Customer Reviews

The Star Trek Cookbook

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A Star-Trek cookbook narrated by Neelix the Chef was a nice idea, but poor editing, and not enough supervision by people who know Star Trek characters, have made this book a mess.

First, some of the recipes themselves are poorly written and edited. For example, the Peptide Cake recipe does not specify the pan size. (The recipe mentions a "sheet-cake pan," the standard size of which is too large for the recipe.) The recipe itself is a little strange, as it is a sponge cake that contains many egg yolks but *no* egg whites. Since I don't know what the writers were trying to achieve, I can't say for sure that they made a mistake, but I suspect that the egg whites were left out by accident. There are other recipes for which I suspect ingredients are missing as well. This would not surprise me, due to the number of typos that are scattered throughout the text.

Second, some of the recipes are inconsistent with the book's narration, as well as with information from the tv shows. For example, after having confirmed that "raktajino" is a beverage similar to strong coffee (and having printed a recipe for making raktajino out of coffee beans,) "Neelix" offers a recipe for raktajino cake that contains no coffee! In another example, "Neelix" says that "parthos" can be made out of brussels sprouts. Any one who has seen "The Next Generation" knows that parthos looks nothing like brussels sprouts, and everything like bright green spinach. Finally, while the book gives a reasonable recipe for "Klingon blood pie," (basically a steak and kidney pie,) there is also a version, called a "favorite" of a Klingon character, that is really a sweet cherry pie. To pass a cherry pie off as "blood pie" is to say that the publishers really don't know--and don't care-- what Star Trek is all about.

Third, there are inconsistancies in the narration. On page 115, "Neelix" says that Commander Riker's favorite Klingon dish is "bregit lung"; on page 117 he says that Riker's favorite Klingon dish is "pipius claw."

An annoying aspect of the book is padding with recipes that have nothing to do with Star Trek. These recipes are given teasers that are meant to connect them with Star Trek characters. But who needs a recipe for oatmeal on the doubtful assertion that it's Jake Sisko's favorite breakfast, or a recipe for green beans (improbably called "Klingon green beans," as if any Klingon would actually sit at the same table with them!)

The book strictly avoids beverage recipes that contain alcohol, so this book is of no use to those who want to recreate ales and spirits for taste as well as looks.

The book has its good points-- it tells you how to recreate prop food, and some of the recipes are good, even thought they have little to do with Star Trek, and some of the stars have contributed good recipes.

It's a shame that this book has been labeled and endorsed by the Star Trek franchise as their official cookbook, because it's been obviously written by people who don't understand and didn't bother to check the background information given on most foods and beverages presented in any of the Star Trek movies and the first four TV series (Original series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager).
This book's very confusing format is divided into six main sections that list the recipes according to the character's likes and dislikes based, by the way, on very doubtful assertions, which include many inaccurate quotes and anecdotes that conveniently make many Star Trek unrelated dishes seem related to the series. This means that in order to find a Strawberries and Cream recipe, you must look for it among the recipes listed as Capt. Janeway's favorites in the Voyager section.
The book also includes some dish variations that go way beyond just making a few adjustments to the recipes. For example, there is a recipe for a Klingon Blood Pie, traditionally a baked roast and veal kidneys pie, which transforms it into a sweet cranberry pie.
Most of the recipes are poorly written and badly edited, and lack specific information, giving only general instructions and details. Also, the authors have avoided including any recipe containing alcohol, altogether ignoring the liquors and spirits often showcased in the Star Trek universe.
The book's visual style is also a minus, as it doesn't include a single color photograph of a finished dish, only containing black & white pictures (mostly of crew members) taken directly from the shows. But the book's worst feature is the author's patronizing and annoying writing style.
I gave the book two stars because of the information and techniques on making prop foods and the very well written and very delicious recipes contributed by many Star Trek actors. If these two things aren't enough to satisfy you, don't even bother with this book.
--Reviewed by M. E. Volmar

I was given this as an anniversary present by someone who I thought loved me. I will now be sleeping with one eye open. It's not that this is a joke book, there are lots of real recipes in here. I just have no clue who the target audience is. Some recipes will take a degree of skill others are so basic I wondered where the PBJ could be found. There are also some very interesting bits on the `food stylings' from the various TV shows. Since I love film these made interesting reading and as I often found myself asking `who?' `where?' to many of the people named I know I am saved from a cubical in geekdom

There are some good looking recipes for crab stuffed salmon, spiced baked potatoes and lemon chicken. There are some good bread ideas and a few recipes like sautéed sweetbreads, real Haggis, a Haggis Lite for those with a problem finding sheep stomachs and stuffed veal hearts that excite me. I want to try these and know an Asian market where I'll have no trouble getting exotic ingredients. Just going through their meat department you can play Dr. Porkenstien and put a whole pig back together from what they have on display. So I promise I can handle the culinary weirdness. But then things go south.

They include a virgin mint julep recipe saying they don't want to corrupt the reading youth. OK I can agree on that but later you get an earl grey tea for Picard that is spiked with Grand Marnier.

