The Redwall Cookbook Book

This is a difficult book to review. How exactly does one rate or review a cookbook, especially one that is just as much a fictional narrative as a collection of effective recipes?

Both story and recipes were very good, in my opinion. I'm not sure how exactly the recipes in the book were created, though; did Brian Jacques do it himself (probably not, I'd assume), or at least help with it? Was a chef hired by the publishing company to work up some recipes that fit within the guidelines of the foods described in the Redwall books? Was some entirely different method used? I don't know, but I can tell you that the recipes really do work, and some of them are as good as what I expected when I read about them in the books, which is significantly high praise.

We had originally planned to make more than half a dozen of these recipes as an experimental Redwall feast, but in the end, we tried three of them. The Summer Strawberry Fizz was a good carbonated drink, leaning sort of toward the desserty side. I would recommend adding a bit more ice cream than the proportion listed in the book, and maybe going a shade light on the strawberries; as we finished the pitcher, we ended up with only a small amount of liquid at the bottom, and a lot of semi-solid strawberry mixture. For all of these recipes, I would suggest the cook tweak it to best suit their own needs.

The second dish that we made was the Loamhedge Nut Bread. It had some mild spiciness to it, but could have definitely used some butter or jelly (or both) to enliven it.

The third dish was the Hare's Haversack Crumble, and it was spectacular. Now I can see what Basil Stagg Hare was raving about when he talked about how great it is! This is a fantastic dessert that will impress anyone who eats it, whether or not they've ever read about the famous Redwall Abbey created by Brian Jacques. I love the Hare's Haversack Crumble!

One should not forget that The Redwall Cookbook is a story, too. Brian Jacques leads us back to the golden days of Matthias, Constance the Badgermum, Basil Stagg Hare and Mattimeo, days that I'm sure most Redwall fans miss very much. These are happy days described in the book, days without war and death and dire threats to the peaceful Redwall Abbey. We see Matthias, his son Mattimeo and the others living quietly and at peace, able to simply have fun at the abbey and revel in the lives that they have fought hard and sacrificed for so memorably to build for themselves and their young ones. Redwall is a wonderful place during peacetime; it probably makes more than a few readers almost wish in a tiny corner of their hearts that they were a little animal, so that they could live there.

The Redwall Cookbook is a fine offering in every possible way, and I give it my full recommendation. I would rate it at at least two and a half stars.