scrubjayspeaks

I agree. A cookbook isn't just a sign of popularity, it's a sign of kick-ass worldbuilding. The author(s) paid enough attention to the setting to know what foods would be available and how people chose to prepare them. Then it's just a matter of figuring out local analogs for the unavailable bits.

My very best venison recipe? Came out of Hallelaine, my early fantasy setting. Deer-in-a-Thicket is made with a handful of blackberries (representing what the deer has eaten) wrapped in ground venison wrapped in hot pork sausage (representing the thorns).

I've been able to find local approximation recipes for most foods from Terramagne, but some I just have to describe because the local ingredients aren't available the same way. Like here, all you can get is "spring mix" salad greens, but T-America has "winter mix" and other seasons too. Things like the aurora salad really rely on those different blends of leaves. We have the plants here, but to assemble them like that, you'd need either your own winter garden or access to a year-round farmer's market.

I describe them anyway, in hopes that some fans will get lucky, or make their own luck. You never know what will catch on.