Read an Excerpt

Welcome one and all to The Official Lore Olympus Cookbook

Whether you’re a new fan or a longtime reader—or maybe even a god disguised as a human, looking for some new fare to dazzle your fellow Olympians—there is something for everyone in this delectable tome.

The world of Lore Olympus is a sumptuous one, filled with color, drama, mystery, friendship, love, and food. It is a world that you can easily escape into again and again, a love story for the ages that follows Persephone and Hades as they grow and change and fall deeper in love. The tale’s origins go all the way back to ancient times and have been replayed through the centuries in fiction. But in Lore Olympus, we get a new take on a classic.

Persephone, the beautiful young maiden with a terrible secret. Hades, the lonely and jaded god who falls instantly in love the moment he lays eyes on her. She is the goddess of spring who belongs to the sunlight and fields. He is the god of the Underworld, who makes his home below the ground, far away from the warmth of the mortal realm.

They are an unlikely couple—and they somehow find a way to bring out the best in each other.

Rachel Smythe’s reimagining is a delightful melding of the ancient myths and the modern world. It constantly reinvents and plays with the mythology so that the stories become fresh and relevant for today’s readers.

The mythology takes on its own life, growing and adapting alongside its protagonists, allowing readers to find themselves in the characters of Hades, Persephone, Hera, Eros, and so many more. It invites us into a world of gods, gossip, snark, and friendship—and whether you are following Hades’s day in the Underworld or wandering the fields of the mortal realm with Demeter, it is easy to feel like you are a part of the pantheon. Hoping that Hades will find the courage to let himself love and be loved, or that Demeter will finally be able to let her daughter bloom and grow like the fields around her.

But more than being immersive, the story asks us to evolve alongside it, to practice empathy and compassion—even, in the end, for Minthe! It gives a voice and representation to so many people who have been left out or unheard for so long. It begs the reader not to look away, even from the difficult moments; to bear witness. It is a story filled with joy, growth, and finding oneself, even in the darkest of times and places. Lore Olympus teaches readers that it’s OK to be a work in progress. And it’s OK not to have all the answers and to ask for help. To try new things in order to grow as a person (or as a god, as the case may be).

It is the type of feeling that leads directly to the heart of good cooking. Cooking is something that, as a species, we’ve been doing since prehistoric times—since Prometheus angered Zeus and brought humans fire—and it is an expression of love, a necessity for survival, and what brings us together as families and communities.

This cookbook will teach you how to make some of the most famous meals in Lore Olympus (Persephone’s Baklava, Hera’s Moussaka, Eros’s Apology Donuts), but it won’t contain every food item featured in the comics. Instead, this book will show you how to cook some of the best-loved Greek dishes—like souvlaki, tzatziki, shrimp saganaki, and more—in new and exciting ways, and using seasonally appropriate ingredients.

Organized by season, which is the perfect way to eat, each chapter offers a recipe for any
time of the day, whether you are hankering for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a bright pink cocktail. And just in case you want to share food with your fellow Lore Olympus lovers, there is a feast at the end of each section, serving as inspiration for a themed party to close out the season.

Like Lore Olympus, this cookbook is a new take on an old classic, with recipes that breathe fresh life into traditional Greek cuisine. It is approachable for cooks of all skill levels, and gives detailed step-by-step instructions to make sure that no dish is off-limits, allowing you to create feasts fit for the Olympians. And us lucky mortals.