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It’s one thing to be tasked with creating a cookbook for a beloved movie or video game franchise, but what do you do when the subject in question isn’t really that interested in cooking? The answer is, get creative — and be prepared to do a lot more research.

At an Insight Editions-sponsored panel on pop culture cookbooks at Emerald City Comic Con 2025, Tara Theoharis — author of, amongst many other such books, 2021’s Tomb Raider: The Official Cookbook and Travel Guide — shared that Lara Croft’s unstoppable momentum complicated her original plans for the book.

“Lara Croft doesn't cook. That's not a part of the games,” she explained. “So for that one, the cookbook is actually a cookbook and a travel guide, and the focus of the food is a type of food that Lara could have encountered in every single place she's been to in every single one of her video games. It was a really, really fun project because I was looking at what type of food can be quickly eaten on the run? What is the most popular street food in every one of these locations? And what are the most popular home cooked dishes? If someone invited Lara into their home for a safe night's rest, where can she get some of that food?”

Considering that Lara Croft is famously a globe-trotting treasure hunter, that kind of project wasn’t exactly a small undertaking. Thankfully, Theoharis wasn’t doing it alone, as she turned to an easily-available resource to help: the games’ international fanbase.

“So I was doing a lot of geographical research and a lot of research on travel sites and travel forums on what the most popular dishes were, a lot of versions of [what was considered] ‘tasty’ at each different country and location, and then we worked really closely with the fan forums to make sure that the recipes all made sense for them,” she revealed. “We would go to the Tomb Raider fan forums in India and say, ‘Hey, when your mom cooks this dish, what ingredients is she using? Does this recipe sound authentic?’ Some of [these projects] take a little bit of that extra level of research.”

Seattle's ECCC 2025 is coming up faster than you think! Keep up to date with our guide to all the Artist's Alley & Writer's Block celebrities, all the major panels, a grunge-themed playlist for the grunge-themed con, our personal recs for the key things to do at ECCC, where to find us at ECCC, and even what to do while you're in Seattle for the event. Reserve your passes as soon as you can!