The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook ... Recipes for Wizards & Muggles

I found a copy of this cookbook in the Juvenile Non-Fiction section of my local library.  Leslie always has oodles of fun things to read, this one caught my eye.

"The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook makes dining a la Hogwarts as easy as Banoffi Pie!  With more than 150 easy-to-make recipes and a guide to where the foods can be found in the series, you can create perfect Potter meals straight from the pages of your favorite stories."

The book itself in TOTALLY unofficial and unauthorized, unapproved, etc by J.K. Rowling, but it's right up her alley (Diagon, that is...).  Dinah Bucholz definitely knows her Harry Potter and references just about every possible food mentioned in the entire series - identifying where in each book the food came from.  

Along with the references to the story, the book is a British history lesson and an introduction to a great deal of British cooking, unknown or at least relatively unknown to many readers on this side of the Atlantic (well, at least to me!).  From Vol-au-Vents (a puff pastry tucked full with various tasty fillings) to Chiddingly Hotpot (a stew made with chuck or roast), or the classic Bangers and Mash (sausage and potatoes) to a series of wonderful sweets called Honeydukes Treats (how about Fizzy Sherbet Pouches?) there are all sorts of new tastes to try.

This image came from Muggle.Net but the recipe is right out of Dinah's cookbook.

Bangers & Mash

Being an organized, overall type A person, I struggled with the structure of the book.  Within each chapter, many of the recipes fall into various categories.   Several of the chapters do have a specific food theme - for example Chapter Six is breakfast and Eight is desserts and snacks, but many of the other chapters are a bit more random.  That being said, I think the book is best digested from cover to cover - reading the introduction for each recipe, the historical information and then the recipe itself.  

Another option would be to scan then book (what I did when I brought it home from the library at first) and then focus on recipes that catch your eye - if you are looking for recipes for a Harry Potter themed meal for family and friends, for instance or perhaps you are throwing a HP party and want to keep the foods completely based on the books?  This would be PERFECT!  There is every type of food at your fingertips.  Perhaps you want to focus on foods from a certain book?  This is a fantastic way to figure out what to serve.  Just scan the descriptions and book references, make a list and head out to the grocery store.

As I mentioned, this book is marked "Juvenile Non-Fiction", meaning you won't find it in the recipe section of the library or bookstore.  It would be easy to miss and not realize it exists.  Thanks to the most incredible librarian in the world (**No joking, really...she is!) this copy was right there on the shelf, ready to drag into my kitchen.

Here's a rendition of Pumpkin Juice, the recipe directly from the cookbook but whipped up over at Heed the Feed. Want to see how they did it?  Click HERE.  They assured us it is a very delicious fruity drink, so don't let the pumpkin puree scare you!

One other piece I missed while reading it was photos.  I am one of those very visual people, so I like to SEE what I am attempting to re-create.  There are no photos of any kind in the book - as a matter of fact in many ways it resembles a book in the Harry Potter series, which, I am guessing, is what the author was shooting for.  That being said, my copy of The Joy of Cooking doesn't have photos either and it's my bible for the kitchen so, there you go.

Want to check it out?  Head on over to Amazon.com and you can take a look at The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook: From Cauldron Cakes to Knickerbocker Glory--More Than 150 Magical Recipes for Muggles and Wizards

*As an Amazon Associate, we receive a small stipend for any purchases made via this link.  We thank you!!

Enjoy,
Carrie