Food and Fandom Follow-Up
Did you catch the Ladies' first panel at Boston ComicCon this year? We had a great time discussing how food is one of the newest way that peopl are expressing their fandom. Judging from the turnout and reaction, convention-goers enjoyed hearing what we had to say too. We'd like to thank everyone who came for all the support and the great questions.
But maybe you didn't make it to Boston ComicCon. Maybe you were there, but scheduling conflicts kept you from coming to see us. Or maybe you did go and our discussion got you excited about the possibilities of creating food based on your favorite films, TV shows, books, comics, or other fictions. If you were at the panel, you know we promised you a post with some helpful links to get you started on your own food and fandom journey. So here we go!
Prolonging the Magic: On Fiction, Food, and Fandom
It might seem odd to start off our list with an article that's essentially another list. But if another site is already doing what we've set out to do and done it well, we want you to know about it. BookRiot, which covers books from the literariest of literary fiction to the most crowdpleasing, escapist fun, has a lovely article touching on many of the points we made in the panel and offering up a variety of links for recipes appealing to all sorts of literary and gastronomic palates. From standards like Harry Potter inspired food to dishes pulled from the CardCaptor Sakura manga or the webcomic Check Please, there's sure to be a dish that sparks your interest.
Story and Somnomancy - Food and Fandom
While BookRiot's list is mostly focused on recreations of food from the books, Story and Somnomancy goes back and forth between dishes from the fiction and translating non-edible imagery from the book into food form. There's also a greater variety of media represented, including TV shows and more than a few video games. Not every recipe is described in detail, so you may have to seek some additional guidance if you're more of a novice cook. But it's a great jumping off point for ideas on how to bring some of the less food-centric fandoms to the table.
Fiction-Food Café
If you need to find recipes inspired by your favorite fandom to make right now, Fiction-Food Café is a great resource. You get tons of recipes of both the food recreation and visual homage varieties, helpfully organized by the source fandom. Kitchen newbies can check out helpful guides to essentials like pie crusts and hard-boiled eggs. And if you need still more fandom food, check out the cookbook and food reviews or the links to similar sites.
The Inn at the Crossroads
The Inn at the Crossroads may be the best known example of food and fandom fun evolving into an officially sanctioned blog and cookbook. Based on George RR Martin's phenomenally popular A Song of Ice and Fire series and the lavish descriptions of food within, the recipes featured here offer both faithful recreations of dishes from the Middles Ages and variations more in tune with modern tastes. You're sure to find the perfect dish to serve while you and your friends watch your favorite characters get brutally slaughtered.
The Geeky Chef
The Geeky Chef is a well designed site with a good variety of dishes tailored to geek tastes. While it's not as well organized as Fiction-Food Cafe, it includes some great features, such as spots to request future recipes or submit your own. If their offerings appeal to you, you can pick up their cookbook and various branded merchandise.
Kitchen Overlord
The topic of illustrated fan cookbooks came up during our panel. If you like fun pictures of your favorite characters alongside your geeky recipes, check out Kitchen Overlord's Illustrated Geek Recipes. You'll get a visual step by step guide to making your themed treat along with some humorous artwork. The blog has a variety of other goodies to enjoy, including special themed weeks of recipes, geek cake features on Fridays, and even adult coloring pages to keep your party guests busy while you finish up in the kitchen.
Ladies Cooking Highlights
Of course, we Ladies have done our share of posts about food and fandom:
There was the infamous showdown between the DC and Marvel cookbooks, which went for three rounds consisting of side dishes, main dishes and dessert.
Smalerie showed us her take on makin' bacon pancakes.
The Red Menace concocted some superhero themed cocktails.
If you want to see what happens at one of our events (which nearly always include food), check out the report on Bat-Night, including photos of our Bat-themed treats and the text of our pun-filled Facebook planning session.
We'd love to hear about some of your favorite food and fandom blogs or recipes you've tried out. Let us know all the sweet and savory details in the comments.