Craft mouthwatering dishes from the Norse realms of Midgard, Alfheim, Jötunheim, and beyond in God of War: The Official Cookbook of the Nine Realms—the first officially licensed cookbook featuring the world of Santa Monica Studio’s beloved video game franchise.
Step-by-step directions and gorgeous, full-color photography ensure fans have everything they need to embark on their own cooking adventure, whether they’re a mere fledgling kitchen wanderer or a seasoned culinary god. The collection also features stunning, never-before-seen illustrations throughout to inspire fans on their travels across the lush culinary landscape of the nine realms.
Publication Date: November 15, 2022
Publisher: Insight Editions
Game Publisher: Santa Monica Studios
Number of Pages: 192
Number of Recipes: 65
Where to buy: Your Favorite Local Book Store, Online Book Retailers, Amazon
My Contributions: Recipe Selection, Development, and Photography
My Process
This cookbook was one of the most unique projects I’ve worked on to date. I normally work with an existing piece of media and have full access to everything the property holder wanted to share, but this was the first time that a cookbook was written to line up with a game release. There was a lot of back and forth with Santa Monica Studios because I didn’t have all the details of the new game, but don’t worry if you haven’t played it yet. I won’t be spoiling anything here. I finished my responsibilities for the book over a year before the book’s release date to be sure that it arrived in stores alongside God of War Ragnarök. I did have an initial meeting with Matt Sohpos and Cory Barlog to discuss what the team was hoping to achieve with the book, and I have to admit that I was a bit starstruck. But don’t worry, I kept it very professional during the call.
The team was extremely excited for the cookbook and gave me a few requests for family recipes to be included. Some of these have influence throughout the book, but the Niflheim section is entirely recipes inspired by the amazing dishes shared with me. Thank you to the team for your contributions and I hope you enjoy how I worked them into the book.
After the initial discussions about the project, I began the work on what recipes we would be included. Another part of this book’s process was working with another author. This is the first project that another author handled all of the extra lore text, and let me say there is A LOT of it in this book. Rick Barba was an extremely helpful resource when coming up with the direction we were going to take the book. We worked together to make sure the stories being told were fitting with the meals and the realms and I absolutely love all the great work he contributed to the project.
Once the base outline was all set up, I began working my way through all the recipes. I made sure to complete each realm’s recipes at the same time so that I could create more elaborate photos of the feast each realm can inspire. I wanted to make sure it felt like each section was a complete meal being enjoyed together. With each project I work on, I learn a lot more about food photography and styling. I really am proud of the end result and I hope you all enjoy all the recipes in this book.
Are there Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten Free, etc recipes in the book?
Yes, each recipe notes any dietary notes that might apply to those items. There is also a note about adjusting the recipes in the book to adapt them to your dietary needs. As I always say, feel free to adapt recipes to make them work for you.
My Favorite Recipes
There are a lot of standout recipes in here that I make on the regular. For main dishes, I love the Roast Quail (pg 27), Chilean Sea Bass (pg 63), and Fish Banh Mi (pg 115). Each of these dishes are rich in flavor and make at least a few leftovers. I am a huge fan of breakfast food and the Smoked Salmon Dip (pg 81) and Avocado Eggs Benedict (pg 163) are perfect for that. The Smoked Salmon Dip can be enjoyed as an appetizer but I really love a generous portion spread on toast to start my day.
I don’t make desserts too often, besides ones that I’m making for a project, but the Baklava Mini Tarts (pg 71) and Pavlova (pg 168) are ones I often think about. Whenever my dessert schedule clears up, these are two that I want to make again. This project made me realize how much I love pavlovas. I hadn’t really had this dessert often because meringue based desserts were pretty low on my likes. This changed everything. I love them now!
Most Difficult Recipe
Soufflés are always a difficult recipe to tackle and the Cheese and Leek Soufflé (pg 159) is no exception. It’s the most difficult recipe in the book, so be patient if you’re making it.. Make sure before you start anything that your oven is preheated and all of your ingredients are prepared before you start mixing everything. This recipe might take a few attempts but once you get it you’ll feel like you’ve just conquered the icey cliffs of Helheim.
