Cosmere Cookbook

[Elder]

I own cookbooks based on Star Wars, Warcraft, and Elder Scrolls, and I imagine some day I’ll get more.  Do you know what I want?  I want a book full of the tastes of the Cosmere.  Give me recipes for Horneater Stew, all 10 of the pancakes they eat in Yeddaw.  Scadrian Bayraps, Chouta (definitely chouta!).  

throw in flavor text on customs and a little bit about the places these foods come from.

Any particular Cosmere foods you’d want to see?

[Quantus he/him]

I made a decent Chull Burger recipe a while back:

Quote

 

5 lb ground beef (high fat content to make up for the lean tuna)

1.5 lb tuna

4 tbs Worcestershire sauce

3 tbs minced garlic

1 tbs onion powder

1 tbs lemon pepper

2 eggs (as a binder)

Thoroughly mix all ingredients, make patties, grill over flame. Makes ~8 large patties.  Top with cheese and condiments of choice (I used Colby jack and ketchup). Potato buns recommended.

 

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Quantus

[Elder]

49 minutes ago, Quantus said:

I made a decent Chull Burger recipe a while back:

 

Interesting, and I’d be eager to try it.

Building on that, I’ve seen a few different approaches to fantasy recipes:

1.  Trying to make in-bookfoods using real food analogues that are decently close to what’s seem in the books.  So you might see rice substituted for Tallew Grain.  A lot of shell fish in Rosharan recipes etc.

2.  Making up foods based on real world dishes and lightly using themes from the books to give them flair.

On the one hand, my original pitch was definitely more along the lines of version 1, while I’d argue yours is more based on 2.  But on the other hand, these are hardly mutually exclusive.  Both can be fun.
 

I find myself debating whether Chull would be better represented by crab/lobster meat, or in the way your recipe describes.  Before your recipe, I would have gone with the former.  But now, I realize I need not limit my thinking so much.

Edited February 22, 2023 by Elder

[Quantus he/him]

Just now, Elder said:

Interesting, and I’d be eager to try it.

Building on that, I’ve seen a few different approaches to fantasy recipes:

1.  Trying to make in-bookfoods using real food analogues that are decently close to what’s seem in the books.  So you might see rice substituted for Tallew Grain.  A lot of shell fish in Rosharan recipes etc.

2.  Making up foods based on real world dishes and lightly using themes from the books to give them flair.

On the one hand, my original pitch was definitely more along the lines of version 1, while I’d argue yours is more based on 2.  But on the other hand, these are hardly mutually exclusive.  Both can be fun.
 

I find myself debating whether Chull would be better represented by crab/lobster meat, or in the way your recipe describes.  Before your recipe, I would have gone with the former.  But now, I realize I need not k in mit my thinking so much.

It was definitely an attempt at #1; Chull meat is supposed to be somewhere between Surf and Turf, so I was trying to make a hybrid meat analog.  I didnt have any flatbread at the time I was doing the experiment, but that's all it would take to make it a full Chouta recipe.  

 

 

Quote

 

Questioner

What does chull meat taste like? Surf, turf, or both?

Brandon Sanderson

I would go both on that. Definitely both. A little bit of each.

Oathbringer Portland signing (Nov. 16, 2017)

 

 

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

C H O U T A

[Veledsier]

Here is a good source for that! And, yes, it has chouta! It also has Rock's stew, some Mistborn (eras 1and 2), and Warbreaker food as well!

Cosmere Cuisine | Tor.com

 

 

[The Sibling she/her]

10 hours ago, Veledsier said:

Here is a good source for that! And, yes, it has chouta! It also has Rock's stew, some Mistborn (eras 1and 2), and Warbreaker food as well!

Cosmere Cuisine | Tor.com

 

 

This is really cool! Also when it said kosher salt I thought it said Roshar salt so anyways that's what's on my mind right now.

[Veledsier]

Oh! I love that!

[Cinnamon]

Okay, this isn’t Cosmere but it is Sanderson. The stir-fried spaghetti in The Rithmatist. How would that work? I mean, I love stir fry, I love spaghetti, but stir-fried spaghetti? And no it’s not just stir fry with spaghetti instead of noodles or rice, it has the delicious sour taste of the stir fried veggies along with the sweeter of the marinara. HOW DOES THIS WORK? And don’t say book magic! I want this to be a real thing! 

