The Elder Scrolls: The Official Cookbook

Book Preface

I used to be an adventurer …
Oh, you’ve heard that story already?
It’s remarkable how familiar tales can become something fresh with just a little tweaking. Recipes are much the same. They can be gathered as one travels then adapted to suit the season, location, or what’s available in your home larder.
When it comes to selecting your ingredients, it’s importanho be a little flexible. These recipes are reflective of the basic recipes found across Skyrim, Morrowind, and the whole ofTamriel, but should in no way be constrictive. If a recipe calls for chicken eggs, but all you have are a couple of thrush eggs, use those without fear. Similarly, a single kwama egg is roughly equivalent to about four good-sized chicken eggs. If you have been cursed with the inability to eat wheat by some malicious rogue mage, an all-purpose gluten-free flour substitute can be used in most of the recipes in this collection. For a more comprehensive list of dietary qualifications, see the list in the appendix.
If certain herbs are unavailable where you are, simple substitutions can
be easily made. Sage, for example, is a very good stand-in for elves ear, and cranberries provide much the same color and tart flavor as true snowberries. These substitutions will not provide you with the various physical and magical buffs as their original counterparts would, but they will nonetheless give you an approximation of the flavors of TamrieL
While mushrooms are plentiful throughoutTamriel, it’s vital that you know which types are safe to eat. I once knew an intrepid Dunmer who set out to create recipes for all the mushrooms species that exist. He was unsuccessful. As a wise man once quipped, ”.All mushrooms are edible at least once … ” I can’t advise that you go taking bites out of mushrooms at random to see what’s s􀀵e, though. In the meantime, a common button mushroom will serve until you become an expert on Tamriel’s numerous mushroom varieties and their assorted side effects.
When it comes to meats, there are a few ways to go: You can smoke it, salt it, cook it, preserve it with ice wraith teeth, or eat it raw. The Bosmer wood elves are particularly known for their meat-heavy diet, making a meal of just about anything that crosses their path-and I mean anything. For those with a more discerning palate, there are thankfully many delicious options roaming the wilds ofTamriel. Venison, mammoth, goat, rabbit, the elusive pheasant, and even the little domestic chicken-provided it doesn’t belong to someone else-are all delectable. In a pinch, even cave bear can be roasted up over a campfire, but I hear it can be a little greasy. Similarly, the rivers and coastlines are teeming with edibles just waiting to be caught: salmon, Nordic barnacles, pearl oysters, clams, slaught_erfish, and many more.
Some say only a Nord can work the soil in Skyrim, but many other races have also made a home in the chilliest region of Tamriel. Using a combination of ingenuity and sheer stubbornness, they have adapted some of the favorite recipes from their homelands to suit the ingredients of Skyrim. None are mor􀀅 able to adapt than the Khajiit, who are a roving people by nature, and often carry with them a wild assortment of spices and seasonings. A meal by their campfires is an opportunity not to be missed.
In short, the foods ofTamriel are what you make them. Hopefully this modest collection of recipes will give you a good starting point for your own edible experiments over the hearthfire.

Watch the skies, traveler. I wish you good eating.

– CHELSEA MONROE-CASSEL