Here’s one for you: the good people responsible for Netflix’s hit comedramady* Orange is the New Black have put out a cookbook full of prison recipes. Yes–there is an Orange is the New Black cookbook.
According to editor Samantha Weiner of Abrams Books, the imprint responsible for the collection of kitchen concoctions, their intent was to recreate, as much as possible, the flavor of the show:
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. 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.
True to that idea, the cookbook is full of not only recipes, but in-character anecdotes that come with every recipe, in an attempt to develop each character a little bit more.
So, for example, here is dearly departed Vee’s contribution, alongside Butternut Squash, Leek, and Ginger soup:
I taught myself to cook. No home ec in high school or an Easy-Bake Oven when I was little. Being on your own, you learn what’s simple and filling. Soups are something I find comfort in, since it doesn’t get much easier than throwing things in a pot and letting them stew. I can still picture a simmering pot of my homemade broth — a warm bath for your belly. Taking in a bunch of kids — running my own island of misfit toys, if you will — doesn’t make my life any easier. But if I always have a soup on the stove, they’re fed, they’re happy, and they know who takes care of them. Where would they be without me? Nowhere good, that’s where.
The cookbook is on sale now.
In related news, prison memoirist Piper Kerman recently spoke about her role as a consultant on the show, and mentioned some of the new directions the writers have been taking with the upcoming third season:
One of the things that Jenji Kohan has said about season three already on record is that an exploration of faith is a big part of what she is planning and what they have scripted so far….[the new season] holds some really amazing stories and twists and turns.
Among those? Pornstache won’t be coming back, as actor Pablo Schreiber has signed on to do a different show. Instead, the character’s mother, played by celebrated actress Mary Steenburgen, has joined the crew.
There will be a new corrections officer on the show, though. Marsha Stephanie Blake, best-known for her turns in Django Unchained and on Girls, will feature there.
*It’s like a dromedary, but with more humping.
(Photo credits: Orange is the New Black cookbook via WENN)
