Feeding Hannibal: A Connoisseurs Cookbook

In my opinion, this book works because at it’s heart, it is a cookbook. Perhaps an obvious statement but for something produced as a companion piece to a tv show, or a book, or a movie, this is not always the case. There are countless examples where a book like this is produced either by a fan who doesn’t know how to cook, in which case it ends up being a labour filled with love that isn’t very good at being a cookbook, or its produced out of greed by a production trying to squeeze another dollar out of the fans in which case it lacks both love *and* decent recipes. This book is produced by someone who knows how to cook, how can make food visually stunning, who has a clear setting for her book in a work of fiction where cooking serves (hur hur) an important role and who is herself a huge fan of the source material. This is why this book is so good. It is a professional labour of love. If you take away the tv show, this is still a great cookbook, just like The Winter Soldier would be a great political action thriller even without the men and women in superhero outfits. Its foundation is solid. Bookended by foreword and afterword by Mads Mikkelsen and Chef Jose Andres respectively, the book is packed with dishes directly from, as well as inspired by the show. There are anecdotes from production, gorgeous photos of both the food and the eponymous anti-hero (with the author not even trying to veil the adoration for the chiseled dane that so many fans share with her) along with Janices own artful sketches. The book is neatly structured into sections ranging from breakfast, starters, mains, desserts, side dishes etc. It features arranging tips and tricks, as well as plenty of vegetarian options. The book doesn’t shy away from the best bits of cooking, namely offal. there’s sweetbreads, brain, heart and tounges galore, as well as the more regular cuts of definitely not people. The photos may suggest otherwise however as the book definitely revels in it’s parent shows more criminal subject matter. And yes, there’s a flower crown, because of course there is. The photography is lush, reminiscent of still life painting and with just as much creepy undertone. It is similar to books like Historical Heston in how it treats food like culture, like art. Janice Poons artful sketches bridges the gap between figments of cannibalistic ideas to realised plate. She talks about the challenges of making dishes and scenes seem just.. human.. enough despite their more reasonable origins of lamb, pig or cow. Sometimes even vegetarian options substitute the meat all-together, and it turns out bulgur makes for excellent fake tongues. At the end of the day this is a book that I enjoy immensely both as a fan and as a cook. It made me want to re-watch the show again, and it makes me want to fire up the stove. It is fun, it is passionate and it is sumptuous. Go on, have another bite.

As an avid Fannibal, I was very much looking forward to the release of this book and I was very happy when I finally (after waiting for long for its release) received my copy yesterday. Anyone who has every watched the show knows that food is an integral part of the show and it looks simply gorgeous in "Hannibal" (never mind that in most cases it is some unfortunate, rude person being served for dinner). There is quite a bit of foodporn going on it that show, so a cookbook with recipes from "Hannibal" is actually quite fitting (and isn't quite as demented as it sounds). The book isn't just a normal cookbook. It also includes anecdotes from the show, some history on the different dishes. as well as variations of several dishes. The book includes for example the original version of "Tortilla Sacromonte" (from the episode "Shiizakana"), for which you will need both the brain and testicles of a lamb (in other words; only something for the brave) AND the version that was actually served to Mads Mikkelsen and Laurence Fishburn (chopped chicken instead of the brain and testicles...I think I will stick to that version too). There are also quite a few vegetarian variations included (fake snails for example for Eddie Izzard, who didn't want to dine on real snails), which was surprising but a welcoming addition. What I also really love is the fact that all recipes used in the show also feature the number of the episode in which the recipe was used. There are thankfully also often alternatives for ingredients which are downright hard to find (though I still would like to know where the hell am I supposed to find a Silkie chicken, that's not something you can get at your local Tesco...). Not all recipes are from the show, some recipes are just inspired by it (the Broken Teacup Parfait looks really lovely) but they fit in perfectly. A word of caution: Since Hannibal is a cannibal who uses various parts of a human body you can also expect some of the recipes to be be somewhat..outlandish. Quite a few recipes include organs like brain, heart, lungs (lung and loin in wine sauce anyone?), liver, kidney but like I mentioned before, there are of course tamer substitutes for quite a few of those ingredients. Also some of the ingredients might not come cheap since there a quite a few recipes which feature for example Foie Gras or oysters. This is definitely not your regular cookbook but for anyone who ever wanted to try out some of the recipes from the show or maybe even do a Hannibal-themed dinner-party the book is a must. The cookbook is also highly recommended for people who actually have never seen the show but simply love good food and want to try out something new. Naturally I haven't tried out any of the recipes yet but they seem pretty straight forward and easy to follow. Oh the book also includes great pictures from the show and a foreword by Mads Mikkelsen. I felt I should mention that ;-)

Fantastic For all fanables Rapped in Cellophane to protect it 5*

Any hannibal fan should own this book, even if you dont cook, the images and recipes alone are amazing, the book itself is good quality and is quite hefty in weight, cocktails, deserts, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and starters. This is the book

This is an amazing book. A fantastic aside to the tv series, but more than that, an intelligent well thought out book of recipes. This is masterchef plus! The recipes are gloriously fabulous with in depth analysis on how to make them shine on your table. Incredible book! Have your friends over to dinner the Hannibal way!

This book is every bit as lush and rich as expected. The photography is beautiful, the recipes mouthwatering and the anecdotes from set a wonderful glimpse behind the scenes. I loved following along Ms. Poon's blog when Hannibal aired, and I'm not sure why it took me so long to get the book but I definitely regret not getting it earlier.

As a diehard fan of the show, I love this cookbook. Full of little stories from the set, it's a great read even without making the food. I've prepared about 5 of the recipes and all have turned out amazing (and I'm not a great cook). Keep in mind that there are quite a few recipes that call for obscure animal organ ingredients (liver, heart, etc) but often times you can substitute in beef tenderloin. My only minor gripe was there wasn't an additional appendix putting the recipes in order of how they appeared in the show (it does list which recipe is in which episode but the order of recipe is traditional food type order - breakfast, appetizer, meat, etc) . I went through and cataloged them though as I'm going through the series again and like knowing the scoop on the dishes prepared so no biggie. It would also be great if they had pictures for every recipe because the food photography in the book is sensational.

Very nice book full of details from the show. Arrived in mint condition and I am thoroughly satisfied with it.

Inspiring! And you don’t even have to use human flesh to make the recipes work.

This was such an impulse purchase because i'm so back in my Hannibal obsession but it's okay since the book is absolutely perfect. The pages are thick and of amazing quality and I live for the amount of Hannibal pictures throughout the cookbook. I'm not sure how many of these recipes i'll be actually making as they are quite adventurous, however i'm definitely giving the 'Breakfast with daddy' a go soon lmao

Excelente libro para los fans de la serie. Muy buena calidad del contenido y del libro como tal. Un vistazo más íntimo de la serie y que incluye una cantidad importante de las recetas de la serie.