A Feast of Ice and Fire, the Official Game of Thrones cookbook, comes creeping to your doorstep by mail and hits shelves today in bookstores around the world.
Go get ’em!
Then come back and tell us what you’re most looking forward to cooking or eating. Or better yet, call out of work, and spend the day eating. It’s a very Tyrion thing to do.
Also, if you send us photos of the book in your local bookstore (with the location), we’ll add it to the gallery in this post.
Huzzah!
Roman Cod Cakes
“The wedding guests gorged on cod cakes and winter squash, hills of neeps and great round wheels of cheese, on smoking slabs of mutton and beef ribs charred almost black…” -A Dance with Dragons
Modern Cod Cakes
The Roman cod cakes are quirkier than what we’re used to when we think of fish cakes, but they’re also quite good. The cod is a nice, mild white fish, which lets the other flavors and textures have a turn in the spotlight. The cilantro is not overpowering, and the wine imparts a subtle sweet flavor. The leeks give an overall crunchiness, while the occasional caper provides a pop of vinegar. We weren’t great fans of the sauce, however; It’s a little too peculiar a pairing for our taste!
The modern cakes were excellent. Just a little crispy on the outside, but with a moist cod-potato filling on the inside. A little salt and a dash of lemon complete the meal, and they’re equally good right out of the frying pan as they are straight from the fridge.
Winner? I’m really not sure. The modern cakes win for general likeability, but the Roman cakes are unique and special. My personal ideal might be a combination of the two, with turnips swapped in for the spuds, and the sauteed leeks added in.
Minutal marinum: pisces in caccabum, adicies liquamen, oleum, uinum, cocturam. porros capitatos, coriandrum minutatim concides, isiciola de pisce minuta facies et pulpas piscis cocti concerpis, urticas marinas bene lotas mittes. haec omnia cum cocta fuerint, teres piper, ligusticum, origanum, fricabis. liquamen suffundes, ius de suo sibi, exinanies in caccabum. cum ferbuerit, tractam confringes. obligas. cum ferbuerit, agitas. piper aspargis et inferes. [Place the fish in a saucepan, add broth, oil, and wine. Also finely chop leek heads and coriander. Form it into small cakes, adding capers and well-cleaned sea nettles. These fish cakes cook in a liquor of pepper, lovage, and crushed oregano, diluted with broth and the above fish liquor. Skim well, bind, stir over the cakes, sprinkle with pepper and serve.] – Apicius, 4th Century
Cook’s Notes: Sea Nettle is a jellyfish. Although there were a few washed up on the beach when I went to photograph the dish, I left out it out for simplicity’s sake. I also opted for the more traditional route of frying the cakes, as they fell apart completely when I tried to cook them strictly according to the recipe.
Ingredients:
For sauce:
Poach the cod in the broth until it is flaky, around 5 minutes. Fish out the cod, place in a bowl, and crumble. Add the leek, cilantro, and capers, then the eggs and 1/2 cup breadcrumbs. Mix this thoroughly by hand, and try to make a few patties with them. Add more breadcrumbs as needed.
Once you have a consistency that will work, form the mixture into cakes and fry in oil over medium heat. The cakes should be golden brown, and just a tad crispy. Place on a plate covered with paper towel to drain.
To the poaching broth, add lovage, oregano, and pepper. Simmer until this sauce has reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Strain, then thicken with a roux.
Serve cod cakes while still warm, with sauce on the side, or drizzled over.
Cook’s note: This recipe is “modern” because of the inclusion of potatoes, a decidedly non-Westerosi ingredient.
Ingredients:
Boil and mash the potatoes, set them aside. Boil the codfish until it flakes easily. Drain and flake the fish with a fork. Be sure to remove all bones. Mix the flaked fish, the potatoes and the rest of the ingredients together well by hand. If the mixture is too crumbly, add another egg. If too sticky, add some more bread crumbs. Form the mixture into cakes and fry them on medium high heat in a skillet coated with oil, until nice browned on one side, then flip them over and continue to cook until well browned on the other side. Yield: Makes 12 fish cakes. Serves 4-6.
