It was either that or write a novelty cookbook.
—The Doctor, Big Finish Doctor Who audio The Kingmaker
If you have a popular franchise, you probably have novels and action figures and DVDs and so on. What else will people buy?
A cook book or recipe book is one option, especially, but not necessarily, if the franchise is known for Food Porn or if it's a food-related show set in a Chez Restaurant or luxury hotel. The book may or may not be "in-universe"; that is a cookbook that exists in the setting. (If it is, there may or may not be some explanation for why it uses real world measurements and ingredients — especially if the setting is known for Foreign Queasine.) An Edutainment Show will also want to take this opportunity to talk to the kids in the audience about healthy eating, possibly in a Very Special Episode about avoiding wicked junk food.
Sometimes the cookery book is officially released by the makers of the show or source work, or it can be fan-made. The official cook books vary in quality from lavish productions that make many explicit links to the foods and meals shown in-universe to the low-quality Extruded Book Product that has only a loose connection to the source show, and which is trying to cash in on the show's popularity and ride on its coattails.
There is also a subset of Parody cookbooks with funny parallel Pun Based Titles. These are both loving and mocking in tone. They make fun both of the original work and cookbooks in general. The recipe names will most likely be punning, too. If they aren't officially licensed the authors will need legal advice on how to be able to refer to a copyrighted media property without having the license. In some jurisdictions, if you are parodying work X, you don't need permission from the copyright holders of work X.
Examples:
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Based on Anime and Manga
- Food Wars!, being about cooking, naturally has one: the Tōtsuki Academy Challenge Plate: Shokugeki no Soma Official Recipe Book.
- In 2012, One Piece got one
based (mostly) on the work of in-series Supreme Chef Sanji. As a bonus, the last chapter catalogs what Eiichiro Oda eats during a typical workday.
- Witch Hat Atelier has a cooking spin-off called "Kitchen of Witch Hat." Though the ingredients are fantastical stand-ins for real life produce and the cooking methods involve magic to heat and cool the dishes, the recipes are laid out with step-by-step instructions for creating dishes like pudding, scrambled egg sandwiches, apple tarts, seafood pasta, and sangria.
Based on Comic Books
- The DC Comics Superheroes Super Healthy Cookbook by Mark Salzman, Judy Garlan and Michele Grodner. More or less in-universe, with recipes like Perry White's Great Caesar Salad (with tomato and cucumber Daily Planet logos).
- Stan Lee Presents the Mighty Marvel Superhero Cookbook, with such gems as "make some pancakes and put syrup over them in the shape of Spider-Man's webbing" and "put some meat between slices of bread" as actual recipes.
- A long-running series of books released in Italy starting from the late Sixties based on Disney Mouse and Duck Comics (which among other things featured a Defictionalization of the Junior Woodchuck's Guidebook) featured Grandma Duck's cookbook.
- In 1992, there was also a Cooking with Asterix cookbook, with Marie-Christine Crabos as the author and, you guessed it, Albert Uderzo as the illustrator.
Based on Comic Strips
- Maw Broon's Cookbook is based on The Broons.
- The Peanuts franchise has Peanuts Cookbook and Peanuts Lunchtime Cookbook, both of which features Peanuts reprint on even pages followed by a recipe on odd pages.
Based on Film – Animation
- Alice in Wonderland: The Official Cookbook by Elena Craig and S.T. Bende is based on Disney's adaptation of the story.
- Coco: The Official Cookbook by Gino Garcia is a book of authentic Mexican recipes themed to the movie.
- The Disney Animated Canon has various spinoff cookbooks, such as Disney Recipes: From Animation to Inspiration, Enchanted Recipes, The Disney Villains Cookbook, and Cooking with Magic: A Century of Recipes, among others.
- Besides the above examples, the Disney Princess franchise has also produced several cookbooks, including The Disney Princess Cookbook, Disney Princess Baking, Disney Princess Tea Party and Disney Princess Healthy Treats, and two specifically themed to The Princess and the Frog: The Princess and the Frog Cookbook and Tiana's Cookbook.
- The Nightmare Before Christmas has no less than three spinoff cookbooks: Nightmare Before Christmas Cookbook, The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Official Cookbook and Entertaining Guide, and The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Official Baking Cookbook. There's also Zach Neil's The Nightmare Before Dinner, which is themed to all the works of Tim Burton.
- Turning Red got an unofficial cookbook by Kolby Moore subtitled "Eating Like a Red Panda!".
