Pop Culture Cooking
When we think about the comforting things that can help to get us through trying times, for me at least, taking refuge in some nostalgic books or TV shows while eating some indulgent treat is an effective treatment. So why not combine the two? Cookbooks focusing on the favorite dishes of some of our favorite fictional characters have kind of become a cottage industry in recent years, and I’ve looked at a few such pieces of culinary pop culture for this entry of Harris’ Tome Corner. And two of them feature Kyle McLaughlin. So there’s that.
Few sketch comedy shows I can think of lean so heavily into culinary themes and food than Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s 2010s series Portlandia, from “we can pickle that” to Colin the chicken, to an entire episode devoted to them waiting in line for brunch (along with their quest for authentic marionberries for filming said brunch). It was still surprising to me how useful I’ve found the show’s official cookbook. It basically bundles in a lot of the show’s jokes along with some pretty cookable recipes, in a way that seems to work (depending on how funny you find the show, of course). Whether opting to “put an egg on it” for recipes that could be improved by being topped with a fried egg to riffing on one-off jokes like the Mayor of Portland’s favorite greasy spoon special Cup of Joe, Side of Dough, I think just about every episode is referenced. I’m not sure who put these recipes together, but the production is slick and appetizing, and the recipes I’ve tried have been great, though only a little vegetarian friendly, unfortunately. My favorite recipe has been the adult babysitter’s mac and cheese, which is just the kind of comfort food I crave right now.
Damn Fine Cherry Pie is an unofficial tribute cookbook devoted to all things Twin Peaks, written by Lindsey Bowen, an organizer for a Twin Peaks festival in the UK. Almost more than the recipes, Bowen offers a plethora of Twin Peaks theme ideas and entertaining tips, from making your own origami owls to decorate your Twin Peaks themed dinner party spread, to where best to obtain a log for your requisite costume, along with all the Twin Peaks trivia you could possibly need outside a director’s commentary on the DVD. As a fan of Twin Peaks’ eerie, inexplicable, chilling, and yet oddly upbeat mood, with its strong currents of Americana in both it’s optimism and horror, spooky takes on diner classics seems like an interesting theme. All in all, though,
I’m not really sure that I would need to look at this one again. The non-recipe tips are mainly redundant and, while the recipes themselves seem fine, a lot of them seem to stretch the connection to Twin Peaks just a little, some being little more than a pun or something that just seems like something a specific character might like.
Divided into themes, from Americana diner standards you might find at the RR Diner to more unusual ideas based on the Black or White lodges (including, of course, garmonbozia), I wonder if these recipes may be most of interest to non-Americans curious to recreate some American classics, especially pastries. There are tons of donut recipes included in particular, and I’m not sure I’m ready to take on donut making personally. On that note, I would say that the majority of these dishes feel a little too complex for a beginner just looking for some stuff for some quick entertaining. It is helpful that the book includes both metric and imperial measurements to make it easier for people on either side of the pond. None of them, however, intrigued me enough to give them a shot.
Easy Eats: A Bee and Puppycat Cookbook is a pretty strong homage to the adorable YouTube born cartoon series, and the collection of recipes included here definitely provide a fun look back at the show.
Created by Adventure Time alumnus Natasha Allegri, it’s an endearing mix of quarter-life crisis malaise, absurd humor, and magical fantasy, and if you haven’t, check it out, it’s free on YouTube. Of all of the themes of the show (as I discuss in my reviews of the comics), the comfort and excitement provided by food are among the most prominent.
As can be expected, the recipes here are geared towards comfort food, with an international emphasis. Everything from onigiri to lasagna, to leek and potato soup are included, representing Japanese, Filipino, and Italian cuisines, among others. While there’s a good number of vegetarian dishes, the majority are a little on the meaty side. Many of the recipes are fairly simple, suitable for a first attempt at home cooking, but a few of the more elaborate entries would definitely require the help of an older helper, though there’s nothing too far out of the ordinary. I saw a few dishes that I definitely want to try out.
Necronomnomnom is a collection of recipes developed as an homage to the works of H.P. Lovecraft (check out my deeper analysis here), or maybe, less Lovecraft himself and more his works as filtered through the lens of role-playing games like Call of Cthulhu. The main gimmick of the Necronononom is that, like some tome of monstrous lore described in The Dunwich Horror or some other Lovecraft story, the recipes are written in a purposefully obtuse, mystical way, attempting to evoke the formula for some ancient ritual or spell. For example, if a recipe were to call for olive oil, the book would say “the oil of virgin… olives,” or that the first step for making a Byakhee gyro includes a whistle, the Elder Sign, the sure Blades of a Processor of Food, etc. Puns abound, including such dishes as the Grape Old Wons (some sort of wonton involving grapes) or the Muesli of Erich Zann. In fact, that might just be the most horror inducing aspect of the book. A more conventional version of the recipes can be found in the back of the book, in case attempting to make sense of these recipes starts to grate on your sanity. The fact that all of the recipes are illustrated rather than photographed makes attempting to replicate them a little more difficult than the silly puns. That being said, the illustrations, full of cool details and scrawls, are some of the better artistic renderings of Cthulhu Mythos stuff I’ve seen.
More than anything else, the recipes included brought to my mind this book I owned as a kid, “Gross Grub,” a collection purposefully unappealing recipes replicating a kitty litter box (sausage in rice casserole) or a spit wad sandwich (peanut butter with marshmallow lumps) that a kid might find fun, especially around Halloween. It’s more or less the same thing here, basic recipes spruced up with a little weirdness, like making a little mi-go out of a blackberry, a cashew, and some sprigs of thyme and dill. Not sure if those flavors go that great together, particularly when melted onto a slice of cheddar on top of a portobello sandwich. Could be fun for a Halloween party, but nothing I would really choose to make at any other time. I did make one of the very boozy cocktails, the martini; shaken, not Hastur. At least a halved version.
Finally, with Binging with Babish, the reader gets a variety of delicious looking recipes drawn from the popular YouTube channel in which comedian and chef Andrew Rea adapts dishes drawn or inspired by various pop culture sources. A fun cookbook, Rea brings the culinary creations he posts on Youtube to print, as well as explaining the reason behind the name Binging with Babish (a reference to The West Wing), tattoo facts, and a bit of his personal life. The real draw of the book, though, are the recipes, celebrating the comfort foods and fancy feasts of your favorite movies, TV shows, and books. For those who are fans of his Youtube channel, you know he never backs down from a theme and often makes everything from scratch. As in the show, he generally attempts as accurate a recreation as possible, before improving on the concept, such as the case with Charlie Kelly’s milk steak or Buddy’s dessert pasta from the movie Elf.
The recipes themselves are quite diverse, ranging from the simple (pizza hut style dipping sticks ala Breaking Bad) to the complex (Big Night’s timpano), only to be tackled by those looking for a true culinary challenge, which Rea himself does not hesitate to do. His exploits include such things as dropping $350 to recreate the insanely decadent “Eggs Woodhouse” recipe from Archer, for instance. Fun to watch, definitely, but not something most viewers will want to try themselves. Still, the recipes themselves seem clear and easy to follow, if you think you’re up for the challenge. I’m thinking of giving the New York Style pizza inspired by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.