Historical Candied Ginger
“’There is a gift for the boy in one of the chests. Some candied ginger. He was always fond of it.’ Illyrio sounded oddly sad.” -A Dance with Dragons
Modern Candied Ginger
Rustic, simple, and quite sweet, the historical candied ginger is as wonderful straight as it is added to tea. The texture appears to be quite hard, but dissolves and crumbles nicely in the mouth. Despite the relatively small amount of ginger, the finished Georgian candies have a wonderful zip to them, without the same overpowering ginger as actual slices.
Quite their opposite, the modern recipe produces candied ginger that will set one’s mouth on fire. They are the more easily recognizable candied ginger that one can find in many stores, but I’ve never encountered any with this much bite.
Personally, I preferred the more mild gingeriness of the older recipe, although true ginger fans will love the modern.
Plants that welcome the stranger,
Sea-swept and driven astern,
Beloved by the wide-world ranger—
Seaweed, tussock, and fern.
-Henry Lawson, 1910
Chocolate Carrageen Pudding
Carrageen, or carraigín, is a wonderful foraged seaweed from the coasts of Ireland. Historically, it has been used as a binding agent in foods, as well as a clarifying agent in brewing. We order ours direct from foragers in Ireland, although it is available in most bulk herb sections, and in many home brewing stores.
The custard itself is interestingly savory, while still clearly a dessert. The carrageen adds a slight, unoffensive sea flavor that’s hard to place if one doesn’t know the secret ingredient. For those that enjoy a sweeter dessert, the sugar content can be increased, and other flavorings can be added as well.
Carrageen pudding has made more than one appearance at the dinner table in our house, equally suited to dinners for Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey. A relatively quick and easy set pudding to make, it’s an winner in our books.
This pudding is a perfect dessert for GRRM to include in the next books. It’s use of seaweed as a binding agent, and just a bit of decadent cocoa powder for flavor makes it an ideal course to be served on the Fingers. We imagine Littlefinger enjoying a bite of it, having funded the import of the exotic flavorings, but still unable to shake his seaweedy origins. :)
“Tables and benches had been raised outside the pavilions, piled high with sweetgrass and strawberries and fresh-baked bread.” -A Game of Thrones
Strawberries & Sweetgrass
The first taste of summer, for me, has always been strawberries. If there were a way to further improve upon their juicy goodness, this incredibly simple recipe is it. Each flavor enhances that of the strawberries without treading too heavily. Both lemongrass and ginger are distinct, but work together to compliment the basic goodness of fresh fruit, making strawberries and sweetgrass a winning dessert in my book.
Served alongside a glass of iced mead or cider, this is an instant favorite for warm summer evenings on the porch, or for a winning contribution to a picnic.
Total Prep Time: 10 minutes Serves: 3-4
Ingredients:
Combine all ingredients except the strawberries in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat for just long enough for the honey and mead to meld together, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Prepare the strawberries by removing the leafy tops, and slice into a large bowl in an assortment of shapes and sizes. Pour the sauce over the sliced fruit and toss to coat. Serve either at room temperature, or chilled. It is especially good with a glass of the same mead or cider with which you made the sauce. 
“‘Found some nettles and brewed a tea,’ Shadd announced. ‘Will m’lady take a cup?’
‘Yes, with thanks.’ She cradled the tea in her scarred hands and blew on it to cool it.” -A Clash of Kings
Nettle Tea
Somewhat lacking in fresh wild greens in Boston, we sadly had to default to dried nettle leaves to make this nettle tea. However, if you are lucky enough to have fresh leaves at your disposal, we recommend using those. We’ve planted our own nettles, partly as a defensive wall around our garden, and will update this post once we’ve tried them fresh.
It’s high in iron and vitamins, making it a wonderful surprise infusion by the side of the road while travelling. We actually didn’t care for the addition of lemon to ours, although a good dollop of honey was more than welcome.
The tea tastes very green, without the sometimes unpleasant herbal quality present in many other infusions.
