On A Feast of Thorns and Roses
An interview with the author of a forthcoming fandom cookbook!
Welcome to the UnRecipe post for all subscribers! This conversation with cookbook author, blogger, and self-publishing guru Chelsea Cole is all about her upcoming cookbook A Feast of Thorns and Roses. I hope you enjoy it! Next Tuesday, paid subscribers will receive a recipe for the easiest chocolate cake. As always, check out my past posts here and learn more about my day job here. Thanks for reading.
Chelsea Cole is a cookbook author, food blogger, photographer, and a huge fan of romantasy. Her website, A Duck’s Oven, focuses on sous vide cooking. She has written two cookbooks, Everyday Sous Vide and Sous Vide Meal Prep and teaches courses on cookbook writing at The Cookbook Lab. She currently lives outside of Portland, Oregon with her husband and son.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Laura Scherb: So, tell me about the cookbook that's coming out.
Chelsea Cole: It's a fan cookbook of the A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) book series. I worked really hard to bring the books to life through food, which is very tricky. It's funny, I've had a bunch of people see the cookbook and they'll be like, “there's no food in that book.” But if you read it intentionally looking for food, there's food everywhere. So it's a mix of taking dishes that are actually described in the book and creating a recipe based on them, which isn't always as easy as you think.
For example, in the first book, one of the first things you hear about is a saucy meat dish. So I had to decide what do we do here? How can I work with this? There's a lot of creativity with some of the recipes, but then there's also things that are very clear.
For example, there’s a chocolate cookie recipe in the first book. And so in the book, I bring those to life, but then also developed a lot of recipes that are inspired by characters and places and all these things in the book. The author, Sarah J. Maas, is amazing at describing everything, even how certain characters smell, so being able to use that to inspire different recipes was fun. And then there's also a whole section of themed party inspiration and different recipes that would go well with each themed party, even including game ideas that you could play at the party. There’s lots of little details that nod to the series. For example, all of the tips in the book are advice from Alis, and Alis is a character in the book series. So, yeah, it was very fun.
LS: Wow. This is just so cool. And I have so many extremely nerdy questions, but my first question is how many times did you read this series and what did the process look like when you were going through to comb through and pick the recipes that you decided to incorporate into the book?
CC: Yeah. So I first read the book in 2022. And then I read it again just for fun. And then I had this idea for the book, and so I read it again. I think I've read it, I don't know, at least four times at this point. And it's a long series.
While I listen to it, I have a notebook in my phone, and anytime I hear something that's a smell, a place, or the name of the food or something like that, I write it down in that notes app. I would also work via Kindle. So I had my Kindle book, but also the Kindle application on my computer, which is amazing because you can search, which made things much easier.
LS: That is so cool. I mean, it's just like research but for a fantasy world, so I love it. SoI know with some books, if you're incorporating elements of other cultures or other cuisines, there's a cultural fact checker involved. Did you have anyone like that working on this book who were familiar with the series and were a sounding board in terms of the characters and the places that you were trying to get on the page, or was it just you?
CC: Many friends and family. I had about five core people who I would text constantly, and for that reason they’re thanked in the acknowledgments of the book. For example, each member of the inner circle, which is a group of characters in the book, they have their own signature cocktail. Developing those was tricky. Cassian is a character everybody loves. He’s very sweet and lovable and kind and caring, but also, a big, jock-y man. And I ended up doing a riff on a Long Island iced tea for him.
So I would check with those people to see: do we feel like this is a good fit? All of these people were amazing on that front. And then I also really relied on the fandom wikis. If I was developing a recipe based on a lesser-known character, I would thoroughly read those and then go back and forth between that and the book, just so I felt like the recipe represented them well.
LS: Fandom wikis are always so interesting. This sounds like it's such a world—with five books—there’s so much to draw from. It seems like you are very into this world before you even thought about translating it into food. Does that sound right?
CC: Yeah. I mean, I loved the series. I think that for many of us who loved Harry Potter and Twilight and Hunger Games and all those books when we were younger, this new series has resonated in a way that books since then haven't.
