Gastronogeek: The Book Of Potions by Thibaud Villanova & Stephanie Simbo

Honestly, I didn’t know what I would think about a cookbook devoted to liquids alone, but this was a really magnificent compilation of pop culture media-related recipes, covering both drinks and soupy dishes. There are definitely more than enough of the latter to give this volume pride of place in the kitchen and not just behind the bar: no shade to the latter, but I do think anything marketed as a “cookbook” should involve making food and not just beverages, no matter how delicious and potent those may be.

Roughly divided into six parts by “genre”, Thibaud Villanova states right at the start that this volume isn’t just about making cute themed dishes and drinks. These are real Recipes, with thought, care and a refined palate brought to bear on each entry, as also displayed in the previous Gastronogeek cookbook I’ve reviewed here, revolving around Cult TV shows. The categories in this book are Science Fiction, Fantasy, Manga, (the oddly named) Fantastic, Comics and Video Games. They’re bookended by helpful sections on equipment as well as recipe and ingredient indices, and each category itself gets a glossary with supplemental basic recipes, tips and a letter from a fictional Traveller Of Worlds who acts rather like Hoid of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere, bouncing between fictional properties but tying them all together, more or less, with the Traveller’s presence.

Speaking of ties, some of the cultural references definitely feel stronger than others. What does a Poketail have to do with Pokemon besides the adorable serving suggestion? It also feels like a missed opportunity for there to be only one recipe for One Piece. While the choice of making a Binks No Sake cocktail was a no-brainer, I really wished that a Sanji or Baratie specialty had been included, too. I would definitely have preferred that to the rather generic second drink recipe for the Harry Potter series, tho in fairness this book was originally published in the French in 2017, well before you-know-who came out as a TERF.

As with the Cult TV book, this cookbook was definitely written with a European audience in mind. Oven temperatures, for example, are converted from Gas Marks to Celsius, with nary a Fahrenheit in sight. The spirit Gold Strike is referenced instead of the more common, to Americans, Goldschlager. I still have no idea what an Agria potato is. But as long as you’re prepared to use the powers of the Internet to help you figure out equivalents — and one would hope so given how au courant geek culture requires its devotees to be — then you’ll be just fine trying out the recipes collected here.

For this review, I decided to try out one of the two recipes inspired by Batman, lightly edited here for format:

Pennyworth’s Vichyssoise
Glazed leek and potato soup

Ingredients:
2 cups (200 g) leek white
2 1/4 tbsp (20 g) celery stalks
1/2 pound (200 g) Agria potatoes
1 bunch chives
2 3/4 tbsp (40 g) butter
4 cups (1 l) cold water
1 tsp (4 g) salt
1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream
1/2 cup (100 g) cream cheese
4 pinches pepper

Equipment:
Hand blender
Strainer

Prepare the vegetables by cleaning the leeks and celery. Peel the celery and potatoes.

Cut the leeks and celery a la paysanne and dice the potatoes into a large brunoise. Chop the chives and set them aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, then add the leeks and celery. Sweat the vegetables in the butter for 4 minutes before adding the potato cubes. Mix and moisten with cold water. Season with salt and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat. Blend the contents of the pan with an immersion blender and let it cool to room temperature. Add the whipping cream, mixing it well. Strain and chill the mixture.

For presentation: pour the vichyssoise into 4 soup plates. Place a quenelle of fromage frais on each plate, sprinkle with a pinch of black pepper and chives. You can also add a few bread croutons made beforehand.

For some reason, I couldn’t find chives at the grocery store, but figured I could skip them since they’re just a garnish anyway. I’ve also been taught never to waste nutrients, so didn’t bother peeling either celery or potato, as a good immersion blender will take care of any lumpiness. Ditto to straining the liquid at the end. I rather like a hearty soup, and abhor the idea of throwing out perfectly good food for the sake of aesthetics alone.

Since I was hungry, I just went ahead and tried this hot at first. It was delicious, but HOLY FLAVORS, BATMAN, the way it tasted when it had time to meld and chill! I loved it so much, I immediately made a second batch! American cooks take note: the way that our produce is bundled makes it worthwhile to just go ahead and make that double batch from the outset, so that you can use up all your ingredients while they’re still at their freshest.

If you have ever enjoyed a chilled soup in your life, then you will adore this one, too. The flavors are perfectly balanced, and the potatoes ensure that this dish is filling and robust. While I did eschew the chive garnish, adding the cream cheese quenelle is a step you shouldn’t skip. This really was the fanciest and most delicious soup I’ve ever made, and one I’m looking forward to whipping out again to impress guests the next opportunity I get.

I definitely recommend this cookbook for people who are serious about making delicious food that is inspired by geek culture but isn’t too complicated to put together either. Speaking of complicated, I wouldn’t necessarily rely on the difficulty rankings listed here, but can assure you that none of the recipes takes up more than one page of elegantly decorated instructions. Some of the organization leaves a bit to be desired — this isn’t a novice’s cookbook, for sure! — but should be navigable for anyone ready to apply a little brainpower to the task of pleasing both the culinary and pop-cultural palate.

Gastronogeek: The Book Of Potions by Thibaud Villanova & Stephanie Simbo was published November 12 2024 by Titan Books and is available from all good booksellers, including