Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook

I’m a Harry Potter fan, so please indulge me regarding this show and post.

Last weekend the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow, Part 2, broke box office records worldwide with nearly a half billion dollars in ticket sales.

When the first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was published in 1997, kids and adults alike were hooked. And with the release of the first movie in 2001, the basilisk was out of the plumbing and there was no turning back.

Yes, I know the serpent didn’t actually show up until the second book and movie. C’mon people, this isn’t Star Trek.

So what do you do if you’re not quite ready to let go? You can eat your heart out, or you can eat dishes inspired by the movie from recipes found in the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz.

Dinah, an editor by profession who dreams of being a pastry chef, is a long time fan of the Harry Potter novels, and had always been intrigued by the food in the series, most of which is traditional British cuisine. Cuisine, which she claims has gotten a bad rap.

I spoke with Dinah by phone last Sunday at her home in Philadelphia, which she shares with her husband, and their four children.  She said the idea just popped into her head and she went with it.

Dinah developed two-thirds of the recipes in the book from foods mentioned in the various novels. However, she says her publishers wanted the book to have 150 recipes, she she pored over the Harry Potter books to find other references–such as mention of stews or puddings–and then created recipes to fit the bill.

Dinah developed all the recipes except food those foods that don’t fit into her Kosher lifestyle. Those recipes, such as for roasted pork loin, she contracted out to a local chef.

Along with recipes, Dinah also intersperses bits of British history. In addition she also indicates in which novel and chapter each foodstuff appears.

Bucholz’ book makes dining a la Hogwarts is as easy as Banoffi Pie, which appears on page 48. However, because of copyright rules, dishes named by author J.K. Rowling in her Harry Potter novels, including butterbeer, could not be used in the “unofficial” cookbook. There are, however, sweet and savory dishes from pumpkin juice to Rock Cakes to roast loin of pork to Mulligatawny soup.

Food played an important role in the Harry Potter books and to a lesser extent the movies—save for the feasting, that is.

In the first book, it was made clear Harry’s Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon Dursley would withhold meals from the boy presumably to keep him in line; this fact was represented with one line in the first movie when Uncle Vernon threatens to withhold meals from Harry for a week if there’s any “funny business” when they visit the zoo.

You know how that worked out.

So join me as I visit with Dinah Bucholz about making magic in the kitchen with the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook .

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