborate and elegant parties. It makes me wonder if he might have had Alfred throw in some “Easter egg” cocktails to allude he was Batman. At the very least, I can pretend and reenact this kind of scene with Gotham City Cocktails: Official Handcrafted Food & Drinks From the World of Batman.
I love the idea of having a Batman themed cocktail party precisely because I think it would be Bruce Wayne approved. There are 70 recipes for colorful and tasty cocktails and some bar bites as well.
The cocktail recipes are all inspired by characters from DC comics Batman franchise including The Joker, Poison Ivy, Robin, etc.
These drinks are unique for each character, and also are unique from a cocktail standpoint. There are some creative blends I’ve not seen before that I am very excited to try out! There is a small description for each cocktail that includes references to the Batman comics (or show.) Also, why they’ve included some of the ingredients and how they blend together to make a heroic or villainous drink.
I have to note that this would make a perfect Father’s Day (or Mother’s Day!) gift. It is coming out at such a perfect time! In fact, I am purchasing this for my father as we speak. Since he is a comic book geek and Batman is one of his favorite superheroes – I have to do it.
World of Warcraft: New Flavors of Azeroth: The Official Cookbook
The first World of Warcraft Official Cookbook did so well in 2016 that they had to make a second one: World of Warcraft: New Flavors of Azeroth: The Official Cookbook. Since the game now has five expansions we can enjoy all the delights of the World of Warcraft Universe!
This cookbook will keep all of us nerds up to date with the newest trends in Azeroth. Nomi, the Pandaren chef, is our guide throughout this cookbook. He shows us easy ways of preparing our food that is featured from all over – including the Shadowlands.
There are recipes for dessert, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even a few cocktails here and there. Having this cookbook at your disposal will make your gaming atmosphere perfect all day long. Do people still have LAN parties?
Nomi the Panderan provides many tips and tricks throughout the book to better each dish. Sometimes he even provides alternatives or additional techniques you can use to make cooking easier.
There are adorable descriptions at the top of each recipe that give you some insight to where each dish is from. It even includes cooking time, difficulty level, and much more. The book is very easy to navigate. On top of that – the photos are enormous and fun!
With World of Warcraft still going strong in the MMO world, this cookbook is bound to do really well.
I love these nerdy cookbooks and cannot wait to get my hands on at least one of them. Is there a cookbook you’d love to see from one of your favorite games, shows, or movies? Leave a comment below and tell us about it!
~Kaiti