The Unofficial Lord of the Rings Cookbook: From Hobbiton to Mordor, Over 60 Recipes from the World of Middle-Earth

by Tom Grimm

Prepare and enjoy over 60 recipes from The Unofficial Lord of the Rings Cookbook , inspired by J.R.R Tolkien’s epic trilogy.

The Unofficial Lord of the Rings Cookbook includes over 60 recipes for Breakfast, Second Breakfast, Elevenses, Luncheon, Afternoon Tea, Dinner, Supper, and Drinks. Fans will enjoy this cookbook’s multitude of easy-to-follow recipes and stunning photography, transporting them into the world of Tolkien’s fantasy adventure.
With The Unofficial Lord of the Rings Cookboo k, fans will be able to pick from a wide variety of food and drinks derived from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Follow your favorite characters through a culinary excursion through the novels’ fictional world.?
50+ More than 60 Lord of the Rings -inspired recipes, including Elvish Bread, Root Vegetable Stew, and Old Winyard’s Mulled Wine
STUNNING Beautiful, full-color photos of the finished dishes help ensure success
BRING MIDDLE-EARTH INTO YOUR Travel through the epic world of J.R.R Tolkien’s acclaimed works through a wide variety of dishes and drinks
PERFECT GIFT FOR LORD OF THE RINGS The Unofficial Lord of the Rings Cookbook is a fantastic gift for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings enthusiasts in your life
FOR ALL SKILL Easy-to-follow recipes make this the perfect cookbook for beginner and experienced chefs alike

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2022

About the author

MICHELE and TOM GRIMM, who are a wife/​husband writing and photography team, welcome you to their website that is facilitated by The Authors Guild, the oldest and largest association of published authors in the United States.

Reviews

[Ljubomir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as nerdy as I would have liked, but it's still a beautiful and fun cookbook that on top of the regular recipes* features some fictional foods and drinks (like lembas, cram and miruvor) and non-fictional ones (like honey cakes, Sam's rabbit stew, pork pies, etc.) mentioned in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.


*Many recipes just have Middle-earth themed names, but otherwise have no direct connection with the books and author doesn't go as deep as to adhere to what foods and herbs might have been available in which regions of Middle-earth (there exist books and research on that topic).

[Lokita · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know a Middle-earth work was done by a superfan when even I have to Google names! The author dances a fine line between accessibility and culinary refinement, and usually lands on his feet. There are lovely pictures of every dish (a MUST!) and I will definitely be trying at lesst a couple of these dishes. However, in an inverse of my opinion on the internet, I would have liked more commentary-- what led the author to use this or that spice, or why the Gaffer was making hot chocolate in the first place.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of interesting Middle-earth inspired recipes here that aren't too difficult to make. I'll be trying Beorn's honey cakes, Beren's bread flower specifically.

There were some recipes I thought were very fitting like Sam's second breakfast, mushroom ragout, and the seed cake, but then there were some I thought were too awkward or impractical for the average cook like the coney stew (where would you get rabbit meat?!), herbed trout on a stick, Ranger-style quail (again where would I get whole quail?) and Hokkaido pumpkin?! for the pumpkin pastries.

I'm still confused why you couldn't use a normal western pie pumpkin for them or even just a can of pumpkin puree. I don't think I've ever seen a Hokkaido pumpkin before and I shop at asian markets. The miruvor recipe is especially impractical. I'm curious if anyone has actually made it.

There were also a lot of ingredients I'd never heard of before and I have no idea where I would buy them except someplace online. Lamb's lettuce, st. john's wort, egg liquer, herb blossoms, tandoori paste, silica sol, demijohn, verbena.....

It's a nice looking book, so I'll bump it up to a three star rating, but as far as using it practically for cooking I'd give it a 2/5.

[Anastasiia Polieshko · Rating 1 out of 5]

Це такий відстій, що мені соромно за те, що я її придбала 🙄
Таке враження, наче її склєпали на колінці з чатіком джіпіті і в обкуреному стані. Гумор сумнівний, рівень задротсва у темі недостатній, рецепти посередні, фотки неапетитні та якісь аматорські.

[Holden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just bought this book and we are trying out some of the recipes. Having a hard time making "The One Ring" (p. 98). Does it really need FIVE cups of spelt flour to 1.25 cups of warm water? Dough was dry as dust. :(

[Chad Alexander Guarino da Verona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dying literally because this cookbook has a recipe for orc maggoty bread so I know what I’m going to be eating for the next three stinking days.
Loses a star for not including Denethor’s cherry tomato explosion recipe.

[Emily Bambleby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The recipes look delicious, and the general aesthetic of the book is lovely. I might be too much of a nerd, but just reading the ingredient lists for some of the recipes felt like nails on a chalkboard. I think the miruvor and the mushroom ragout and the honey cake look great, and there’s plenty of callbacks to small moments. I even think he did pretty well with the elf food, like the Rivendell Fig Treats (elves are notoriously hard to bring to life).

HOWEVER. It is clear this man has done zero research about ingredients or about Tolkien’s world in general. Why is there chocolate in the coney stew recipe?? It’s trail food! Elevated trail food for home cooking, yes, but even ignoring that, there was no chocolate in Middle Earth! The tomatoes I’ll accept because I’ll admit that while I’m a book snob, I do love that iconic scene from the movie where Denethor eats that tomato as Pippin sings “Edge of Night.” And what’s with the curry spices and tandoori paste in the so-called “Dwarf-Style Beetroot”? Give that to the Haradrim! Dwarves are distinctly European! And WHAT THE HECK IS WITH THE PUMPKIN PASTRIES??!!?! That’s Harry Potter!!!!!!!

Sorry. I’m calm now. But seriously, pumpkins are a new world food and should not be in a Middle Earth recipe book. Tolkien was clear on that point. Regardless, this is a fun cookbook and has some great-looking recipes for your next September 22nd movie marathon: Crickhollow apple cakelets with tater soup and Sam’s second breakfast… If you’re looking for party food and won’t obsess over the details, go for it. If you’re a mega-nerd and it’ll kill you to see the inaccuracies, I recommend An Unexpected Cookbook instead, which has a whole introduction detailing the research the author did into Tolkien’s conception of food in Middle Earth.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent collection of Tolkien inspired recipes, but doesn't include any material from the novels to add context. It would greatly benefit from the addition of illustrations, quotes, and text references etc. to give the reader an idea about why a particular recipe was included, or when/where characters dined on it.