Dear Constant Reader,
You may recall my review of The NecroNomNomNom and my subsequent obsession with its rituals. If you follow me over on YouTube, you might have seen the concoctions I mixed up from LoveCraft Cocktails the past two Halloweens (here and here).
The good folks at Red Duke Games are at it again! Just the other day I received a copy of The NecroMunchicon: Unspeakable Snacks and Terrifying Treats from the Lore of H. P. Lovecraft by Mike Slater (2023).
As with the previous two volumes all the dishes have terrible pun names drawn from the works of Lovecraft and similar weird fiction authors.
The recipes are divided into Sweet Madness, The Witching Sour, Our Lure and Savor-y, Salt and Batter-y, and The Bitter Blend, with such offerings as Innsmouthfuls, Dunwich Whipoorwings, and Maca-Rune. Each one is accompanied by a full-page illustration by Kurt Komoda and a short bit of writing, some of which were contributed by Miguel Fliguer, author of Cooking with Lovecraft.
Besides the pun names, the recipes have a subtitle, like Morguearita Slabs: zest in piece with no-bake cheesecake bites, that often explains what you’re actually making. The ingredient lists and directions are lightly eldrichified. There’s no need for an appendix with the recipes in plan language like the first book. (Although the Grimoire edition, which I have, lets you sink or swim on your own)
Since I only just received it, I haven’t yet cooked anything from it. Oh, wait… yes I have!
Here we have Gaunt with the Cinn-ed, cinnamon-sugar crisps and Mexican hot chocolate dip and it’s accompanying illustration.
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And The Flats of Ulthar, chili-lime tortilla chips and pepita salsa.
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Perhaps you are saying “Mina, how did you find dishes that look just like the ones in the illustrations?” or perhaps you have figured out already…
They’re my recipes!
Last summer Mike Slater got in touch with me and asked if I wanted to contribute a snack recipe to the new book. The catch was I had to do it fast, as this was practically the last minute. I did a little brainstorming, settled on the hot chocolate dip and cinnamon-sugar crisps. Even though the editorial team would give it an appropriate name, I kind of wanted to come up with one myself. Scratch, because he’s so much better at this, suggested I make two complimentary dishes and call the whole thing “The Treat of Four Ways” (after “The Street of Four Winds” in The King in Yellow). Then I hit on the pepita salsa and chili-lime chips. Chips and dips with Mexican flavors, sweet and savory.
A mere two days later I had the recipes finalized, tested, photographed, and sent off. As it turns out, because of the way the book is structured, they became two separate entries. I had just used bat and cat shapes because those were the cookie cutters I had, but I like how they inspired one of the names.
So, I’ve been sitting on this news for over a year! And even after the book came out, I didn’t want to say anything until I could see it with my own eyes, lest it be but a fever dream.
I want to start cooking from it, but I only have 9 recipes to go before I’ve made everything in The NecroNomNomNom… Well, no one ever said you couldn’t work from two spellbooks at once, right?
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