Nanny Ogg's Cookbook

Rating:
Summary: The Best Pratchett Primer Out There
Review: For those new to the Discworld of Terry Pratchett, this is a great introduction to it. For the rest of us who read "The Gospel According to Saint Pratchett," It's good stuff: fun recipes, Etiquette, and those "True-to-life" drawings by Paul Kidby. Who could ask for more?

Rating:
Summary: LOL
Review: I bought this book for my mother for Christmas and she loves it! It's beautiful to look through, and it's a hysterical read, for anyone, not just cooks.

Rating:
Summary: A lightweight snack for Discworld fans
Review: I've read all the Discworld novels -- so far, since that's a moving target when dealing with a prolific author like Terry Pratchett -- and have been jonesing for additional Lancre witches material. When I saw this book in my local bookstore, I felt compelled to pick it up.

The book is a compilation of recipes inspired by Discworld -- a wider variety than perhaps might be plausible, but bringing in the Ankh-Morpork city watch, wizards of Unseen University and other characters broadens this book's focus and appeal -- along with Nanny Ogg's advice on life and etiquette. The recipes are very British -- some of the ingredients are either unfamiliar to American audiences, or have names that will be unfamiliar -- but all look servicable enough.

The book shines in the sections later on, where Nanny expounds on life and love. While she keeps her infamously dirty mind relatively in check, the casual arrogance of the Lancre witches is good for quite a few laughs, with the not-so-subtle message that witches (and to a lesser extent, wizards) are above etiquette given that they can ruin the lives of anyone who would object. Not that they would, dearie. It's an amusing reminder that even the relatively benevolent Nanny is something of a terror to the mere mortals around her.

Ultimately, however, this is a small amount of new material for the price -- readers who thought "Eric" was a thin work will find this book to be positively anemic in comparison.

Recommended mostly for Pratchett fans who have read all his other works, and can't wait for his next novels to come out.

Rating:
Summary: Laughter and good food! What more could you want?
Review: This heavily edited version of Nanny Ogg's Cookbook made me wish for the days when I was in Ankh-Morpork with me mum and she'd ...

OK, so that's going a bit too far. Please forgive me.

The recipes are all in metric units but that's no real trouble for a resourceful American cook! I have tried several, they came out quite well! The honey mixture for the porridge is delicious. I also liked Rincewind's potato cakes. The gumbo recipe was amazing! Technically, I suppose that I have also had the Librarian's recipe but that is quite probably splitting hairs.

But odds are that you aren't buying this for the recipes. You're buying it for the wit and wisdom of Terry Pratchett. You get that in spades! The way Leonard of Quirm makes a cheese sandwich had me laughing out loud! The sections on etiquette were divine. My personal favorite was about Death but then again, I've always loved that character.

Check it out! You won't regret it!

Rating:
Summary: Strawberry Wobbler, anyone?
Review: To all those Discworld fans out there, especially to the ones that love the witches, buy this book! If you've always wanted to serve Dwarf Bread to your guests (or beat them over the head with it) this is the book for you. I bought mine from the UK and the measurements are often in the metric system (I'm not sure about this one) but overall it's easy enough to understand.

Some of the stories will have you rolling... Carrot and Oyster pie comes to mine, which Mrs. Ogg helpfully annotates: "Carrots so's you can see in the dark and oysters so you have something to look at!"

Pick this one up for page after page of fun. The more knowledge of the Discworld you have (and it's cusine), the more you will laugh.

Rating:
Summary: Do yourself a favor and but this book....
Review: To all you Discworld fans out there- don't be discouraged from buying this book because it's a cooking book.
There are lots of illustrations by Paul Kidby- this guy is AMAZING. My favorite is a drawing of Nanny and Casanuda looking very guilty under Granny's scrutinizing gaze. If you look at Nanny's dress hard enough you'll see why... ;)

Half of this book is recipes including strawberry wobbler(you figure it out...) Rincewind's recipe for...er... potatoes,
Vetinari's recipe for bread and water (not as simple as it sounds!) and the Bursar's recipe for "spoon! give it a royster!" (aka dried frog pills). we finally learn what a figgin is and how to make it.
there are many other recipes some real, some not
all of them great.

The second half is all about etiquette.
etiquette with witches,wizards,dwarfs,trolls,
kings,dukes and scarecrows.tips on courtship, weddings, etc. etc.
BUY THIS BOOK! trust me, you will not regret it!
(...)

Rating:
Summary: Its a Disk World COOKBOOK, what more could you want?
Review: Yes you too can make Bread and Water, Drop Scones, Dried Frog Pills (complete with NO FROGS). Plus it has great (and VERY funny) words of wisdom from Nanny Ogg.

If you like Diskworld I would recomend it. If you are looking for a normal cookbook look somewhere else.