A couple weeks ago, while browsing the search engines for new Cat Who... book reviews to which to link, I, most unexpectedly and happily, came across a link to my own site on a Japanese page. Even more surprising to me, while the description there noted that my site seemed "rather thorough", but appeared more enthused over my small selection of recipes than any other, more extensive content. Between that discovery, the usually high volume of recipe feedback I've already gotten, and the nearly-empty shelf space that held the copy I looked through at my local Barnes & Noble, I've convinced that any collection of Cat Who... recipes will sell like mad, so I can speak freely with the security and assurance that comes from complete irrelevance.
And what I have to say is, well - um. What can I say here? Its execution is so straightforward and insubstantial that there's not much to comment on (save for my objections to the idea itself, which I've voiced and explained at length previously). In the end, I'll probably have had more to say about the slim Checklist book than this.
The format - the cookbook is divided by Cat Who... book, each chapter opening with instructions on how to prepare a full-course dinner taken from its respective volume (a meal at Onoosh's restaurant for the Tailed a Thief chapter, for example). Recipes are prefaced by the quotations from the story in which they're mentioned (to their credit, the authors at least didn't try to slip any unrelated, personal recipes into the book). There's also a traditional, separated-by-type-of-food cookbook index in the back for easy reference. As a quite nice added bonus, a listing of the various ridiculously elaborate dishes that have served as Koko and Yum Yum's dinners throughout the series is included at the end.
Unquestionably, the cookbook's great strength is its excellent organization (a particular triumph in a fandom that seems to be disorganization-prone). To be honest, though, the book could've benefitted from a less strictly utilitarian, no-frills approach. A dash of humor would have been appreciated - straight-on, serious recipes are given for foods like the FOO's pasties and Polly's flattened chicken breasts that were supposed to be godawful in the books. (As I recall, there wasn't even a recipe for Dimsdale Diner coffee.) There's really nothing more here but the recipes and the necessary quotations, and while that's admittedly all that's required to make a cookbook, a bit more substance, attitude, or (er) flavor - more material like the "catly cuisine" chapter - would've made it fun to read "straight". The visual presentation is also wanting; it's very clean (as it should be to give the recipes proper "display space" for easy reading while cooking), but also rather...well, "spartan" isn't the right word, but the illustrations which were chosen - generic kitty clip-art pics - betray a certain lack of care over the pages' look. Disappointingly, the actual printing job is sloppy in places, and the paper used is cheap paperback-stock. I realize that much of this matter is beyond the authors' control, and I perhaps wouldn't have dwelled on this issue so if the book didn't list for so high a price, but for $21.95, I expect a bit more work into the final product's presentation. (As it stands, the hardcover binding is the only excuse for the inflated price, and if the publisher were truly worried about the book's ability to weather the wear and tear of cooking, they could've gone with a more economical spiral binding.)
I haven't tried any of the recipes. From reading, it seems like they've poured most of their effort into their versions of Mrs. Cobb's meatloaf and macaroni and cheese and a few other benchmark foods while offering just basic, standard-issue versions of most of the other foods. (Of course, it's true that flashy recipes aren't the only key to great food and that skill, good ingredients, loving preparation, etc. play a great part as well. But, then again, you can put love in your food without paying $21.95.)
This would be a good fan project. As an officially-sanctioned, for-profit item, however, it (as I've asserted before) shows a good amount of gall - two people breezing in and dictating the look and feel (and taste) of a quite integral part of the series, not to mention proclaiming themselves as skilled chefs as Iris Cobb, Robert Maus, Onoosh, Celia Robinson, Mountclemens, and all the other characters combined. It is, I will admit, interesting to see their interpretations of Iris Cobb's dishes (cranberry sauce in meatloaf is a novel trick (though I'm not sure how it would taste), but I really don't see Iris putting white wine in macaroni & cheese). I'm not taking them as canon for one split second, though.
Bottom line besides those objections - if you're the type of fan who peruses resource books like this and the Companion for pleasure, I'd just take a look at this in the bookstore; there's not much to savor here. If you're interested in cooking, this book might serve as a "launching pad" for your own gos at creating personal versions of Cat Who... dishes, or give you a chance to sample the general taste of the more exotic foods; save for a few instances, though, it's not going to give you unique takes on anything - you're paying more for the convenience of having a compilation of rudimentary recipes for all the series's foods in one place. The authors haven't added much of a personal touch to the book, and in a way, I suppose that's for the best - the conceit of the concept still remains, though, and it makes for a dry read in the meantime. Not that all this'll matter in the end, though; if you're a Cat Who... fan, you're not going to listen to me.
Notes:
1) An introduction written by Lilian Jackson Braun has been greatly touted in the cookbook's press material. In fairness, though, I must note that the introduction is all of seven short sentences (three of them being "At last!"), making for a blatant case of misrepresentation.
2) I also note, with a bit of pride, that the book does not boast anything approaching Mr. Hermansen's Qwill Tomato Juice Cocktail.
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