Heroes' Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook has divided its culinary offerings into five chapters, covering the cuisines of Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings and "Uncommon," which is where you will find recipes prized by races you're typically more likely to be at odds with on your adventures, rather than sharing a meal with. Whether it's Halfling chili (with real Halfling), Cockatrice wings, or traditional dishes beloved by Deep Gnomes or the populace of Barovia, the dishes in this section are, well, more adventurous. The last chapter, "Elixirs & Ales" features a variety of beverages, from some exotic teas and coffees to alcoholic and non-alcoholic mixed drinks to challenge your constitution. There's even a smoothie thrown in, for good measure.
I was quite pleasantly surprised to see how the inclusion of alcohol was handled in the Elixirs & Ales chapter. While some of the alcoholic beverages don't offer virgin alternatives, the "Cook's Note" section often provides a suggestion of what spirit can be added to offer a more potent version of a non-alcoholic drink or what substitution can be made to create a virgin version of an alcoholic one.
I will say that we were surprised at the time required for some of these recipes, as well as the cooking equipment required. Part of the reason for the surprise, at least when it comes to the equipment, is that I had initially skipped over one of the sections in the front of the book. "About this Book: Creating Food and Water" (page xv) provides a list of tools you will need for some of the recipes in the book. While not every recipe will require these items, the list includes: a cheese grater, cocktail shaker and muddler, Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pan, food processor, measuring cups and spoons, pastry brush, pie plate, strainer, stand mixer or electric hand-mixer, tongs and a wire rack. Hmm... and that list doesn't include a candy thermometer, but that comes in quite handy for making Barovian Butterscotch Pudding.
So, the most important consideration of any collection of recipes has to be... how do they taste, right? We tried several of these recipes and every one we tried was delicious. The Castle Amber Onion Soup was amazingly flavorful. In addition to serving one of the baguette slices on the side, as was instructed in the recipe, we also placed one on top of each soup, in the style of a French Onion Soup. Feywild Eggs, essentially a frittata, is like a crustless quiche; it had a wonderful savory taste and could be eaten with hands, much like a pizza, making it a dish that wouldn't be out of place in a tavern and possibly an option for eating while playing D&D. The same could be said of Dwarven Flatbread, which is relatively easy to make (though time consuming, as each piece takes about four to six minutes in the pan) and can be used to wrap up other foodstuffs, such as cheeses and sausage, or just dipped into a sauce and eaten with the hands without making too much of a mess. One more dish that doesn't so much need a dish is "Orc" Bacon. This is a finger-food made with thick-cut bacon peppered and coated in a candy glaze. Many people may have had a candied peppered bacon before, but "Orc" Bacon adds a touch of citrus, for a unique flavor profile. The image included in the book (serving suggestion?) shows it being served wrapped in waxed paper and then stuck into a mug. Served in such a manner, it could possibly be eaten during a game of D&D; the only thing to watch out for is the stickiness of the glaze that could get on the fingers and, hence, miniatures, character sheets and the like.
One dish that we absolutely had to try is Arkhan the Cruel's Flame-Roasted Halfling Chili - intended to be made with flame-roasted halfling, of course. Well, we didn't have any halfling on hand, but the ingredients list called for ground turkey, which we did have, so that worked out well. At any rate, the reason we had to try this recipe out is because my wife is an excellent cook, makes an amazing chili, and the ingredients in this recipe have things that she would never have considered putting into a chili, such as cinnamon and cocoa powder, and so we had to see what it tasted like and how it compared to hers. The outcome? Delicious, amazing, and very exotic tasting. We all agreed that comparing her chili to Arkhan the Cruel's was like comparing apples to oranges; both are out-of-this-realm, but with very different distinct flavors. That having been said, while we aren't switching to Arkhan's recipe, we will be adding this chili into the rotation of meals that we make. The best we could describe the taste is that it's what we would expect to get if we ordered a bowl of chili while in the Moroccan section in The World Showcase in Disney's Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida.