Some of the recipes require you to have kitchen toys like juicers and bread makers which you figure someone's got to have some cooking experience to have around the house and then there are recipes so simple that I think they were included just to pad the page count. For example one actor says the secret to his scrambled eggs is to add a small amount of whole milk. You think? You daring devil you! Of course only in Hollywood would this be considered a secret. In the rest of the 49.8 states of the union, this is how people do it all the time. There's a recipe for hot oatmeal. Like this couldn't be read off any package of Quaker oats.

It gets weirder. Page 137 includes a recipe for I kid you not, cat food! Freaking cat food? I do not know if this is better or worse than a recipe for oatmeal. I reread the page just to make sure it wasn't a joke or something that humans should eat. Nope this is pet food

There are recipes that look good but when you start you find they are maddeningly vague. For example on one drink you're told to add "a whole chunk of fresh ginger." How big is that? You can destroy a dish with something that potent without better directions. They give precise directions for everything else but tell you to use a `chunk' of ginger. A whole chunk, what if I only have a half chunk of ginger? In the recipe for chicken soup it doesn't tell you how much water to use. It just says half fill a large pot. How large? 6 quart? 10 quart? I got a 14 quart stock pot I make soup in. Half of that is going to create a much less flavorful soup than the guy next door using a 6 quart pot. Maybe that's why the ingredients include bullion cubes for flavor.

Which leads to my biggest gripe that many of these recipes rely on bullion for flavor. Bullion cubes? OK most people are not going to have 14 quart stock pots or demi-glace in the freezer, but if you, anyone, makes soup from scratch you do so, so you can enjoy flavors that don't come from these hard, dry, cube shaped, salt licks. If your recipe is so weak that you need these little boosters, give it up and open a tin of Campbell's.

In the end I was left wondering who was the target audience for this? Anyone not wearing lax ear extensions? Organized by show and by character it is a confusing mess. It should have been by complexity or by style-meat, fish, bread. Without that this runs the risk of being a fan boy toy and the editor thinking of this as a cook book should have given it a serious shake down for re-organization.

Neither writer is a chef, but, they are guys who like food and wanted to share their ideas. And maybe that's the saving grace. They are people who want to share food they like with other people and that's pretty cool. I am not the target audience for this. But I can respect what they are doing and if someone else falls in love with cooking because this helps them pick up a knife that's a good thing. Oh, but the cat food recipe? That's still pretty weird.

Be prepared for an out of this galaxy taste-trip! You'll have to forgive me, but being a Neelix-fan, of course,(I'm naturally biased in a good way)I had to go get this, try some of USS Voyager's chef's interstellar meals...The book is a blast, there's a lot of great humor, real practical info combined in a readable way! The preparation-steps easy to follow and do, the edible-results are out of this world and will vanish quicker than you can fix them! There are a number of reciepes offered that kids will like and want. Plus the added back ground on Neelix's past make help us understand him better,this wise, gentle and well-seasoned alien of many skills! Congrats to both Ethan Phillips and William Birnes for an enjoyable work!

I got this book when I was around 10 or 11 & I loved it. However, as I got older the novelty wore off. This book will make a good Christmas gift for any Star Trek fan under 13 but not for people any older than that. I remember cooking stuff from this book with my Grandma & enjoying every second of it (however my Grandma didn't have the best time with it). Now I have been making stuff from this cookbook again with my nephew. I hope that he enjoys it just as much as I did.

It's not your normal cookbook, fortunately it's not bio-plasma and neutrino emissions. For a cookbook the recipes are quite good, especially Tim Russ's Pasta Primavera, Kate Mulgrew's Pork Tenderloin, and Rene Auberjonois's Tomato Bruschetta. There are other recipes for more culinary aspirations such as Pipius Claw, but the earth food will keep you baking, broiling, and frying.

I liked the insights it gave on how the foods used in the various series were prepared. And some of the recipes sound quite tasty. But the real names are probably for Trekkers only. For the uninitiated, perhaps you should use the English equivalent.

Neelix comes across in this book almost as well as he does on TV. The recipes are fun to read and cover the full range of the Star Trek universe. There is even one for a Borg dish [the only one that can't be created in a standard Earth-type kitchen]. For anyone hosting a Star Trek theme party, this book is a must. There are lots of hints on how to costume Earth food and drink [mostly non-alcoholic] to suit your occassion!

The desserts in this book are by far the easiest and best tasting things to make. I especially liked the raktajino cake which has a yummy lemon-butter icing recipe thats to die for. Believe me, I am NOT a good cook, but the dessert recipes are easy to follow. Also, a lot of the drink recipes are available, and while not terribly exciting (Romulan ale is actually blue gatorade) its still fun to get and drink with the other recipes. Some of the main courses are a bit too complicated for a beginner like myself. Other recipes, like Klingon organ pie, are down right gross. Then again I am a mere trekkie not a trekker so you more hardcore fans will eat this stuff up (no pun intended.)

Bought this cookbook for my Trekky fan. And she absolutely loved it. She loved everything about it, the recipes, the trivia and behind the scenes info. She would definatley recommend it for any Trekky fan.