Interview: The Geeky Chef

Pumpkin Pasties courtesy of The Geeky Chef

Admit it. Sometimes when you're rereading Harry Potter for the thousandth time, you find yourself really craving a pumpkin pasty. And I know you've wondered if Peeta's cheesy buns from The Hunger Games are as good as they sound - at least, I have.

So I was ecstatic when my internet scouring brought me to The Geeky Chef, where bona-fide geek and fellow food fan Cassandra Reeder creates, collects, and curates recipes from all my favorite fandoms. Legend of Zelda? Check. Lord of the Rings? Check. Game of Thrones? Check. And a ton more.

Bacon Pancakes from Adventure Time, courtesy of The Geeky Chef

Imagine how doubly pumped I was when I then discovered that The Geeky Chef has a cookbook with over 30 new recipes never before featured on her site coming out in a few weeks...just days after my birthday, in fact. Yup, I'm going to need that.

I reached out to Cassandra, hoping she would be available for an interview...and she was! Read all about how Cassandra perfects her geeky recipes (and avoids flavor disasters) below the cut!

C: How did The Geeky Chef get started, and how has it changed since then?

GC: It started about seven years ago when I was replaying The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess during the holiday season of 2008. In one part of the game, Link is assisting a Yeti while he (the Yeti) makes a soup for his sick wife. The soup had fish, pumpkin and goat cheese. That soup sounded so delicious to me, I wanted to make it for Thanksgiving. I had kinda assumed someone else must have had a similar thought and posted a recipe online somewhere, but there were no recipes for it anywhere in the internet kingdom at the time. So, I made it myself and it was awesome. Then I thought about how this is something I have always done for fun, making foods from books and stuff, ever since I was a kid. Because I like so many different geeky things and I love cooking, I thought this would be the perfect thing for me to blog about, and Geeky Chef was born. I get into more details about this in intro of the cookbook, but that is the short version. As far as changes, I think I've branched out into including recipes for fandoms that I don't necessarily follow, so it's less about me and what I like and more about representing a diverse community with an assorted collection of geeky goodies.

C: Do you have a favorite fandom to recreate recipes from?

GC: Probably Zelda, although both Star Trek and Harry Potter are definitely contenders with their extensive collection of fictional foods.

C: How do you go about creating some of the more off-the-wall recipes...like Rock Sirloin, for example? Where do you begin?

Cassandra's Rock Sirloin creation

GC: Haha, well, I avoided that recipe forever, the Rock Sirloin. People had been suggesting that one for years before I actually decided to tackle it. So, the first part of my process is clearly avoidance, but when I make up my mind to do it, I try to think about how the thing would taste if I enjoyed eating rocks or sludge or alien brains or whatever crazy thing it is. Basically, I try to translate the taste and textures to something a human could handle and enjoy. Then I try to make that work while still maintaining the essence of the thing it's supposed to be. It's a balancing act.

C: Have you ever had any flavor disasters when experimenting with your recipes? 

GC: Oh yes. Mistakes have been made. The South Park Chocolate Salty Balls recipe is still memorable for both myself and those unfortunate enough the have tried the first batch. I went just a tad overboard with the salt.

Mudder's Milk, anyone?

C: What's your favorite geeky recipe to-date?

GC: This is always the hardest question, and it's even harder to answer now because there's like 30 exclusive recipes in the cookbook that I can't even talk about. The LoZ Yeto's Soup recipe will always have a place in my heart because it was the catalyst. I also really loved making the Portal Cake because it was such a challenge and it was the first complicated baking project I really felt like I pulled off...before Geeky Chef, baking wasn't my culinary strength.

C: Do you have a to-do list of recipes that you're making your way down, or do you tackle one as the inspiration hits you?

GC: Kinda both! I am always on the look out for food if I'm watching, reading or playing something. Like the Cellular Peptide Cake. I was just binge watching Star Trek TNG when I decided to make that one. When I'm not feeling inspired, though, I have a huge, ever-growing list of suggestions from my readers to draw from.

C: Lastly, can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming cookbook, and what to expect? When will it be available?

GC: The cookbook's coming out on May 19th, so it's coming up! I aimed to make this book a fun and tasty exploration of some of the most influential geeky worlds and I hope I've succeeded. My first copy should be arriving in a few days and I am so excited to see it in person. I've seen the mockup though and it is simply amazing. Recipes and commentary aside, there are some really beautiful pictures and illustrations.  The quality of it has exceeded my wildest expectations and I think it will appeal to hardcore and casual geeks alike. You should expect 60 recipes, over 30 of which are completely new and are, in my opinion, some of my very best. Most of the original blog recipes are in there too and also and a few revised/upgraded recipes, all of which have new professional photographs of the final product. I would buy this cookbook even if I didn't write it!

Thanks Cassandra!

Now that your appetite is good and worked up, make sure you check out The Geeky Chef, and preorder the cookbook now!