Zelda Breath of the Wild recipe accidentally added into author’s novel

If you’re a gamer who picked up acclaimed Irish novelist John Boyne’s latest historical fiction book, The Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom, you might notice something familiar. On a page spotted by Reddit user u/nonono_ohhoho, the story’s narrator describes ingredients for dyes used in dressmaking. The Redditor quickly noticed the ingredients came from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Read more: 3 years on, I’m still recovering from Breath of the Wild

In Breath of the Wild, the ingredients for red dye require an apple, spicy pepper, Hylian shroom, sunshroom, ruby, fire keese wing and a red lizalfos tail. Writer and podcaster Dana Schwartz tried to trace Boyne’s steps to see if the the video game reference was an Easter egg or a mistake, since the historical novel does not take place in the same world as the game. 

Is it an homage? An Easter egg? Hmm. The book is *not* a fantasy. It’s a historical drama set in the real world. I had a hunch, and tried a google search. pic.twitter.com/o3yHQO4nEU

— Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) August 3, 2020

“So, while John Boyne was doing a perfunctory google search for how to dye clothes red he found a site listing monster parts and accidentally put them in his very serious book,” Schwartz hypothesized on Twitter.

The news finally made it back to Boyne who responded good-naturedly to Schwartz’s thread.

LOL that is actually kinda hilarious. I’m totally willing to own it. 😂🤣Something tells me I’ll be telling this anecdote on stage for many years to come… 😂

— John Boyne 📚 (@john_boyne) August 3, 2020

Nintendo released Breath of the Wild in 2017, adding another playable adventure in the iconic, enduring Legend of Zelda video game series.