[Elite01]

I think the ramen from midnight painter would be fun to try. Idk how exactly it would be different but I remember someone saying Design has counted out the specific grains of salt for the recipes so that would be kind of fun to mimic. 

[Silver Phantom he/him]

22 hours ago, Elite01 said:

I think the ramen from midnight painter would be fun to try. Idk how exactly it would be different but I remember someone saying Design has counted out the specific grains of salt for the recipes so that would be kind of fun to mimic. 

Or maybe ramen, but only ingredients you could get in extremely dry and hot regions

[Yazthelightweaver]

Make the book leather bound and have boiled book recipe from Elantranis so you can cook the book itself 

[Aetherbound he/him]

On 4/9/2023 at 9:38 PM, Cinnamon said:

Okay, this isn’t Cosmere but it is Sanderson. The stir-fried spaghetti in The Rithmatist. How would that work? I mean, I love stir fry, I love spaghetti, but stir-fried spaghetti? And no it’s not just stir fry with spaghetti instead of noodles or rice, it has the delicious sour taste of the stir fried veggies along with the sweeter of the marinara. HOW DOES THIS WORK? And don’t say book magic! I want this to be a real thing! 

I need stir-fried spaghetti now.

[Treamayne]

On 4/9/2023 at 11:38 PM, Cinnamon said:

Okay, this isn’t Cosmere but it is Sanderson. The stir-fried spaghetti in The Rithmatist. How would that work? I mean, I love stir fry, I love spaghetti, but stir-fried spaghetti? And no it’s not just stir fry with spaghetti instead of noodles or rice, it has the delicious sour taste of the stir fried veggies along with the sweeter of the marinara. HOW DOES THIS WORK? And don’t say book magic! I want this to be a real thing! 

3 hours ago, Aetherbound said:

I need stir-fried spaghetti now.

Here's the reference. Rithmatist Ch 12:

Spoiler

His mother was there—which was good—and so Joel went and dished himself up some of the evening’s main dish: stir-fried spaghetti and meatballs. He dumped some parmesan cheese on, grabbed a pair of chopsticks, then made his way to the table.

“Hey, Mom,” he said, sitting down. “How was your day?”

“Worrying,” she said, glancing toward a small group of police officers sitting at a table and eating together. “Maybe you shouldn’t be out alone at night.”

“This campus is probably the safest place in the city right now,” Joel said, digging into his food. Spaghetti mixed with fried peppers, mushrooms, water chestnuts, and a tangy tomato soy sauce. Italian food was one of his favorites.

I'll try tackling this one, since it seems like a fusion of one of my favorite Korean dishes - Japchae - with Spaghetti (much like in Okinawa where they loved fusion on the base; with things like Taco Rice). For those unaware of Japchae (also Chapchae, Japjae - which uses a sweet potato "clear" noodle):

Spoiler

So a Stir Fried Spaghetti might be something like:

Prep: (All the stuff that can be made in advance or done early in the day, so there is less to cook directly before eating) 

Spoiler

Sauce (may be made up to three days in advance):

• 1 med Sweet onion - sliced thin
• 1 small bell pepper - sliced thin
• 1 stalk celery (6-8 inches - sliced thin)
• 1-2 clove garlic (size dependant, minced)
• 3-4 tomatoes - shredded (if you use a box grater, you can halve the tomato, remove stem and shred each half leaving the peel in you hand without needing to roast or blanch the tomato to remove the peel)
• (optional) 1-2 tbsp sliced chili (preferred heat level)
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tbsp brown sugar - or - 1 tsp honey
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 cup Stock (stock used should match the meatball, beef, pork, or chicken as approriate)
• (optional) 1-2 tsp gochujang (gocho - korean chili and jang = paste | gochugaru is Korean Chili powder)

- Heal oil in pan on low, slice and salt the onion and add to pan to caramelize, stirring occasionally. Once onion is translucent asn starting to turn brown, add in the sliced celery, bell pepper, soy sauce, sugar/honey and (optional) sliced chili. Continue cooking until celery and bell pepper are softened and onion is browned, increase heat to medium-high then add the stock to deglaze the pan. Reduce heat to med-low and add in shredded tomato (and its liquid), garlic, and (optional) gochujang. Simmer until half the moisture is gone. Puree to desired smoothness (puree and strain for extra-smooth, or leave slightly "chunky" as you desire).

