Devouring the Fourth Wing Cookbook with Author Chelsea Cole
September 11, 2026
Featured Guests:
Chelsea Cole
Chelsea Cole is a cookbook author, food blogger, and photographer with a knack for turning beloved fantasy worlds into recipes you can actually make. She is the culinary force behind A Feast of Thorns and Roses, the hit unofficial cookbook inspired by Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses, and her latest, A Guide to the Kitchen Quadrant: The Unofficial Fourth Wing Cookbook, brings the magic and chaos of Rebecca Yarros's Basgiath War College straight to your kitchen with 60 original recipes. Beyond romantasy, Chelsea runs the food blog A Duck's Oven, has authored Everyday Sous Vide and Sous Vide Meal Prep, and teaches aspiring writers through her online program, The Cookbook Lab. She lives just outside Portland, Oregon.
What happens when a sous vide nerd falls hard for a war college full of dragons? You get a cookbook. This week we sit down with Chelsea Cole, the mind behind A Guide to the Kitchen Quadrant, the (unofficial) Fourth Wing cookbook that is embossed, spot glossed, and frankly prettier than most things in our houses. We get into how you build a recipe out of four passing food mentions, why aesthetic is the entire point, and how she turns a book launch into a full night at Basgiath (axe throwing, a maker's market, and a marketplace throne included). Come hungry. Leave manifesting Rebecca Yarros's phone number.
In This Episode
How a cookbook actually gets made, from 30 recipe testers to chapter intros to dragon scale cover textures
Writing recipes when the source material only mentions food four times\
Picking a whole flavor world (hello, Southern European Navarre) to make a fan cookbook feel cohesive
Fan lore as an ingredient: Jesinia's margin notes, Segale's chardonnay, Broccoli the kitten
Turning launches into immersive events that actually sell out
The working author-parent reality: 5am writing, meal planning a month at a time, and treating it like a business, not a hobby
Why fan-first beats source-accurate every time (the rabbit stew is beef, sorry)
Links
Get A Guide to the Kitchen Quadrant: https://a.co/d/0byRi0Ka
Chelsea on Instagram: @chel.seacole
A Duck's Oven: aducksoven.com
The makers from Chelsea's launch market (ceramics, embroidery, hand-forged daggers, and more):
@brujos_brewing
@elviejonpdx
@domestic_science
@saltandstemware
@stephiepredmore
@faithhead99
@lindsaystrannigan
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Website: margsandmanuscripts.com
Instagram: @margsandmanuscripts
Books featured on this podcast are sometimes provided free by publishers or authors.
Keywords
Fourth Wing cookbook, Chelsea Cole, A Guide to the Kitchen Quadrant, Rebecca Yarros, The Empyrean, Iron Flame, Onyx Storm, Basgiath, romantasy, fan cookbook, unofficial cookbook, cookbook author, cookbook writing, sous vide, book launch, self-publishing, indie author, bookish podcast, books and writing podcast, A Court of Thorns and Roses
