Twitter Is Trolling This Cookbook Shipping Disaster

A bizarre story took shape recently when New York Times columnist Melissa Clark and Mason Hereford, the restaurateur behind Turkey and the Wolf, each had newly released cookbooks being shipped across the ocean from Taiwan. But, instead of making it to shore and on to bookshelves, the container carrying their books collapsed, landing all copies at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean (via Yahoo!). As Hereford announced on Instagram January 25, "I have some wild and unfortunate cookbook news so bizarre, that it warrants using lowercase text. I'm sorry to say the Turkey and the Wolf cookbook won't be shipping out in February as planned. There was a container collapse on the cargo ship."

This "freak" occurrence, the latest in supply chain issues, is really marked by the humor that has come from the announcement, with meme after meme poking fun, beginning with Hereford's own take using the famous Nirvana "Nevermind" album cover (already mired in its own controversy as of late). Others included nods to Tom Hank's "Castaway," The Beach Boys, and even "Gilligan's Island." 

In his post, Hereford also said, "The good news is that there were no critical injuries, as can happen in these situations. But the bad news is the books might be in a cargo container at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean." He added that the new release date has moved from February to June 2022, and provided the different ways readers could follow up with their pre-orders. As he concluded, "I love y'all to the moon and back for pre-ordering and supporting the book, and I'm sorry for the delay bummer. We're still gonna party and we hope you do too."

The outlandish story quickly got picked up by Twitter, and people just can't get enough of the memes — the story just writes itself. As one person joked on Twitter, "Feed a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a fish to cook ..." Another shared, "I supp[ose] the books are shipped on a boat made of Duke's mayo jars, a wondrous image plastered on my favorite item of Turkey and the Wolf apparel," referencing Hereford's popular New Orleans restaurant. Yet another fan simply mourned the delay of their favorite recipe from Hereford's spot, and said, "I would seriously swim to the bottom of the ocean if that book contained the recipe for their Collard Green Melt."

The unprecedented delay of these anticipated cookbooks, combined with the amazing humor at dealing with this situation, have begun to capture all of social media by storm — and the reactions just keep getting better.

Fellow affected author Melissa Clark (whose book, "Dinner in One: Exceptional & Easy One-Pan Meals" is also lost at sea) released her own meme update, and shared on Instagram, "In keeping with the zeitgeist of 2022, I regret to inform you all that my new cookbook, 'Dinner in One,' may have sunk to the bottom of the ocean. And so, well, the publication date has been delayed until September 6." Clark's post features a prehistoric sea creature eating her book — yet again, the best response to this unfortunate situation.