Disney Cookbooks - A Review of Sorts

Theme parks and good food are two things I don't usually equate with each other.  So imagine my surprise when, while celebrating my birthday last year at Walt Disney World with a college buddy, I found not one but two Disney themed cookbooks for sale in the gift shops.  'Aha!,' I thought to myself, 'these must be the special recipes from the fancy restaurants at the themed hotels that I can't afford.  If I didn't buy this book, I would never be able to try them.'  Besides, I reasoned, I had been meaning to learn how to cook and what better motivation for a Disney nerd than Mickey with a chef hat plastered on the cover. 

So did the cookbooks live up to expectations?  Well... yes and no.

In case that "meaning to learn how to cook" line wasn't clear, I am not an experienced, or even particularly good, cook. And some of these recipes are not very forgiving, or are hard to follow as written, or are just plain off in terms of cooking times.  I specifically chose Chef Mickey Treasures from the Vault and Delicious New Favorites  because I saw pictures when I flipped through it in the store (the other book currently being sold at the parks is Cooking with Mickey and the Disney Chefs.  Both books are complied by Pam Brandon,  but Cooking with Mickey lacks pictures).  I hardly know what I'm doing at it is - at least with a picture you can see your goal.  Unfortunately, most of the pictures are not of the recipes themselves and thus not helpful.  Basically, if you're a beginner, you may want to hold off on these cookbooks, or work through them with a friend who knows about cooking.  The recipes aren't usually difficult in and of themselves, but the instructions are hit or miss.

Some things to consider if you are interested in these books:

• These recipes are mostly from the more upscale restaurants on the Disney properties.  Some are quite complicated, have expensive or bizarre ingredients, take hours to cook, etc.  If you're looking for recipes for nightly family dinners, this is probably not the cookbook for you.
• Many of these recipes are ridiculously unhealthy.  We're talking six cups of heavy cream and a stick of butter in one soup levels of unhealthy.  It's something you don't usually think about when you're splurging on your vacation, but it becomes hard to justify when you're cooking at home. And they don't offer any ideas for substitutions.
• While not so good for everyday cooking, these recipes wow at parties.  I made Blackberry Zinfandel Braised Short Ribs and Wine Country Wild Berry Cobbler for a dinner party once and no one believed I had actually made them myself.
• There are a lot of reprints.  Some editions are even page for page the same.  This irks me.  A lot.  If you don't know any better you'll end up buying the same book (albeit in different packaging) twice.  Glance at the pictures below and you'll see what I mean.  It may make you feel cheated.
• I want more Disneyland recipes!  OK, this one is personal, but all my nostalgic memories are from Disneyland.  I want more Cafe Orleans.  More Blue Bayou.  More Club 33.  More Napa Rose.  Where is the Anaheim love?

Cooking with Mickey: Mickey Gourmet Cookbook Volume II is, from what I understand, page for page the same as Mickey's Gourmet Cookbook.  I don't know how they match up with the current edition Cooking with Mickey and the Disney Chefs, but it does makes you wonder...

 Also, there's a lengthy forum topic on DISBoards that lists just about every Disney recipe, vintage or current, that fans can get their hands on.  It even includes a searchable index as a separate topic.  When I first stumbled upon it, I was blown away.  The physical books are rather superfluous in comparison to that thread, provided you're comfortable working from electronic copies of recipes.  I prefer an old-fashioned book, but it's nice to have as reference. 


Overall Verdict:  For all their flaws, I do love the Disney cookbooks.  I even picked up a used copy of Mickey's Gourmet Cookbook for a buck after I purchased Chef Mickey so that I could fill out my collection of Disney recipes.  But I am also a hardcore Disney fan, which not everyone is.  If you dive into the series expecting them to be be something you can use everyday, something you can pick up with little to no experience, you'll probably be disappointed.

I'm not quite comfortable, however, giving such a generic, overarching review of a whole cookbook series.  That's the reason this is only "a review of sorts"; what good is a cookbook review without testing recipes (with real pictures!)?  So, over the next few weeks, I'll be testing out individual recipes from two Disney cookbooks  (Chef Mickey and Mickey's Gourmet) for taste, affordability, and whether you'll ever want to make them again.  I like to think of it as an "in the trenches" practical review.  It will be messy.  And delicious.

Next blog:  The Disney recipe challenge begins!  Tuna Burgers from the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship Restaurant at Disneyland.  This is a from the vaults recipe, 1950s meets now.  Hopefully better than it sounds...

Happy Reading!