Based on Film – Live-Action
- Babe's Country Cookbook by Dewey Gram is a book of vegetarian recipes, all supposedly from Supreme Chef Esme Hoggett's kitchen.
Based on Literature
- Mary Poppins in the Kitchen: A Cookery Book with a Story by PL Travers. As the title suggests, this one has a story, in which Mary teaches the Banks kids to cook.
- Nanny Ogg's Cookbook by Terry Pratchett, Stephen Briggs and Tina Hannan (Discworld). Largely in-universe, with extra-diagetic "Editor's Notes" about the need to substitute Roundworld measurements and utensils. It's also noted that some recipes have been adjusted to provide "the look but not the taste", including the whole section on dwarfish cooking.
- Several based on the works of Beatrix Potter:
- Peter Rabbit's Natural Foods Cookbook by Arnold Dobrin has recipes named after the characters but not especially based on the books.
- Peter Rabbit's Cookery Book by Anne Emerson, based directly on the food in the books (although the introduction reassures readers that Jeremy Fisher's Butterfly Sandwiches do not contain butterflies and Samuel Whiskers' Roly Poly Pudding doesn't contain Tom Kitten).
- The Peter Rabbit and Friends Cookbook by Naia Bray.
- The Pooh Cook Book, "inspired by" Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne.
- Two books based on Little House on the Prairie: The Little House Cookbook, which gives recipes for meals mentioned in the books, and The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook, which is from her actual recipe notes. Sadly, neither has the recipe for Laura's pieplant pie.
- From A Song of Ice and Fire, there is A Feast of Ice And Fire, the official cookbook. It features both authentic medieval recipes and modern recipes for the various foods mentioned in the books.
- There is a fanmade Harry Potter Unofficial Cookbook, surprisingly enough.
- Encyclopedia Brown Takes The Cake! follows each of its cases with a set of recipes.
- The Hunger Games has an unofficial cookbook.
- The Nero Wolfe Cookbook is a collection of recipes for dishes served in the novels.
- American Girl has a number of cookbooks inspired by their characters, with recipes from various historical or contemporary eras the characters' stories took place.
- Patricia Cornwell has actually written two of these for the Kay Scarpetta novels. The first was a novella called Scarpetta's Winter Table which is actually a mystery in which food plays a large part; the recipes for the meals that feature in the story are detailed on separate pages. A more straightforward example is the recipe book Food to Die For: Secrets from Kay Scarpetta's Kitchen which was published a few years later.
- Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels gave rise to Lobscouse and Spotted Dog, a highly entertaining & authentic cookbook full of Napoleonic-era recipes (and of clues as to why Jack Aubrey had trouble keeping the pounds off!).
- Balsa's Table is a collection of recipes for meals mentioned in the Moribito and The Beast Player series.
- Hannah Swensen ended up with a book of recipes that had been featured in the series up to that point (the main character owned a desert bakery, so most of the recipes were for cookies, brownies, and similar). And one of the stories, while not a cookbook (since it had a plot), included enough recipes to host a Holiday Dinner; in fact, the very dinner the characters were getting ready for while the plot happened.
- Jane Austen's novels got The Jane Austen Cookbook. It describes Austen's interest in food, drawing upon both the novels and her letters. It has authentic recipes from late Georgian and Regency England, modernized for today's cooks.
- Fifty Shades of Chicken is a parody in a cookbook, spoofing Fifty Shades of Grey. Fifty chicken recipes, each more seductive than the last. This book will have you dominating dinner.
- The Redwall Cookbook contains recipes for many of the foods Brian Jacques describes (in mouth-watering detail) in his Redwall novels. The recipes are framed by and featured in a short story about a young mouse who works in the Redwall kitchens.
- The Boxcar Children Cookbook, featuring recipes from the original nineteen books.
- Outlander Kitchen: The Official Outlander Companion Cookbook and its sequel Outlander Kitchen: To The New World and Back Again by Theresa Carle-Sanders, which feature "historical, contemporary, and character-inspired dishes from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander universe".
- Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes feature recipes for the various foods featured in Dahl's books (i.e. snozzcumbers and frobscottle from The BFG, several of Willy Wonka's creations, the chocolate cake eaten by Bruce Bogtrotter in Matilda, etc.)
Based on Live-Action TV
- Dining on Babylon 5 by Stephen C. Smith which actually appeared in the series. Compiled by the owner of B5's Fresh Air Restaurant and with contributions from all the main station personnel (with a note explaining the alien recipes have been adjusted to suit human biology).
