Cookbooks Sink to Bottom of the Ocean After 'Bizarre' Shipping Incident

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At least two forthcoming cookbooks from acclaimed chefs are sitting on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean after a "wild and unfortunate" turn of events.

The publication dates for Mason Hereford's Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin' in New Orleans and food writer Melissa Clark's Dinner in One have been delayed, both authors said, after containers containing printings of their books toppled into the sea.

Both were being transported to New York via the Madrid Bridge cargo ship, which had more than 60 containers collapse overboard amid severe weather earlier this month, Maritime Executive reports.

Despite the delay, both Hereford and Clark had a sense of humor about the loss.

Borrowing from Nirvana's infamous Nevermind album cover, along with other notable pop culture moments, Hereford joked about the postponed release date on Instagram with a series of hilarious memes.

"I have some wild and unfortunate cookbook news so bizarre that it warrants using lowercase text," he captioned Wednesday's post before sharing that Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin' in New Orleans — after the namesake of his New Orleans sandwich shop — would not be "shipping out in February as planned due to the container collapse.

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While Heneford noted that the "good news" was no one was injured, he said, "the bad news is the books might be in a cargo container at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean."

Ending with a salute to his supporters, the restauranteur stated, "I love y'all to the moon and back for preordering and supporting the book, and I'm sorry for the delay bummer. We're still gonna party and we hope you do too."

Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin' in New Orleans will now be released on June 21.

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Heneford, in his post, did call the event "the most hilariously 2022 thing to happen yet this year."

Clark also laughed off the delay, referencing the "zeitgeist of 2022" as she announced Dinner in One "may have sunk to the bottom of the ocean."

Clark's new release date is Sept. 6, she shared alongside her own meme of an ocean animal appearing to eat her book.

Giving her brief version of the incident, Clark added, "there was a maritime storm. Containers were crushed, some fell overboard. My cookbook, along with @turkeyandthewolf's cookbook, is MIA on the wine-dark sea."

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She kept the laughs coming in the rest of her message. "I like to think that if the books are at the bottom of the ocean, they're teaching whole schools of fish some very tasty recipes," she teased. "Poseidon and his nereids are dining in style."

"I'm wrecked about this (ha), and SO impatient to get these one-pot recipes into your hands," she continued. "Sigh. Glub, glub."

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According to the Maritime Executive, the Madrid Bridge cargo ship arrived in Charleston, South Carolina on Jan. 20 to unload the 80 remaining containers that managed to stay on board, but had to wait several days to dock because there wasn't enough terminal space. It headed south before returning to the port Tuesday.

It could take several days to unload all of the containers and sift through the damage, the outlet said.