I may not be in the kitchen much at the moment, but when I do I prefer to use recipes and what better way to incorporate my geeky interests and eating than using recipes based on titles I've read or seen? The Geeky Chef, back with a second collection of nerdy delights, has made it her business to bring together fans of Minecraft and Doctor Who, Games of Thrones and Harry Potter with something we all need...food.

The recipes include measurements for chefs outside the U.S. (good old metric system) as well as suggestions for substitutions should you or the person you're cooking for be vegan. Before the book even starts, there are also base recipes, such as for simple syrup or a soup base. These base recipes will be handy for a cook to learn as the skills within them translate to other cookbooks you might be tempted to try.

There is quite a lot of variety in this book, from alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to seaweed noodles and herring/pumpkin soup. I wasn't too sure about some of these from the titles alone (here's looking at you, Kiki, for that fish & gourd soup), but like the hotter spices, I'd be willing to try it at least once.

My favorite recipes in The Geeky Chef Strikes Back include Otik's Spiced Potatoes. There were spices and herbs used throughout that, while I had heard of, were not ones I usually ate because I am not a huge fan of heat in my food. I admit to being inspired to try bolder flavors, particularly if I could imagine favorite characters eating the same meal with me. The Mushroom Stew, inspired by Minecraft, was also a recipe I was anxious to try because I love mushrooms, soup, and the recipe sounded so rich and hearty.

I would have liked to see more pictures alongside the recipes. There were a couple, but in a cookbook I would expect at least one for every entry, at least of the finished product. This may have to do with the fact that this was a digital copy and sometimes e-arc copies have errors. Please be sure to check the final product for the full range of photographs of this delicious food.  The soup section had the most overall that I could see, making my mouth water as the weather cools in my region and it becomes proper soup season again.

Most of the games, books, or movies in the book were either ones I enjoy myself or have come across in my geeky travels. For the properties that I was not intimately familiar with, the author gave a brief overview of the title and why she was inspired to create the dish of the moment. Any reader may well feel the need to try put a new game or watch a new film while sampling the dishes within The Geeky Chef Strikes Back.

I was surprised that the author, in the introduction to the book, thought that geeky cooking was still a niche market, that "you wouldn't think" there were so many geeks out there willing to make and taste pop culture inspired food that she was able to write a second book (I have not read the first in her collection entitled The Geeky Chef). I don't agree and before you leave this review, let me share with you some geek themed cookbooks I've found, and cooked from a few, that have been published over the years:


Dining With the Doctor by Chris-Rachael Oseland
Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook by Georgeanne Brennan & Frankie Frankeny
The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Buchotz
The Narnia Cookbook by Douglas Gresham
Doctor Who: The Official Cookbook by Joanna Farrow
Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes by Roald Dahl, Felicity Dahl, & Josie Fison
The Secret Garden Cookbook by Amy Cotler



I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.