Book Review: “The Official Disney Parks Cookbook: 101 Magical Recipes from the Delicious Disney Vault”
Hi everyone!
I was sent “The Official Disney Parks Cookbook: 101 Magical Recipes from the Delicious Disney Vault” to review. This is the newest official Disney cookbook from Pam Brandon (and the Disney chefs). “The Official Disney Parks Cookbook” officially releases on February 7th, 2023.
Pam Brandon writes the introduction, mentioning that she wrote the first ‘official Disney parks cookbook’ back in 1998 (there were other cookbooks prior, I had “Cooking with Mickey” and we have Volume II). Brandon mentions that some of the recipes in the book have “staying power”, like Walt’s Chili & Beans, the Monte Cristo Sandwich, and Dole Whip. There are also recipes from newer locations and some seasonal recipes, including from the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival and the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.
“The Official Disney Parks Cookbook” arrived to me just a few days ago, and I’ve made one recipe so far – the Honey-Coriander Chicken Wings from ‘Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. The recipe is an easy and pretty quick one, although I doubled the ingredients to coat the chicken (I didn’t need to double the wing sauce).
My finished Honey-Coriander Chicken Wings
The next recipe I will make will be the Spicy Durban-Style Chicken from Sanaa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (Kidani Village). I don’t have the whole star anise, whole cumin seeds or cardamom pods on hand (I have ordered them from Amazon). The recipe looks pretty easy, and it is a dish I enjoy. After that, I have Walt’s Chili and Beans planned for next week, which is the current version from the Carnation Café at Disneyland.
As someone who loves to cook but doesn’t have all the equipment (for example, I don’t own a food processor or standing mixer), I am really happy with the amount of recipes I can still make. That isn’t always the case with cookbooks. There are a lot of pretty easy recipes and then some that are harder. I like the variety of drinks and beverages included. I’ll post more about the recipes I make in the next couple of weeks.
There are photographs throughout the book of the finished recipes, and some photos included of the Disney parks and resorts. I do wish that Disney100 was tied into the book with more photos and some history (like the ” Delicious Disney: Walt Disney World” cookbook did for the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World).
I am happy with the selection of recipes in “The Official Disney Parks Cookbook” and expect to use it often in the future. The price point is good too. I’ll post more in the next couple of weeks after making more recipes!
Here is the official information from Disney about “The Official Disney Parks Cookbook: 101 Magical Recipes from the Delicious Disney Series“.