As many MTG players will know, there are a lot of MTG products released each year. The majority of these, for better or worse, are sets featuring plenty of interesting and compelling cards. Alongside these, however, Wizards has been known to release all manner of supplemental products and accessories for avid fans.
For the most part, these supplemental products are understandably collectible. Be they promos, playmats, or even chibi figurines, it’s no surprise that players want to own them. For better or worse, official MTG collectibles don’t end there, not by a long shot. With hundreds if not thousands of officially licensed MTG products, there’s all manner of wonderful tat for players to enjoy.
Despite all the MTG-themed and related products available for purchase, this week, MTG players were still surprised to discover another. Seemingly forgotten about by Wizards of the Coast, MTG is getting a cookbook this year?!
Magic: The Gathering: The Official Cookbook
In a sentence I can’t believe I’m writing, later this year, in November, MTG is getting an official cookbook. Descpritively titled Magic: The Gathering: The Official Cookbook this book contains “more than 70 recipes” inspired by the game series. Boasting the tagline “Cuisines of the Multiverse,” it seems the book will have an awful lot in store.
Releasing on November 28th, unsurprisingly, we don’t know every last detail about this MTG-themed cookbook just yet. Saying that, however, the Amazon listing for the book does list the contents menu, giving us all the dish titles. From this page, we can see the book spans ten different planes, with plenty of aptly named dishes.
In case you’re curious, Ravnica, Dominaria, Eldraine, Innistrad, Kaldheim, Kamigawa, Theros, Zendikar, Kaladesh, and Ixalan are the planes the cookbook covers. As you’d expect from a themed cookbook, each recipe title is some play on the set’s aesthetics or characters. The Zendikar chapter, for instance, features “Adventurer’s Poutine” and “Stoneforger Pavlova.”
Beyond having enticing and somewhat flavorful names, from what we’ve seen so far, the recipes do look rather nice. Featuring enticing photography and little snippets of lore, it’s hard not to get enamored by the veritable food porn on display. That being said, however, since we don’t have our hands on the book, there’s no telling exactly how it tastes.
Despite the lack of any actual taste tests so far, as far as cookbooks go, it does appear to be a rather robust one. There’s a good variety of cuisines and recipes, with helpful notes within the recipe to ensure good results. A partial concern is the use of some more unorthodox ingredients, however, acquiring and using said ingredients can often be part of the fun.
More of the Same
As much as I do love a cookbook, admittedly, there is a little disappointment with this one. Coming from both myself and other hungry MTG players, this is partly due to a lack of flavor. Not in the food, mind you, but instead in the set dressing around Magic: The Gathering.
While there may be little descriptions for each meal, and occasional art here and there, the food is just good food. Ultimately, this isn’t anything out of the ordinary for the book’s publisher, Titan Books. Throughout recent years, Titan Books has published countless cookbooks from the world of film, TV, and games. Between Fallout, Star Wars, The Walking Dead, Friends, and even Hannibal, Titan Books has done it all.
As you might expect if you know much about these shows, or MTG for that matter, the food isn’t entirely accurate. On the surface, this isn’t the end of the world as it’s still dressed up nicely, but it’s easy to see through it all. Sure, the “Eternal Feast Roast” has some lore attached, but at the end of the day, it’s just a rack of lamb.
For better or worse, since these themed cookbooks are nothing new, this isn’t a new criticism. Pointing this out, on Reddit, users like u/lukeasaur commented how in these books “the theming is often tenuous, and the recipes aren’t anything special.” Despite this, however, they admit they’ve still purchased many of them, so something clearly works!
While the theming of the book is definitely a concern among players, there is a far bigger problem. As u/Meloku171 points out, this is the book’s name. Magic: The Gathering: The Official Cookbook might be fitting, but MTG literally has numerous great chefs! Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar even has The Underwork Cookbook!
Food Review Soon ᵐᵃʸᵇᵉ
Ultimately, while we can see some good and bad parts so far, it’s unclear just how good this cookbook will be. We’ll just have to get this book for ourselves and review it once we get our hands on it. Until then, we’re still utterly baffled by this product’s existence, especially since Wizards seemingly hasn’t marketed it.
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