Barovian Butterscotch Pudding is one of the more exacting dishes to prepare, requiring a candy thermometer to be able to closely monitor the temperature, but the results are delicious. So delicious that you might consider moving to Barovia. Don't. Stay as far away from Castle Ravenloft as possible.
To sample a few of the drinks, we tried Cocoa Broth, Evermead and Par-Salian's Tea (sorta). My wife made the Cocoa Broth, a rich-flavored hot drink featuring chocolate and coffee notes and tasting like a very premium hot chocolate, in a way, and is even better topped with marshmallows. I made Evermead twice - once for myself and then again later to share with others - and it's a delightfully spiced drink whose aroma reminded me of Christmases past, with the smells of cinnamon and warm fruity essences, much like a take on warm spiced cider. Evermead can be served warm, at room temperature, or slightly chilled, but we always had it warm, contributing to its fragrance. Additionally, it can be non-alcoholic (per the recipe) or it can be embellished with a bit of vodka or brandy (per the included Cook's Note). We found both variations delightful. Finally, I did make a half-assed attempt at Par-Salian's Tea. While the recipe is primarily based on lemon zest, I substituted orange zest (as I didn't have any fresh lemons on hand). I added a bit of lemon juice to add some of the originally intended lemon flavor, but I'm sure it's not the least bit the same. Finally, the recipe also calls for fresh mint, which I was fresh out of. So, I added some dried mint, which, again, is not a proper substitute in this recipe. I feel like I was able to get an idea of the flavor, but not to fully enjoy it. Still, even my abomination of an attempt was quite tasty, once the dried mint was strained away.
The pictures are delightful, though there simply are not enough. While the art that is there is beautiful and well-themed, there are several recipes that don't include a picture of the final result. To me, I find that a picture of the final result provides additional information about my final desired outcome. Additionally, the recipes are really missing an at-a-glance box with details, such as the total time for prep and cooking (how long are you in for), the required cookware and some semblance of a difficulty rating. Having just reviewed the most recent of the books in D&D's Young Adventurer Guides series, I feel that the difficulty thing is truly a missed opportunity; it could have had a "Danger" rating, with a skull and a number (1-5) indicating how difficult it is. Also, it would be appropriate to use the "epic" rating for some of these dishes, such as the Castle Amber Onion Soup, which takes at least two hours and thirty seven minutes of actively watching over and stirring, or Barovian Butterscotch Pudding, which requires a candy thermometer and requires fairly constant whisking and ended up requiring us to adjust the burner temperature up and down a bit, tweaking it to get it to hit three hundred degrees Fahrenheit without burning it. Some of the recipes are easy. A lot of them are more complex. Everything we tried, however, was delicious.
If you're someone who loves D&D (or someone who cooks for someone who loves D&D), the recipes in this book are presented with great D&D Realm context and are amazingly delicious. However, I don't know how well these recipes could be worked into a gaming session. The Afterword (entitled "Playing with your Food") addresses this and has some useful suggestions as to working these dishes into your gaming endeavors. True, some of the recipes are for more finger food type snacks that could be eaten at the gaming table, but a good number of the dishes take a long time to prepare. Having a potluck meal, where each player brings a pre-selected dish might work well, but unless there's a gamer with a spouse who loves to cook - or someone hires a chef that takes requests, making a full banquet of these dishes would be too much work for a single day gaming session. When you start talking about multiple hours, you have to ask yourself, would you rather just grab a bag of chips and a soft drink and get a couple additional hours of gaming in?
Still, there are lots of other things that D&D players can do together other than just playing D&D, such as having a meal of a few of these dishes before attending opening night of some highly anticipated fantasy film (when we can do that safely again) or preparing some of the recipes that can more easily be eaten on-the-go before taking a long trip to a Renaissance Fair (once more, when we can do that safely again). In this way, the delicious recipes in Heroes' Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook can help set the mood for several of your future adventures.