- Blue Bloods:The Blue Bloods Cookbook, a collection of Irish type dishes that one could imagine being at the Reagans table, written by series star Bridget Monyahan.
- Alice's Brady Bunch Cookbook by Ann B. Davis. This was the actress who played Alice, the Bradys' housekeeper (and cook) on The Brady Bunch.
- Doctor Who:
- The Doctor Who Cookbook by Gary Downie. Recipes were submitted by actors from the show and given Doctor Who inspired names like Castrovalvan Kebabs.
- A second official cookbook came out in 2016, by professional cookery writer Joanna Farrow.
- Mary Ann's Gilligan's Island Cookbook was written by Dawn Wells (who played Mary Ann), Ken Beck, Jim Clark and had a foreword from Bob Denver (who played Gilligan). It had a lot of coconut pie recipes.
- Gilmore Girls has an unofficial cookbook Eat Like a Gilmore, particularly interesting because the main characters are most known for eating out or ordering in, but their rich family are gourmets and their close friends are excellent cooks.
- There's at least four spin-off cookbooks for The Great British Bake Off, all specializing in, what a surprise, baked goods.
- Hannibal has Feeding Hannibal: a Connoisseur's Cookbook, written by the show's food stylist Janice Poon. It contains behind-the-scenes stories behind the creation of the show's Food Porn / Food Gorn as well as recipes to create (human-free) variations of Hannibal Lecter's dishes.
- M*A*S*H got one in the form of "Secrets of The M*A*S*H Mess", written by actor Jeff Maxwell in character as gormless 4077th hash-slinger and orderly Private Igor Stamimsky. The book includes M*A*S*H-themed dishes, most named with an Incredibly Lame Pun (such as "Operation Oatmeal" or "The Battle of Burgoo" or "P'anmunjombalaya") or a Shout-Out to an episode(such as "River of Liver"note or "Sorry 'Bout That, Father Creamed Corn"note or "M*A*S*H Liver Tartare" note ).
- Northern Exposure had an official cookbook, with recipes for foods that had appeared on the series, from Hollin's Cream Pie to Chris's "Mia Culpa Three-Bean Salad" to Adam's Pumpkin Ravioli. The recipes featured comments attributed to the series characters, with introductions by Maurice and Ruth Ann; according to her introduction Ruth Ann and Maggie came up with the idea of putting together an official Cecily cookbook to raise funds for a statue of town founders Cecily and Rosalyn.
- Star Trek:
- The Official Star Trek Cooking Manual by Mary Ann Piccard. In-universe, the personal cooking log of Christine Chapel.
- The Star Trek Cookbook by Ethan Phillips and William J. Birnes. In-universe, written as if by Neelix.
- The Late Show with David Letterman:
- Home Cookin' with Dave's Mom, written by Dave's mom Dorothy.
- Dave Letterman's Book of Top Ten Lists and Zesty Chicken Recipes.
- The Walking Dead:
- The Walking Dead: The Official Cookbook and Survival Guide is a cookbook based off the television series.
- The Snacking Dead: A Parody in a Cookbook is a parody cookbook filled with recipes for snacks suited for every occasion and it has tips for cooking under duress — fitting for a zombie apocalypse.
- Stranger Fillings is a parody cookbook based on a Netflix's hit show Stranger Things. There is no shortage of great puns and delicious baked treats.
- Game of Scones: All Men Must Dine is a parody cookery book with baking recipes based on TV show Game of Thrones. It's full of Game of Thrones memes like 'Arya Hungry?' or 'Dinner is Coming'. There are recipes for stuff like Red (Velvet) Wedding Cake or Oberyn's Smashing Head Surprise.
- Baking Bad is parody cookbook based off Breaking Bad.
- Supernatural has Supernatural: The Official Cookbook: Burgers, Pies, and Other Bites from the Road, by Julie Tremaine (who, interestingly enough, isn't in Team Sam or Team Dean... she's in Team Castiel). It consists of recipes of the foods based from the series.
- Wheel of Fortune, of all shows, has its own official cookbook. Many of the foods have punny names based on the show, and a few recipes were even submitted by former contestants.
Based on Professional Wrestling
Based on Puppet Shows
- Sesame Street:
- The Sesame Street Cookbook by Pat Tornborg
- C is for Cooking and B is for Baking by Susan McQuillan
- Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck: A Sesame Street Celebration of Food by Heather E. Schwartz
- In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy by Jim Lewis (The Muppets), a collection of recipes from celebrities with commentary by Piggy.
