World Of Warcraft The Official Cookbook

Tasting the world of Azeroth through 100 recipes.

- Rebekah Valentine

Pausing on a snowy Northrend cliff, the icy twist of the wind sharpens as I gaze upon the Icecrown Citadel. I can hear a distant thud of Magnataur hooves and flap of blue drakes. But none of these virtual sensations comes as close to bringing Northrend to life for me as the remembered tastes of biting juniper, smoky pine, and chilled, fresh-caught salmon.

On December 25, 2016, my parents showed up for Christmas Day dinner and I, a disorganized young adult, had no plan for the turkey. In desperation I cracked open one of my Christmas Eve gifts, World of Warcraft: The Official Cookbook, and flipped to the recipe displayed on the cover: Slow-Roasted Turkey. A quick skim of the ingredients (common) and the instructions (easy) and six hours later, dinner was presented. It was both tasty and a touch uncanny.

The deliciousness spurred me to try more recipes until, somehow, I convinced myself that I was going to finish the thing: All 100 recipes. It took 15 months. In the end, not every recipe was delicious. But like the turkey, most recipes possessed an uncanny flavor or appearance that whispered of their origins in fantasy and drew me, slowly, back to WoW.