Take a break from machine-hunting in the wilds, and make the most delicious food of the 31st century, inspired by the post-apocalyptic world of Horizon!
You’ve explored the wicked heat of the Sun Furrows, the icy peaks of the Longroam, and the vast, deadly wilds of the Forbidden West. These locales are filled with danger, but are also rich with enough unique cuisines and flavorful foods to prepare a feast fit for a Sun-King! Now you can cook more than 60 of these delicious meals with Horizon: The Official Cookbook.
From spicy Fireclaw stew to mouth-watering Bitterbrew Boar, there’s a dish for everyone in this cookbook. Don’t worry about getting lost in the wilds, because your recipes come with expert insight into the world, the people, and the culinary arts of the 31st century.
Publication Date: June 25, 2024
Publisher: Insight Editions
Game Publisher: Guerrilla Games
Co-Author: Rick Barba
Number of Pages: 192
Number of Recipes: 65
My Contributions: Recipe Selection, Recipe Development, and Photography
My Process
When I was contacted about working on a Horizon cookbook, I was really excited because of the wonderful list of food that existed in Horizon: Forbidden West. When discussions for this project started, I had already watched Jeff play through the first one and we were casually playing through the second game. With how much game we had left to go through and with the project’s rapid start time, I decided it was best to work with a lore author. This gave me a chance to work with the talented Rick Barba again and his knowledge of lore in games is just incredible. Getting our visions lined up for this project was pretty easy and he did an amazing job with this project.
With the lore in Rick’s hands, I was able to fully focus on the recipes for this project. The food that Guerrilla Games included in Horizon: Forbidden West made for a wonderful starting point. Early in the discussion with how the book was going to be presented, we knew we wanted to represent each of the iconic tribes from the games. While most of the tribes had some kind of food menu in game, the Nora and Banuk required a bit of back and forth with the team at Guerilla Games to make sure I selected appropriate recipes. On top of each of the tribes’ cuisines, we also wanted to highlight some of the potions that Aloy uses during her adventures. With all that information settled, the recipe list was ready!
Once the recipe list was approved, the team shared their thoughts on how to make sure each photo looked like it belonged with the selected tribe. I made sure to follow the color schemes and made sure the backdrops and plating matched the tribe. For example, the Banuk section uses a lot of blue and stone background while the Utaru uses green and a lot of bamboo and wicker for plating. There was a lot of back and forth at first where I took a few pictures without food to make sure I was approaching things correctly. As with every project, it is important to me that the photography looks like it fits the game world and I’m very proud of the way this book looks. With every book I learn more and more about food photography and I think this one really shows how much my knowledge has grown over the years.
Since receiving a copy, I have pulled this book out regularly for my weekly shopping list. I really like the recipe selection in this book and that is thanks to the team creating such a deep and interesting universe that inspired such a great selection of dishes.
Are There Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Etc Recipes In The Book?
Yes, each recipe lists 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
Whenever I get a newly printed book, one of the first things I do is flip through it and mark any of the recipes that I’m likely to regularly make again. I love everything that went into this book, but some recipes are more for special occasions, while others are great additions to a weekly rotation. I was surprised how many I had already made again and wanted to save for later.
Stuffed Snowbird (pg 55) – Quail is a protein that I did not really cook with before starting my video game themed cooking adventures. I’ve fallen in love with it since I started using it. The filling is incredible – fig, goat cheese, and sausage are just a wonderful combination. If you are unable to find venison sausage, you can swap it with any sausage that you like.
Blood Bread (pg 71) – I love pizza. I love jackfruit. I love BBQ sauce. This recipe combines all of those loves into one delightful dish. This one does take a bit of preparation and planning before you can enjoy it, but it is 100% worth it!
One-Handed Supper (pg 79) – This is a recipe I have been meaning to remake and I think working on this write up is a good enough reason to make some this coming weekend. It is basically a bread with a ton of cheese topped with an egg. It is so very cheesy and delicious.
Mesa Bread (pg 99) – If I had no self control, this would be a recipe I made every week. These are absolutely delicious sticky buns They are pretty sweet and decadent and it would not be the best thing for me to eat weekly. Since writing this recipe, I typically make this when I plan to have friends over to share it with. A treat this sweet is much more enjoyable with friends anyway!
Forager’s Pouch (pg 121) – If you’ve been following my content for a while, you know I love to throw arepas as recipes whenever I can. These combine my love of arepas and platanos into one tasty meal.