Recipe That Gave Me The Most Trouble
The recipe that I had to make a few times for this project was the Lamb Riblets (pg 85). The Scotch Eggs (pg 100) were a very close second. For the Lamb Riblets, I was originally going to make goat ribs. I was able to find them before the project started, but the moment my work kicked up I could not find goat ribs anywhere. That was the first change to this recipe. Next, I think this recipe took me three attempts to finally be happy about the end result.
Beginners: Where to Start?
As with all of my projects, this book has a huge variety of recipes with a wide variety of difficulty among them. If you are looking for a place to start, here are a few wonderful recipes to try.
Prosciutto Wrapped Figs (pg 59) and Shaved Brussel Sprouts Salad (pg 60) are great starters for any meal. The Prosciutto Wrapped Figs are extremely easy to put together and a great way to get used to working with ingredients and tossing them in the oven for a quick cook. The Shaved Brussel Sprouts Salad is perfect for practicing your knife skills. Make sure your knife is sharp and to take your time as you chop everything up for this salad.
There are many main courses throughout the book. The Kofta (pg 51) and Venison Stew (pg 132) are perfect starting points. They don’t require too much work to prepare and have relatively simple cooking steps. I’m sure many of you are going to be eyeing the Freakin’ Gratitude recipe (pg 108). It is labeled as a medium difficulty recipe because of working with such a large chunk of meat. I do think it is a perfectly fine recipe to start with; just make sure to not divert too far from the recipe to avoid any issues.
The Hasselbackpoteter (pg 31) is a great recipe that can pair well with many meals. It will help improve your cutting skills while overall being relatively easy to make. Berry Cherry Soda Bread (pg 182) is a super simple bread recipe to put together. You mix everything together, place it in a cast-iron pan, and then let it bake.
Many of the dessert options in this book are on the trickier side and might be a bit intimidating to beginner cooks. A few easy dessert options include Banana Bread Muffins (pg 177) and Goat Cheese and Apple Tarts (pg 36). It is my recommendation with these to make sure to read the recipe and to have everything at the ready before you actually start baking. Doing that first will make the whole process simpler.
Finally, there are many drinks to enjoy through all the realms. The Mulled Apple Juice (pg 39) and Karkade (pg 55) are my personal favorites and are really easy to prepare.
Thank You
Thank you to Insight Editions and Santa Monica Studios for giving me the opportunity to work on this project and create these delicious recipes inspired by the God of War franchise. The Santa Monica team was extremely excited for this project and were very helpful during the whole process. Without you all, this project would not have been possible. I appreciate being able to contribute to the franchise in this way.
Thank you to my husband, Jeff, for all the help he provides with these projects. His assistance is always extremely helpful. Your honest feedback on all the dishes means a lot and helps me achieve the delicious results that I can be proud of.
Thanks to Rick Barba for the beautiful writing in the book. You did an incredible job of connecting the food and stories we wanted to tell for each realm. Your knowledge of the series was indispensable during the whole process. I didn’t get a chance to speak with Iris Compiet, but the illustrations you provided for the book are incredible. They really bring the cookbook to life and complement the food so well.
Thank you to my agent, Kate McKean. You make my life so much easier with each of these projects and I’m happy for all the work that you do! I’m not new to cookbook writing anymore, but knowing that I have your support makes all the complications that come with each book so much easier to navigate.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me as I’ve been working on all these projects. I’m grateful that my family is always so excited to see what I’m cooking up, my friends for grabbing extra leftovers I demand they take off my hands, and for everyone who cooks any of the recipes I have written. It really means a lot to me and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Here are many more delicious meals!
Review and Coverage
Coming Soon
Errata
Between the quick timelines and large amount of writing and content, errors in the cookbooks can sneak through to print. I’ve started compiling a list for those that have been pointed out to me so far. If you find any other errors in any book, please feel free to reach out to me so they can be added to these lists and adjusted in future prints.
Coming Soon
Note: This post contains affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. These are products I recommend and use in my kitchen.