I talked to so many women in particular who've talked about how this book series made them love reading again. And that was definitely the case for me. This world is so fun and interesting and opened the doors to Fourth Wing and Spark of the Ever Flame and all these other universes that are really fun for escapism.
LS: Absolutely. Can you talk a little bit about the responsibility that you feel for this fandom in translating food into a cookbook?
CC: Yes. It's funny. I have dual emotions about the release of this cookbook, which are excitement and terror. I worked really hard on it. I think it's great. I know that people are going have differing opinions about some things, but I'm really hopeful that overall, people will be really excited and it'll let them experience the books in a completely new way, especially as we're all anxiously waiting for the next book in the series to come out.
This just gives people a new way to experience the world, to talk about it, especially if you do a book club or have a group of friends who are really into the series. It's just a new way to celebrate it. But, you know, there are especially particular recipes that I'm especially nervous about.
For example, one of the biggest questions I get about the book is: is the soup recipe in there? If you know, you know! There’s a very famous soup scene in one of the books, and of course it's in the cookbook, but in the book, the soup is not specified.
It's kind of implied that it's essentially like a canned soup, whatever that would be in a rustic fairy realm. But I had to just go with my gut. So I'm very curious what people will think of where I landed on that.
LS: I think that it'll be so fun to see how people engage. Just like with every fandom, there are always things that people are on one side versus another about, and this could be just another way to deepen the discussions that people have about these books.
CC: I hope so.
LS: So I know that you have sort of alluded to a little bit of a tour that you're going to be doing when this book comes out. Could you touch on that? What you're most excited for?
CC: Yes! I'm really excited for the PR boxes that we're sending out. They're very on theme. I was very intentional. I tried to get a few things from some smaller makers that are really beautiful and individually crafted. So I'm really excited about those.
I'm going to LA in April to go to the Ripped Bodice, which is like kind of the OG romance bookstore. I’ll be hosting a food focused ACOTAR-themed trivia night. I'm so, so excited. I'm working on some more events in Portland and Seattle. So if there's Portlanders, keep in touch because I'd love for you to attend.
LS: This just all sounds so thrilling and exciting, and I can't wait to hear about it. I know probably everyone has asked you this, but do you have a favorite recipe in the book?
CC: That’s a good question. I don't know because there could be favorites from lots of different perspectives. For example, there's like a really quickie line in the book where Rhys brings Feyre some soup and she's like, what is it? It smells weird. And he' says, “It's rabbit stew, if the cooks to be believed.” And I have a soup recipe called “Beef Stew, If The Cook’s To Be Believed”. So that one I just like because I think it's funny.
I have a recipe that's a nod to Feyre's dad, who was a merchant, and it's a very richly spiced chicken pot pie, and that might be my favorite tasting one.
LS: What do you think is going to be the sleeper hit recipe?
CC: Okay, so there's two dessert sections. One dessert section is grand desserts, and each one in it is inspired by a court from the book. The ones that are inspired by the Dawn Court were the hardest one to come up with, but I ended up making an orange tiramisu. And I love it.
LS: Yum.
CC: Very difficult to develop, but I am so happy with where it landed, and I think it's incredible. So I think that that could be a good sleeper hit one.
LS: How can people pre-order this book? When is it coming out?
CC: Yes. So pre-order literally anywhere books are sold. I'm going to encourage you to support a local bookshop, especially a local romance bookshop if you have one. And also Barnes & Noble is doing an exclusive edition of the book, and it is going to be beautiful. It has a menu that you can only find in the Barnes & Noble edition with five exclusive recipes and a gorgeous cover that I'm so excited to get my hands on. So recommend going that route if you want something really special.
You can follow along with me on social on TikTok and Instagram.
And you can find more information about the book, including event dates at AFeastofThornsandRoses.com.
Thanks for reading! See you back here next week for chocolate cake.
Obsessed, thank you for sharing the ACOTAR cookbook love ❤️