Overwatch Cookbook: The Final Verdict

February is over, which means its time to retire our Cookbook of the Month: Overwatch: The Official Cookbook. I’ve come to a conclusion after spending some time with this recent tome from nerd cookbook legend Chelsea Monroe-Cassel. Video game cookbooks are among some of the most accessible cookbooks to ever land on my counter. When we started the month, I talked a great deal about how much I love the game that inspired this book, and I believe that love that gets anyone into one of these cookbooks helps get them into the kitchen.

Because of the multicultural characters within Overwatch itself, there is a large variety of food here for a novice to explore under the careful tutelage of the author. The recipes are easy to read, and most of the ingredients can be found in just about any grocery store. There are easy recipes and hard recipes, drink recipes and dessert recipes. No fan will be disappointed since all of the playable characters (aside from Sigma and Baptiste, who came out during the year of publication) have a section dedicated to their favorite meals and snacks. You’ll find something no matter which character you main.

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​I’ve got to admit that I did not do as much cooking from this book as I would have liked. For about three weeks of the Overwatch League, I made it a mission to try to do one recipe from a character each weekend. The Guinness Stew for Moira turned out great. I made modifications to the recipe because our author calls for browning the meat and the veggies in a separate pan before adding it to your stew pot. That didn’t jive with me. I wanted the fond in the bottom of the pot to continue building flavor, and I believe that I created something superior as a result. Leaving the flavor behind in a separate skillet wasn’t something I could let myself do.

The next week, I tried to make Reinhart’s Kasespatzle, and I did not thin out the dough enough to be able to force it through my colander. It was a complete failure, and I couldn’t get myself to rebound. (depression is a bitch sometimes) This doesn’t mean that I won’t try it again. I still believe there is a lot of potential in Kasespatzle to bring something different to the table for a weekend dinner. It may very well be a dish we revisit just to try again and see if its as good as it looks.

Literally the day after the Kasespatzle failure, I dedicated my afternoon to Kroppkakor, Swedish potato dumplings stuffed with bacon and onion. These were dedicated to Torbjorn, and God bless Torbjorn. I made these as a snack for the Saint Louis Battlehawks game, and I ate two before kick off even started. This was a problem since there were only eighteen total dumplings to make it through four quarters of the XFL. I can only imagine how good they would have been if I added the allspice that’s called for in the recipe to the filling.

I’ve got to admit that I was ridiculously entranced by the recipes for the Germanic characters like Reinhardt, Torbjorn, and Mercy. It’s the time of year in Wisconsin where I want something heavy and cheesy and potatoes, so while I approached this book initially interested in what the South American characters brought to the table, I bought for completely different things when it came time to make the grocery list.

As far as cookbooks from this particular author go, I enjoyed this one much more than the Skyrim cookbook from last year. The options allowed for a wider, more interesting selection. I could have gone a million different ways in how I approached this book, but for whatever reason, I focused on European characters. Maybe we’ll return to some of the recipes from the more diverse cast later in the year as Overwatch League continues.

If you missed it, our March cookbook of the month was announced Friday. You can check the article out here.  

We are also going to start ratings next month, so these reviews will become more critical for the rest of 2020.

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