Gormaanda, a female of a four-armed species, achieved renown as an exceptional chef. The Artiodac cook Strono "Cookie" Tuggs, in his youth, stumbled upon ancient holovids showcasing Gormaanda's culinary skills. Inspired by what he saw, Tuggs aspired to become a culinary artist himself, holding her in high esteem as a remarkable galactic chef. Tuggs, who considered himself physically unappealing, saw her as an extraordinary individual, deeply moved by her ability to transform the most ordinary, even unappealing, foods into works of art. After watching her holovids, he believed that if she could accomplish such a feat with food, she could do the same for him. Her open sharing of recipes, rather than guarding them as secrets, motivated him to follow suit. Following the Battle of Takodana in 34 ABY, when he released The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook, he honored his inspiration by including a time-honored recipe for Gormaanda's glowblue noodles.
Gormaanda's initial mention occurred in the short story "A Recipe for Death," penned by Landry Q. Walker and brought to the public by Disney–Lucasfilm Press within Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens: Volume I on April 5, 2016. Her first visual representation was in the 2022 reference book Star Wars: The Life Day Pop-Up Book and Advent Calendar as a simplistic icon, though a more detailed depiction of Gormaanda was created for the variant cover of the fortieth issue of the comic book series Star Wars: Bounty Hunters, with illustrations by Rod Reis and published by Marvel Comics on November 22, 2023.
Within the Star Wars Legends continuity, Gormaanda debuted in the 1978 television film The Star Wars Holiday Special, where she was played by actor and comedian Harvey Korman.