Fens’ Fieldbird Stew (pg 133) – Ethiopian cuisine is not something I had growing up with and it was only recently that I found myself falling in love with the wonderful flavors. One of my favorite parts of Ethiopian cuisine is how communal the eating experience is. Everyone gathers around a large serving plate and enjoys the meal together and I love that experience so much. This dish is inspired by doro wat and I think it is a great starting point if you’ve never had Ethiopian food.
Cured Coldwater Fish (pg 139) – This is by far the recipes that I have made the most from this book. Jeff LOVES this recipe and it is one that, if he could have his way, we would have this for breakfast everyday. Do make sure to check the errata section of the post. There is a minor error in the recipe list, where the amount of sugar is missing.
Most Difficult Recipe
The Sunfall Maizemeat (pg 111) – I’ve been wanting to attempt tamales for years now and when I read the description for this recipe in game, I knew it was finally time. Tamales require a lot of time and patience to put together. My recommendation when cooking this recipe would be to make it a group activity. Invite a few friends or family over and make it an event. This will help put this together quicker while being a fun bonding time with others. Also, everyone gets to enjoy an amazing meal.
Beginners: Where to Start?
For some fans of the series this might be your first leap in the kitchen and the recipes might be a little intimidating. Cooking is all about practice and repeating techniques to get more and more comfortable in the kitchen. Here are a handful of options that are great starting points for a beginner chef.
The Greenmarrow on Wheatslice (pg 23) and Ruby Sunrise (pg 155) are great starting spots if you are looking for a breakfast item. To keep the Greenmarrow recipe on the easier side, I’d recommend grabbing some sliced wheat bread so you don’t have to worry about making your own bread for this one.
For meals, I think the Beanweed Bites (pg 19), Milduf’s Local Stew (pg 81), Crunchleaf Bowl (pg 131) and Fen’s Fieldbird Stew (pg 133) are all wonderful starting points. Each of these will help teach you something new in the kitchen, from learning how to work with tofu, how to caramelize onions, or how easy a stew is to put together. All of that is a great way to improve basic cooking skills that you can use in much more complicated recipes in this book and elsewhere.
The Mountain Trail Bread (pg 53) is a great way to try making bread for the first time. It is a simple bread that you mix together and knead for a couple of minutes. The longest part of this recipe is letting it rise. Since it has so much weight from the nuts and dried fruit, it takes a long while for the dough to rise and get its strength.
Drinks are nice and easy to put together. Land-God’s Libation (pg 33), Mulled Skybrush (pg 61), Sungria (pg 115), and Antidote (pg 181) are great starting places. Honestly, most of the drinks in the book are a great place for any beginner to pick up. Find one that speaks to you and give it a try.
There are a good chunk of desserts that are on the trickier side in this book. But do not despair, there are some good easy ones as well, such as the Blue Light Pudding (pg 151) and Imperial Dark Seafoam (pg 171). Whenever I have extra avocado, I’ll whip up a quick batch of the Dark Seafoam, a vegan chocolate mousse. It is super easy and, honestly, the food processor does all the work.
Thank You
Thank you to Insight Editions and Guerilla Games for giving me the opportunity to work on this project and letting me create these delicious recipes inspired by the incredible world of Horizon. Jennifer, thank you for managing this project and making sure we created the best product we could. Thank you to my co-author Rick Barba for the amazing lore write ups for this project.
Thank you to my husband, Jeff, for all the help you provide with these projects. You are always pushing me to improve my recipes and writing. I appreciate that he’ll listen to me workshop recipe ideas even when he has no idea what I’m talking about. He gets the benefit of tasting all the recipes and getting his thoughts is super helpful. Kanji, as always during the whole process, is always keeping an eye on me in the kitchen as I work. He is rewarded occasionally with a piece of carrot or banana. Such a spoiled pooch.
Thank you to my agent, Kate McKean. You continue to make my life so much easier with each of these projects and I appreciate all the work you do! Without you, I would be getting confused reading all the contract legal speak. Also, huge congrats to her and her future book release that she is currently working on.
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’s to many more delicious meals!
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.
One-Handed Supper (pg 79) – Recipe mentions if the dough is too dry to add milk, this should be water – you do not need milk for this recipe.
Cured Coldwater Fish (pg 139) – The ingredients list is missing the sugar amount. You will need 3.2 ounces sugar (equal to 20% of the weight of the salmon).