An Unexpected Cookbook: The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery

Product Description

Second Edition! Now available in the UK and Canada!

When a second generation geek with multiple degrees in history grows up to be a professional cookbook writer, it s no surprise you end up with a lovingly researched book of Hobbit cookery.

Inside these pages you ll find one chapter for each traditional Hobbit meal. In addition to being based on historic recipes revised to fit Tolkien's specific vision of the Shire, the dishes have the following themes.

- Breakfast - hot, fast, traditional morning food - Second Breakfast - cold, sturdy pies full of meat, veg and fruit to fuel a small adventure

- Elevenses - a hearty selection of breads to tide you over until Luncheon

- Luncheon - lighter fare appropriate for a pub

- Afternoon Tea - sweet biscuits, cakes and buns to accompany a caffeinated pick-me-up

- Supper - a hot meal of meat, veg, and mushrooms with a sweet finish

- Dinner - slow cooked roasts and puddings that take hours to make, but are well worth the wait.

To make sure there s a place for everyone around our geeky table, the index is broken up by dietary restrictions, with:

- 11 Paleo/Primal friendly recipes

- 19 Gluten Free friendly recipes

- 20 Vegan friendly recipes (which happen to be kosher and halal)

- 40 Vegetarian friendly recipes (including the vegan ones)

Whether you want to make an epic dinner fit for a king or bring a little period flair to a geeky gathering, you ll find something in these pages for every Tolkien fan.

You can preview 10 recipes from the cookbook at KitchenOverlord.com

Top Reviews

It's a great cookbook! But there are some measurement problems...
by C. Parks (4 out of 5 stars)
July 17, 2017

Let me start off by saying that the recipes in this book are DELICIOUS. My absolute favorite is the mushroom hand pie recipe, though I'll be making the apple hand pies next week, so that might change!

I love that this book as vegetarian and vegan alternatives. I also love that there is a list of recipes by diet preference (Paleo, Vegetarian, etc) in the back, so you don't have to scour through every recipe to figure it out yourself. A+! The amount of research that has gone in to making this book authentic is surprising and wonderful, too.

My one complaint is some of the recipes have inaccurate measurements and cook times. For example, in the mushroom hand pie recipe, there is simply waaaay too much salt. If I owned a physical copy of this book (I have the Kindle version) I would make a note on the page to use half the salt as required. And I'd also reduce the mushroom mixture to two-thirds what is needed, because it will not all fit in your pastries! As for the cook time: I used to follow the version of this recipe on the writer's website. It calls for a bake time of about 45 minutes, if I remember right, but in the cookbook, it says 25 minutes. That's a staggering 20 minute difference -- did I read that wrong? At 25 minutes, my pies were nowhere near done, so I stuck to the website version and let them cook the full 45 minutes.

If you find a recipe in this book you want to try, I recommend first checking the website version of the recipe, if available. Then, use your kitchen experience when pouring in spices! If something seems like it'd be too much seasoning, start out with an amount you believe is correct and slowly add more as needed. Provided there are no raw egg or meats in that stage of the recipe, keep tasting to make sure you have a nice balance.

Since I have the kindle edition, I'm really hoping to get an update to the book with the CORRECT times and measurements, but I'm not sure that'll happen... so I'll be careful with the next recipe!
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Watch Spice Measurements. Confusion between Tbsp. and tsp in at least one recipe.
by Evangeline Bays (4 out of 5 stars)
November 14, 2015

There are some editing concerns that effect the end product of the Roasted Apples recipe in the Unexpected Cookbook. I made this recipe tonight and the spice proportions are concerning. The book calls for 4 tbsp. cinnamon, 2 tbsp.ginger, 1 tbsp nutmeg, 1/2 tbsp. allspice, and 1/4 tbsp. cloves (so 7 3/4 tablespoons of spices) to be mixed into 4 tbsp. of soft butter and 1/4 cup of sugar. . I think the measurements should be in tsp not tbsp. as the resulting mixture as written could be formed into pottery, it is so stiff and gritty. I ended up adding another 4 tbsp. of soft butter in order to dilute the mixture so that I could fold the almonds and raisins in. The end results was edible and interesting if you scraped most of the topping off the apples. (I was able to bake the whole pan of apples plus a pan of pears using the amount of topping I ended up with. By the way, baked pears with this spicing are fabulous.
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Recipe instructions are very poorly written
by Amazon Customer (2 out of 5 stars)
January 14, 2019

I've tried about 20 of these recipes for my blog, and while most of them taste really good the instructions are VERY poorly written. I don't think anybody actually tried following these recipes before the cookbook was released.

For example, the lamb recipe begins with "mix everything but the lamb together," but later in the recipe it says to use the sherry to make a gravy. How am I supposed to do that when the sherry was already mixed in at the very beginning? And if you do save the sherry for the gravy, then the instructions never actually say to add the gravy to the lamb at any point.

The steak and ale pie recipe had me purchase and chop up mushrooms, but the mushrooms were never actually added to the pie at any point so I was left with a bunch of chopped, uncooked mushrooms at the end. And in several recipes the measurements are off, like adding tablespoons instead of teaspoons of spices to the scotch eggs.

That being said, the recipes do taste good for the most part and I like that they have some recipes where you can use leftovers from one recipe to make another. And most of the recipes are pretty authentic.
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Delicious, Different and a Delight.
by Chasmosaurs, kicking Cretaceous bum for 100mil yrs. (5 out of 5 stars)
June 22, 2016

What a delight! We've made 15 of the recipes so far and have absolutely loved them. I especially like the suggestions for using the left overs - very economical and sensible. I'm an old fashioned cook (I use recipes that date back four generations in my family) and love the wholesome, country style goodness of these recipes.

