Eat Prison-Inspired Food With Recipes From the Official 'Orange Is the New Black' Cookbook
The book has all-new details on the characters, recipes and more.
— -- Everyone knows that who controls the food, controls the family, whether you’re inside prison or not. Much of Netflix’s hit series “Orange Is the New Black” takes place in Litchfield’s kitchen and cafeteria, where power struggles and plotlines play out, as well as glimpses of what the women eat.
Inspired by this aspect of the show is its new cookbook, “Orange Is the New Black: The Cookbook,” out this week with recipes from the show and all-new details on the characters.
“So much of the drama of the show happens in the kitchen and that’s why we thought it was such a great entry point to get more for the fans,” Abrams Books editor Samantha Weiner told ABC News. “For people who love the show, it’s just so much inside the world of these characters inside the prison and inside things you’ve seen and haven’t seen.”
Weiner scoured season one for any food mentions and sent a list to the show’s writers who did the same for season two. They then put together a list of recipes they thought best represented the spirit of the show, including items like Piper’s Crack Almonds and Red’s Chicken Kiev.
Recipe developer Leda Scheintaub then created all the recipes to be as authentic as possible, while still tasting good.
“Any recipe that was something you saw on the show, she would nail the color the way it was presented and she came back with copious notes for the writers for the season two recipes asking what color it was, how it was plated, what was the context of us seeing it, etc., so she could really try to keep things as authentic as possible,” Weiner said.
“Authenticity is really the key to the book and why it was so great to have Jenji [Kohan, the show’s creator] and the rest of her team involved. They held the keys to the castle for the show, and we really wanted to make something for the fans that felt like it was a piece of the show.”
The book includes a note before each recipe written in the voice of the character behind it, as well as sidebars with additional content like someone’s daily schedule, the kitchen rules or a diary, like Daya’s pregnancy diary.
“It’s really meant to mimic the storytelling device of the show. You’re getting extra content and it really ties into the singular thing that draws people to the show, which is seeing someone’s backstory sort of explain their current actions,” Weiner said.
“The fun of the book is the quotes, photographs, stills from the show and the way we shot the food with actual props from the shows, like their prison trays and cutlery. It just opens up more about the characters.”
Try making some of OITNB’s recipes yourself with the ones below from the book.
Piper’s Crack Almonds: Click here for the recipe.
Pennsatucky's Family's Beer Can Bird: Click here for the recipe.
Crazy Eyes' Chocolate and Vanilla Fudge Swirl (Swirrl, Swirrl): Click here for the recipe.
Taystee's Sweet & Hot Chicken Wings: Click here for the recipe.
Vee's Butternut Squash, Leek & Ginger Soup: Click here for the recipe.
Related Stories
ABC News Live