Few video games have built such a loyal and passionate fan base. stardew valley. Released in 2016 by ConcernedApe, this cozy farm simulator game is widely considered to be one of the best in its genre, allowing players to spend countless hours growing vegetables, farming cows and sheep. Spend your time raising animals, fishing for rare specimens, mining minerals, and general farm maintenance. game farm. Perhaps not surprising, considering that both growing and cooking food are very important parts of the game. stardew valleyA unique cookbook has been published, boasting 74 different recipes.
Co-authored with Ryan J. Novak stardew valley Creator Eric Barone, stardew valley cookbook Featuring recipes for some of the game’s most iconic dishes, including Carp Surprise and beautifully decorated melon-spiked pink cake, the book will be in stores on May 14th. The recipe was developed by Susan Vu, a recipe developer who has been creating imaginary dishes. The official guide to Bridgerton entertainment and Exquisite Exandria: The Official Cookbook of Vital Roles.
Ahead of the book’s release, Eater sat down with Barone and Vu to discuss the role of cooking in the book. stardew valleyexplains why the game’s recipes have inspired such passionate fans, and which of its imaginary foods were the most fun and difficult to make.
Why did you decide to create a cookbook? stardew valley?
Eric Barone: Cooking was always part of the game. And since this is a homely country life simulator, I always felt that the cookbook had a sense of theme and atmosphere. It makes sense to bring the domestic quality of the game into the real world. There are some very strange dishes in the game, so I thought it would be very interesting and appealing to have them in real life. When I make these dishes, I want them to feel like they’re actually living in Stardew Valley.
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The recipes in the game, and the cookbook, are all pescetarian. Was that intentional from the beginning?
EB: In a very early version, we had meat and a butcher in the game, but we changed that at some point in development. Raising and slaughtering these animals may have been a little too unpleasant for players. It didn’t suit the relaxed atmosphere.I think it was a little bit because you kind of name the animal and take care of it. too much Authentic. So we came up with a pescatarian game where you can eat what you can grow or fish yourself. I have no regrets about that at all.
What was it like to turn an imaginary dish into a real one?
Susan Vu: Since the game only gives you a small pixelated photo and list of ingredients for each dish, I used this spreadsheet to help break down and organize all the information. When things got a little weirder, it got even harder. We wanted the recipes to be true to the game, but also allow people to actually recreate this food. Sure, it’s technically possible to find periwinkles (pronounced snails) and recreate weird breads, but it’s not always easy. So I turned to something seafood related and ended up with some really delicious recipes. The iconic shape of the strange buns needed to be perfected and took three or four tries. We then stuffed it with this delicious lobster salad that replicates the pink color of the weird buns seen in the game.
Next, Boyd Mayonnaise takes classic mayonnaise and adds a touch of charcoal to it, colored gray. And the thing is, mayonnaise tastes just as good without charcoal, but charcoal gives it that iconic black color. When I figured that out, I danced with glee in the kitchen at 4am. The most important thing was to really nail the visuals. Because that’s the only real experience fans get with these dishes.
Many of these dishes were complete inventions. Did they come true as you expected?
EB: There’s a little bit of magic. stardew valleyHowever, the dishes in the game mostly match real-world dishes, such as hash browns and eggs. I thought “weird” dishes would be the most interesting to adapt into a cookbook. Everyone knows how to make fried eggs, but no one has ever made seafoam pudding. The most important thing was that the recipe had to be delicious.
SV: Eric’s wonderful life partner has been making a lot of recipes for me as I’ve been developing them. She made the stuffing and cranberry drink and gave us real-time feedback. It was fun to have someone who brings the game to life actually create the recipe. I was excited when she cooked the food and ate it happily.
In terms of developing recipes, it seems like they had to search for ingredients in the real world with almost as much focus as they do in-game. What was that like?
SV: When I was developing the recipe for Karp Surprise, there was a moment when I thought, “Isn’t Surprise Karp?” Because I couldn’t find a carp for the life of me. I grew up eating it, and you could often find whole carp in Asian grocery stores. However, when I looked for it to create this recipe, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I drove to a Chinese grocery store, a Korean grocery store, and a Vietnamese grocery store, and everyone looked at me like I was crazy. I was finally able to get it shipped from New York, but it was a pain. I was able to test the recipe with carp, but I also tested it with other fish and it worked perfectly with striped bass and other white fish. In the end, I chose the koi wrapped in parchment paper, so when you open the little pouch you will be really surprised.
Crafting is a common element in video games, but cooking and gardening in games stardew valley He is especially respected by his fans. Why do you think that is?
EB: I think people like the role-play of going from living in a big city and working in a cubicle and probably eating a lot of takeout and fast food to moving to the countryside and becoming a farmer. People enjoy the fantasy of being farmers and eating home-cooked meals. It’s also about connections within the game, and many of the recipes are learned by befriending other characters, which ties the whole thing together.
SV: They’ve done a really fun job with the game’s visuals, so when you’re playing you look at each dish and think about how they would look in real life. I went down the rabbit hole of seeing what fans made themselves, and the recipes they saw, how they turned a rough list of ingredients into food, was incredible. .