As someone else mentioned, I did notice a type-o and wish that the editing had been more careful. In the "Strawberries and Cream Bread" the ingredients call for 1/2 cup heavy cream, but the text mentions 1 cup heavy cream. I believe the 1/2 cup measurement is correct. At least that's what I used this morning and the bread turned out moist, light and delicious.

Some of the ingredients are a bit unusual (at least these days), but my local chain grocery store has had everything. The meat department just had to order the rabbit and oxtail for me, but everything else has been in stock.

One doesn't have to be a Hobbit fan to appreciate these recipes. This is down-home country cooking at its best.
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We Have Yet to Find a Recipe We Don't Like
by Toni Berry (5 out of 5 stars)
April 30, 2016

I cannot say enough good things about this cookbook!

Originally, I bought this as a present for my husband, meaning he picks the recipe and I'll cook it for him. But I've found many delicious recipes worthy of cooking for myself, such as the Hot Butter Scones or the Savory Bread Pudding with Mushrooms. It has turned into one of my favorite cookbooks.

I love reading the insights and tidbits into Tolkien's childhood which inspired the Shire. I feel it adds a depth of endearment to each recipe. I may not be a hardcore hobbit fan, but I do love a good walk into rural Victorian Britain with various tea and other mealtime offerings.

Many recipes also offer diet restrictive alternatives, such as vegan, vegetarian, GF and paleo options. So I've been able to share the recipes with my vegetarian friends, and my mother who has Celiac disease.

Our last few holiday dinners has my family taking a trip to the Shire. The recipes are easy to follow, and encourage the cook to include leftovers to make yummy new meals the next day so you can be a frugal hobbit.

This cookbook is a wonderful addition to my kitchen and cooking options. I'm so glad I purchased it, even if it was originally intended for my husband.
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A True Delight Hobbit-y Cooks and Lovers of History & Literature Alike!
by Father Looker (5 out of 5 stars)
March 3, 2015

This was an excellent blend of recipes and educational material coupled with wonderfully hobbit-y Middle-Earth tie-ins. The book is divided into chapters based each of the seven hobbit meals (breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, lunch, afternoon tea, supper, and dinner). Each chapter begins with an informative section describing what this meal would have been like in the rural Victorian England on which Tolkien based The Shire and provides both savory and sweet recipes for each meal. Each recipe contains a descriptive introduction which provides both a historical and literary context. In additional many of the recipes provide gluten free or vegan alternatives to modify the recipe should one see fit. The only drawback is that there a a few recipes which call for some foreseeably unusual ingredients. Where will I get lavender flowers and oxtails and will my wife actually let me cook rabbit?
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A book you can actually cook with
by E. S. Zitron (4 out of 5 stars)
December 11, 2014

A really well-researched book with recipes I will actually make. THE HOBBIT is a favorite of mine and I'm always worried when people try to make a buck off of a trend or something well-loved. The author clearly knows her stuff. It's not just food with Bilbo's name slapped on it. This is a historically-accurate book, with food you can still easily cook, that connects the food and appreciation for food in THE HOBBIT to Tolkien's own experiences growing up on rations. It's an amazing concept. The photos are stunning. The food is very comfort-driven. She also offers alternatives for gluten-free folks, vegans, and others with food preferences. Love it!
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This is a great cookbook and very thorough
by J. Barton (4 out of 5 stars)
January 27, 2016

This is a great cookbook and very thorough. My buddies and I were obsessed with having a "Hobbit Day" and this was a perfect guide. It's very well thought out and the recipes we tried were delicious, especially since we weren't very familiar with traditional English cooking like meat pies.I think the recipes could have been structured a little bit clearer/easier. I found myself getting lost in them during the heat of the moment, and a shorthand portion would have been hand for each recipe. Overall great purchase and I'll be using it again!
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Fun to read, not so practical
by Star (2 out of 5 stars)
October 28, 2017

While I have fun reading and re-reading through the commentary of this book (I'm the type that reads historical and travel cookbooks for fun), I've been having problems with quite a few of the recipes. Some of them I don't think were beta-tested, and others didn't have someone read through the directions for consistency. I've come across instances of "make all the ingredients except for the lamb into a paste" - never mind that a few of those ingredients are supposed to be saved later to make a gravy/sauce. Another recipe forgets that it needs two raw eggs - one to help as a binder for the meat mixture, and then another to act as a coating for the scotch eggs to help the bread crumbs adhere.

Right now I just had a disappointing attempt at making the bannocks, where I think they made the mistake of marking 'tablespoon' instead of 'teaspoon' for the salt and various spices.

Overall, if you have experience cooking and are willing to experiment (with plenty of reading through the directions and making notes and corrections), or just want a fun book to read to go along with the books and movies - this is a fun book. If you don't have experience in cooking, alas, it probably isn't a good book for you.
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Daily Feasts for All!
by Kitsune Akai (5 out of 5 stars)
April 5, 2017

Worth a look if you are a foodie, historian, or Tolkien enthusiast! With many recipes to indulge in throughout the year (or to simply enhance your "Hobbit Day" parties), there's plenty of easy-to-follow instructions, and plenty of historical goodies for period & fiction fans alike that are as affordable as they are economical. Each recipe is preceeded by the author's advice and study of what foods and flavors likely influenced Tolkien & his fictional world. The author also takes modern pallets into consideration by offering vegan substitutes, so even Elves can enjoy a seat @ your next 24 hr movie marathon of your favorite Middle Earth trilogy. A fast and enjoyable read, filled with delectable pictures of comfort food that will keep you snacking throughout the day (and year) -- Hobbit style!

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