Exquisite Exandria: The Official Cookbook of Critical Role

by Liz Marsham, Jesse Szewczyk (Contributor), Susan Vu (Contributor)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Featuring sixty delicious recipes from across the world of Critical Role, every Critter will find something to whet their appetites in this official cookbook.
 
Join a party of culinary adventurers in search of the fabulous flavors and delightful delicacies that make Exandria so exquisite. Here, they present their sixty dishes collected from each continent! 
 
Start in Tal’Dorei, where you can nab a trio of pastries from the Slayer’s Cake, a staple of Whitestone’s patisserie scene. Journey next to the birthplace of civilization, Issylra, and devour some absolutely divine Highsummer Honey Polenta. Travel to Marquet and explore Jrusar’s Core Spire while enjoying some street meat. And finally, end in Wildemount, where you can unwind with a famous Ruby of the Sea Cocktail.
 
The recipes from these diverse dives are accompanied by the histories of each land—and stories of iconic culinary capers by Vox Machina, the Mighty Nein, Bells Hells, and more. Enjoy Percival de Rolo’s Revenge Pasta, stuffed with enough garlic to ward off even the strongest vampires, and blackberry and lemon hand pies inspired by Scanlan’s favorite spell. Prepare for battle with Jester’s Sweet Feast, a platter of pastries made complete with a dash of cinnamon and a covert sprinkle of the Dust of Deliciousness. And as the night comes to a close, settle down with Lord Eshteross’s Maple Ginger Cookies.
 
With a foreword by Quyen Tran and Sam Riegel, gorgeous illustrations and photography to accompany mouthwatering recipes, and lore from each corner of Exandria, this is a must-have cookbook for every Critical Role fan.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Dungeons and Dragons, Food

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 29, 2023

Reviews

[lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

yes, i read a cookbook cover to cover for The Lore. no, i do not cook. i am the universe’s equal and opposite counterweight to people who exasperatedly skip all the personal history at the beginnings of recipe blogs.

the lore was good tbh. like an exandrian anthropology class.

[Ailin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve made the Shadowshire soup quite a few times now and it’s always a hit, within the household and with guests over.

[Delilah Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

In terms of a fantasy-fan cookbook, this is stellar. The way voice and tone are used to make a cookbook immersive into a fantasy world is impressive. I love how fun and lighthearted it is. Many of the recipes are also downright delicious. The lamb lollies and brisket were my favorite dinners, while the sweet tea pie and scones were my favorite sweets. The green tea cookies were great, but there's too much flour in the recipe.

Overall, a great gift for any Critical Role fan who likes to cook.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought for my dad

[Timothy Stobbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book but unfortunately many of the recipes are fairly complex which might be a turn off to some people. It was still a good book but I just won't be making my our mayo from scratch anytime soon.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful art, photographs so delectable I swear I can taste them, and excellently written stories and descriptions of the recipes and the locations in Exandria they are inspired by. Just reading this book is a treat for any Critical Role fan!

The recipes are varied in type and are very creative, using a lot of unique flavor combinations. It’s clear that the recipe developers really put a lot of thought into creating something special. Some do look a little complicated, and many of them look rather boozy. Not many options for those with dietary restrictions, but many of the recipes look like they could be easily adapted.

Once I try some of the recipes, I’ll update the review. So far, I do know that Lord Eshteross’s Maple Ginger Cookies with Turmeric are EXCELLENT.

[Shannon Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous book, great photos, recipes that are creative look tasty and capture the fun of the series while also being dishes I want to actually make and serve my family and friends. Plus fun lore filled sections full of Easter eggs for fans of Critical Role.

Highly recommended - my copy is now full of flagged recipes I want to try. Some I’ll make as written and many others I want to make parts of and experiment with. I have a lot of cookbooks and many that are similar themed ones have much less interesting recipes often far simpler with many more shortcuts. These are recipes that assume a level of comfort in the kitchen and a willingness to make everything from scratch.

[Helios · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a really basic cook so a good 95% of this book sounds too difficult to me, but my mom nodded knowingly upon reading some of the recipes so I expect them to be quite good if made by someone who knows their kitchen utensils. What I loved most about the book is how it reads like a travel guide through Exandria, like one more lore book from the Critical Role that, as added value, makes you want to cook and eat something nice for yourself. A nice read for Critical Role fans and cooking lovers alike, and a must-have in the case you belong to both categories.

[Jessica Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best pop culture cook book I’ve ever purchased. Included in each section and some recipes are lore and history of Exandria. These do include some spoilers if you have not watched all of CR live streams. There’s a wide variety of recipes that can be done by any skill level. Can’t wait to cook my way through the whole book!

[Makenzie May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved cooking my way through this! It was so fun to read the descriptions of the dishes and remember back to the times they appeared in the show. My only one complaint is that some of the ingredients were difficult to track down (I still cannot find dill aquavit) but everything was delicious and worth tracking down ingredients for!

[Jes · Rating 5 out of 5]

You probably can't usually mark a cookbook as read until you've made every dish, but this particular cookbook comes with lore for my favorite universe, so for that reason I was compelled to read an entire cookbook and count it on goodreads.

Obviously I'm obsessed with CR, and Obviously I Loved this. It contained such cute throwbacks and additions to the og show.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun to read through--I'm not a fantastic cook or baker but there seemed to be a few recipes I could manage! Lots of different ingredients and techniques too, which was cool to see, although admittedly I was mostly here for the lore drops.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty and clever! For fans of Critical Role and Dungeons and Dragons. Fantastic recipes that immerse you into a fantasy land with a touch of reality. Recipes are well written with background of where it originated.

[Tauri Hagemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this a few months ago and I didn’t really sit down and read it cover to cover? But I’ve cooked my way through probably half of the recipes, and I’m assuming I’ve skimmed all of them, so I’m just marking it as read lol

[BriBiscuit · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the lore to the delicious recipes themselves this is a must have for any Critter! The recipes I have tried have been delicious! Did I read all the lore and love every second of it? Yes, yes I did!

5/5 Slayer's Cakes 🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fun to read, and multiple bookmarked recipes to try.

[Perí · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
No soy fan del ajo, pero esa "De Rolo's revenge pasta" se ve deliciosa.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait to start making my own recipes. They all so good!

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful recipes, fun lore, and beautiful images ❤️
We bake the Everlight-As-Air scones almost every week now! So many of these recipes are on my to-do list.

[Bridgette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received this as a gift from a friend! This is full of fun lore rich stuff from the beautiful world of Critical Role! Can’t wait to try out the recipes.

[Darnell]

I have a weird fascination with these official tie-in books even though I don't care about cookbooks.

[Kat Michna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish it was organized a little different but overall I have really enjoyed the recipes.

[Ashlyn Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot wait to make some of these recipes for my D&D group! Beautifully stylized and photographed, and the food sounds amazing.

[Ashley]

The pastries and drinks looked like the stars of this book.

[Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't find anything I needed

[Yona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the creativity and the lore. The one point of note is that I feel this book is not as practical for vegetarians.

[Isabella Herrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great cookbook! Lots of fun recipes from the campaigns :)

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun, with lore about the continents of Exandria and all the recipes have their own little flavoured text. Can't wait to cook some critical role meals!