Meatball (may be made in advance - either mix the meat and leave in fridge 1 day, or mix meatball and cook, then store in fridge up to three days)

• 1 to 1.5 pounds preferred meat or meat mixture (I like a mix of >90% beef and ground pork in a 2/3ds 1/3d ratio)
• 1-2 eggs

(other ingredients are for each 1/2 pound of ground meat - so double or triple as needed)

• 1 tsp Minced Garlic
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• salt (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp Minced Ginger
• 1/4 cup Onion (fine dice)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 slice bread (preferred type - toasted or let dry overnight)

Whisk the minced garlic and ginger into the milk. Crumble or dice the dry/toasted bread into small chunks and pour into the milk mixture to soak. Mix the meats together and season with salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. Work in diced onion while mixing. When bread has soaked up the milk and eggs and milk/bread mix and continue to mix thoroughly. Let sit in refridgerator at least 1 hour and up to overnight (covered bowl or ziplock bag). 

Put water or stock on to simmer while forming golf-ball sized rounds with the meatball mixture. Place gently in pan (one layer only, do not crowd) and poach in liquid until cooked through (meatballs should start floating as they cook in the center). Remove from cooking liquid and drain on flat sheet covered with paper towel. 

When meatballs are done, increase temp on liquid to bring it to a boil:

Noodles (may be made in advance and stored in ziplock baggie with 1-2 tsp oil to keep them from sticking):

• Cook spaghetti noodles in the liquid used to poach the meatballs, 2 minutes under recommended package directions. 
• Don't forget to season the cooking liquid once it comes to a boil

 

Putting it all together:

Stir Fry:

Spoiler

Reheat meatballs in the tomato sauce over low heat while working on the stir fry

All veggies are optional - based on preferences. There is more here than mentioned in the book

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup sliced water chestnuts (drained and rinsed if canned)
• 1 med Carrot (strips 1-2 inches made thin with vegetable peeler)
• 1/2 cup mixed Bell Pepper (Green, yellow, red, orange - as desired) medium slice
• 2-3 stems Bok Choy (stalk medium slice - greens chiffonade)
• 1/2 onion (med slice)
• 1/2 cup Mushroom (cremini, button, shitake tops) cleaned and sliced
• 4-6 Green onion stalks 1-2 in lengths
• 1/3 cup bean sprouts (rinsed and drained)
• 1/4 cup spinach (chiffonade)
• 2 tsp soy sauce whisked with 1 tsp rice wine vinegar and 1 tbsp stock or water

The trick to stir fry is that vegetables have go into the pan in order of density/cooking time. Heat wok or large flat pan (such as cast iron) over med-high heat. Add high-heat oil (such as peanut oil or avocade oil) and heat until oil shimmers 30-90 seconds. Add densest vegetables (water chestnut, carrot, bell pepper) and cook, stirring frquently about 2 minutes. Add next batch of vegetables (onion, bok choy, etc.) and cook another 2-3 minutes until bell pepper is noticibly softening and onion begins to turn translucent. Add last batch of vegetables (Green onion, mushroom, bean sprouts) and cook another 1-2 minutes. 

Finally add the al-dente noodles and greens. Pour the soy sauce mixture over the noodles as you stir fry everything together (moisture helps finish the noodles while frying) and cook until almost all moisture is gone. Reduce heat to med-low. Remove meatballs from reheating sauce and pour sauce over the stirfry - mixing everything together until coated in sauce. Turn off heat, top with meatballs (or have them on the side for each plate to add as desired)  and serve. 

Note: Quantities are approximate based on other recipes I make often, but will need testing/refinement to pin down exactly. 

Edited February 12 by Treamayne
SPAG

[WhyEverNot_8 he/him]

I’m going to convince my dad to let me make this for dinner one night.

[Colors]

Give me some Southern Scadrian hot choc for those cold nights.

[WhyEverNot_8 he/him]

Ok, So I went to the Reactormag’s Cosmere Cuisine page and found the Mistborn Scones and made them. Here’s what I made:

Spoiler

They were really good, and the Bacon and Cheddar one was really good with mustard.

(Top is Apple and Cranberry w/ a cinnamon glaze, Bottom is Bacon and Cheddar)