Cooking with the Kitchen Witch, not to be confused with an earlier book by the author called A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook, expands on the topic of magic and cookery popularized in the first book about 30 years ago. While your standard cookbook might have chapters on chicken or cake, this book serves up chapters on topics such as Potion Notions (drinks), Edible Petals (cooking with edible flowers), the Fire Festival: BBQ and Grilling and Potluck Possibilities. Beginning with how to cleanse, purify and bless your kitchen, moving on to entertaining with intent, recipes with magical influences and finishing out the book with food correspondences and how to cook for each zodiac sign to create memorable meals. There's a little under 100 recipes. Since Telesco is a fusion cook, mixing different cuisines in one recipe, there is a good variety of recipes.
Telesco writes that she was inspired by 1920s homemaker's guides that taught the knowledge needed to run daily life in a household. There is a certain touch of Old Farmer's Almanac in the lists of correspondences of food and symbolism, moon phases, and astrology. The Appendix on Kitchen Hacks also is very practical. Telesco describes kitchen magic as a philosophy, not a technique. Skill level for both magic and cooking runs from low to high so whether the reader is a microwave cook with years of magical practice or a professional chef curious about kitchen witchery, the book is designed to offer something.
The recipes vary in complexity and familiarity from dishes like Progressive Pork and Beans to recipes calling for less common ingredients like coconut amino acids or Enoki mushrooms. Sometimes substitutions are offered. The kinds of recipes lend themselves to dinner with family or party favors. There isn't much baking with a muffin recipe called Elderflower Manuscript muffins and Anise Sugar Cookies. Telesco says she's not so much a baker as a fusion cook. For those readers who want to adapt recipes to gluten free, that means fewer recipes with modifications needed but it's not written with that in mind so I would only recommend that for those already familiar with how to make modifications. While some recipes are vegetarian, the author likes cheese and cream so it would not be the best choice for vegans. Ultimately this is a concept book and anyone really taken with the idea of food used to work their magic will eventually get experimental and change the ingredients. The author even expects this.
I tried a few recipes myself. Thai Chicken Tostada Treasure struck me as a simple enough recipe but it proved to me that my teen needs to learn how to follow a recipe. It still turned out but it was an experience. The energetic essence is described: "In China, peanuts often represent honor, wealth and vitality. Coconut milk brings abundance and sustenance. Consider making this on a waxing moon so your energy grows."
I made the Apple Cider Pot Roast. It gets nice and tender in the crockpot and reminded me of my grandfather's cooking. The "apples represent sweetness, beauty and hope. The fruit is hardy, providing additional symbolism of strength and growth. In Jewish tradition, dipping apples in honey encourages a delightful new year. Parsnips and potatoes promote grounding."
The Apple of My Eye Smoothie was easy enough for my kid to pull off but younger children would need help transferring hot liquid to a blender. I didn't have walnuts the first time I made it and subbed cinnamon stick for cinnamon and it was like a very thick hot apple cider. The next time I subbed peanut butter for the nuts and I can see why the author chose walnuts which would have been better. The book describes it as having a "vibrational signature perfect for activating your third eye, empowering psychic awareness. Apple brings growth into the picture. Make this when you are focusing on developing your spiritual arts. Think of it as a tune up for your soul."
Recommended for readers with a passion or deep curiosity about metaphysical cooking.
~review by Larissa Carlson
Author: Patricia Telesco
Llewellyn Publications, 2024
319 pp., $23.99
