‘True Blood’ fans will now have the opportunity to concoct their own blood-red beet bisque, crimson sweet tea and other delicacies referenced in the hit HBO vampire drama, as the official ‘True Blood’ cookbook hits the shelves.
“True Blood: Eats, Drinks and Bites from Bon Temps” was compiled by Cajun chef Marcelle Bienvenu and is being released on Wednesday, as the show’s fifth season ends.
The show is filmed partly in Louisiana and is set in the fictional town of Bon Temps. The state’s cuisine is often referenced in the series, where vampires and mortals alike socialise over bowls of okra gumbo, jambalaya and red beans and rice.
“I’m going to be honest with you, I had never seen the show before they asked me to do this cookbook,” Bienvenu told USA Today.
Bienvenu is a chef from the Cajun town of St. Martinville, Lousiania who now teaches culinary arts to university students.
“I sat down and watched it with my notebook, and I was amazed how much food was mentioned in the series,” she said.
“It was fun making the recipes come to life. I think people are still mystified by south Louisiana food. There’s still such a mystique about the food and culture here.”
“True Blood” stars real-life husband and wife actors Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer.
Paquin plays the show’s beloved heroine Sookie Stackhouse, a mostly human waitress who falls for vampire Bill Compton, played by Moyer.
‘True Blood’ food lovers eagerly await the series’ official cookbook.
In the cookbook, recipes are accompanied with pictures and excerpts from the series. For instance, a recipe for creamy crawfish dip is displayed among pictures from a scene in which Stackhouse drives to see a werewolf but is instead greeted at the door by a character who has twice tried to kill her.
In the scene, Debbie offers Sookie a helping of crawfish dip.
Besides food, the cookbook includes nearly two-dozen drink recipes with names like Tequila Moonrise, Lovin’ in the Coven and Moonshine Rising.
“The drinks were a lot of fun to make,” said Bienvenu, who consulted a bartender friend to create the mixtures.
The laid-back chef also used her students to test her food recipes.
Bienvenu said that while the recipes have been given names inspired by the HBO series, the recipes are in fact real recipes for Louisiana food. She thinks people will really enjoy the dishes.
Bienvenu said “True Blood,” which is shown in 50 countries worldwide, has been a great way to showcase Louisiana’s unique cuisine.
The show will return for a sixth season next year. Next time we can settle down to watch it with the latest ‘True Blood’ jumbo dish, accompanied by a vampire-inspired cocktail drink.
This isn’t the first time HBO has merged a show with a cookbook. The network also released a collection of recipes from the tables of Italian mob families in the long-running hit drama ‘The Sopranos’.
