Feeding Hannibal: A Connoisseur's Cookbook

The delivery went great, the book has a fine print. But I wouldn’t recommend it as a cooking book.

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.

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

Did come way quicker than they said it would!! Great picture. Pretty hard recipes but overall an amazing quality book. Came in plastic as well to avoid scratching the cover

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