We have taken a few liberties with additional ingredients; it’s unlikely that Catelyn and her party would have had all of these items on hand, but it makes for a much better tea, so we hope you will indulge us. :)
Ingredients:
“There was much more than she’d asked for: hot bread, butter and honey and blackberry preserves, a rasher of bacon and a soft-boiled egg, a wedge of cheese, a pot of mint tea. And with it came Maester Luwin.” -A Game of Thrones
Mint Sun Tea
We know the text doesn’t call for mint sun tea, but no one should have to live without this recipe. This is one of our go-to drinks for summer. As sort of tea aficionados/addicts, this fills our needs for both tea and sunshine. Sun tea is a fantastic way to get your caffeine fix without having to use the kettle on a hot day. If you plan far enough ahead, you won’t have to ever go inside again! Also a great recipe to use when camping. And you always look cooler drinking from a Mason jar!
“The stewards began to bring out the first dish, an onion broth flavored with bits of goat and carrot. Not precisely royal fare, but nourishing; it tasted good enough and warmed the belly. Owen the Oaf took up his fiddle, and several of the free folk joined in with pipes and drums. The same pipes and drums they played to sound Mance Rayder’s attack upon the Wall. Jon thought they sounded sweeter now. With the broth came loaves of coarse brown bread, warm from the oven. Salt and butter sat upon the tables.” -A Dance with Dragons
Onion Broth with Goat and Carrot
Zounds!
This is the most flavorful, delicious, unique broth we’ve ever encountered. Rich and full, heavily tinged with the salt from the pork, with the underlying flavors of the herbs and onions. We wouldn’t have expected the combined mint and sage to be pleasing, but as usual, we were wonderfully rewarded by following the original recipe. On the whole, it’s a nice, nuanced combination of flavors for relatively little effort.
Consider pairing this broth with a loaf of our Black Beer Bread, but go light on the butter; you only have a bit left, and winter is coming…
Goat Kid or Mutton, with Thick Broth. Get kid or mutton and cut it into small pieces, and put it into a pot with salt pork; then get sage, mint and onion, and cook everything together; then get good spices and saffron, distemper them with the meat’s broth and let everything boil together until the meat falls apart; then lift the meat out into a dish with the thick broth. -The Neapolitan recipe collection, Italy, 15th c.
Ingredients:
Combine the salt pork, water, ale, herbs, and onions in a large pot. Simmer for 45 minutes.
Strain the broth into a clean pot, reserving the onions if you would like to add them back in. Season with a pinch of spices, and add the chopped carrots.
In a separate skillet, brown the goat meat in the fat, then add it to the broth pot. Let everything simmer together for 15 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Skim some of the fat off the top if you like, then serve hot.
Prep: 15 minutes Cooking: 1 hour
Serves 5-6
Medieval Oxtail Soup
“This evening they had supped on oxtail soup, summer greens tossed with pecans, grapes, red fennel, and crmbled cheese, hot crab pie, spiced squash, and quails drowned in butter. Each dish had come with its own wine. Lord Janos allowed that he had never eaten half so well.” (A Clash of Kings)
Modern Oxtail Soup
Our Thoughts:
Rich and savory, this is the medieval-soup version of brisket. The recipe is different from other oxtail soups in that it doesn’t have New World tomato in it, so it lacks that distinctive acidic tang. The broth is very savory and beefy with a bite from all the spices, while the meat is tender from long boiling. It is delicious with a slice of buttered bread and a mug of ale.
This modern twist, an oxtail and Gruyère ravioli in a clarified oxtail stock, is elegant and fantastic. The cheese melts into the oxtail, adding just a slight bite to the flavorful meat. The stock, though similar to that in the medieval recipe, has a more intense flavor, due to the additional simmering time, and is simply beautiful in presentation.
The best part about these recipes is you don’t have to choose- simply use leftovers from the medieval recipe to cook the modern!
“In the airy chambers beneath the rookery, his girl served them boiled eggs, stewed plums, and porridge, while Pycelle served the pontifications.” -A Clash of Kings
Stewed Plums
These stewed plums are like a simpler version of our Medieval Plum Mousse recipe. The fruit breaks down and mixes with the honey and cinnamon, resulting in mushy spoonfuls of delightfulness. It’s a great way to used plums that are slightly underripe or out of season, and make them into a wonderful topping for a dessert (Ice Cream! Cake!), or as a sweeter side for a slice of meat.