Based on Tabletop Games
- Heroes' Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook. Divided into Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling and Other, with notes about how more human-palatable or readily available ingredients have been substituted (especially in the Other section, where some recipes involve sentient races).
- In World of Darkness, both Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Mage: The Ascension received official cookbooks.
- Battletech has The Tales from the Cracked Canopy Cookbook, a stretch goal for the Mercenaries Kickstarter campaign. The title is a reference to a ongoing series of short stories that appear in Shrapnel, the official Battletech magazine.
Based on Theme Parks
- Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge has an official cookbook for fans who want to make the food they ate at the in-park restaurants at home.
Based on Video Games
- Angry Birds: Bad Piggies' Egg Recipes is, as the title makes clear, an Angry Birds-themed cookbook where the key ingredient is eggs.
- The Kickstarter backers of Pillars of Eternity received a special PDF cookbook containing recipes of some of the staples of Dyrwood (the region of the Constructed World where the game takes place) cuisine.
- The Elder Scrolls: The Official Cookbook, by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel, includes recipes based on in-game food (particularly from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) and on the lore of the series. In case you're wondering: yes, there's a recipe for skooma (it doesn't include cocaine).
- Fallout: The Vault Dweller's Official Cookbook by Victoria Rosenthal is the official cookbook for the Fallout series.
- Overwatch has an officially-licensed cookbook featuring recipes from the homelands of the game's multinational cast.
- Mother's Cookbook is inspired by Earth Bound and Mother 3. In addition to defictionalizations of the games' food such as Mach Pizza, there are recipes inspired by the characters, dialogue, attacks, and settings from the games, such as "Lier X. Agerate's Roasted Garlic Bread". Even foods that were changed by EarthBound's localization are featured.
- World of Warcraft: The Official Cookbook and its sequel New Flavors of Azeroth, both also by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel, feature recipes inspired by the game from across the realm of Azeroth.
- Even though Today's Menu for the Emiya Family is a Slice of Life spinoff of Fate/stay night, the cooking scenes dives into the territory of this trope, with Shirou Emiya explaining steps on cooking.
- That's It! The Unofficial FFXV Cookbook is a fan collaboration to adapt and compile all the "Recipah's" from Final Fantasy XV. With the game having such intense focus on the food featured in the game(To the point that the dev team spent time camping and cooking just to see what could and couldn't be realistically made) it was a no-brainer.
Based on Web Animation
- Bee and Puppycat has one subtitled "Easy Eats", and focuses on recipes featured in the show, as well as some of Bee's favorite foods.
Based on Web Videos
- How To Cook The Victorian Way is a spin-off cookbook for The Victorian Way. It is a guide to the life, times and tastes of Mrs Crocombe, a Victorian cook. Her historical cookery videos have millions of views and fans have been asking for a cookery book since the beginning of the series. It showcases recipes from real Mrs Crocombe's own hand-written book alongside other recipes of the Victorian period.
Based on Western Animation
- Avatar: The Last Airbender has an official cookbook, simply titled Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Official Cookbook, featuring recipes for food mentioned in the show, but with real-world ingredients.
- Bob's Burgers has "The Bob's Burgers Burger Book: Real Recipes for Joke Burgers".
- Lilo & Stitch received an official cookbook simply titled Lilo & Stitch: The Official Cookbook on May 23, 2023. It features recipes based on the film's Hawaiian setting, some of which are given "an extraterrestrial twist" and names after the various characters and elements from the film (and some of the sequel material).
- The Simpsons has The Unofficial Simpsons Cookbook. It includes recipes based on episodes of the show.
- The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizza Cookbook by Peggy Paul Casella is based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987).
- Tasty Time with ZeFronk: "Tasty Recipes" was a printable book based on the show that was available on the Playhouse Disney website.
Miscellaneous
- Binging with Babish is a YouTube channel devoted to recreating meals from various fictional media; everything from Western Animation to Live Action Films/Shows to Video Games to even Anime. Naturally, he ended up making his own cookbook with these various recipes in it.
- Australian Cricketer Matthew Hayden once had one of his recipes published in a celebrity cookbook. This did not go unnoticed by one English cricket fan, who Hayden recalls telling him, "You're shit, Hayden, and so is your chicken casserole!"
- American Football Defensive End Jared Allen released a cookbook mostly of game recipes entitled The Quarterback Killer's Cookbook.
- The Garbage Pail Kids trading cards received their own cookbook in September 2022, consisting of the Kids providing recipes for gross-looking food.
