Cooking (skill)

Cooking is both a utilitarian skill and an art form. While the mess cook prepares pot after pot of nutritious sludge for armies, a master chef may use many of the same skills to craft delicate works of culinary delight. Both are sought after in different circles, and in times of need one may endeavor to substitute for the other.

To become a professional chef, you must be trained by the craft guild of a major city. Go to the craft guild office and BUY COOKING PERMIT. The craft guild assesses a fee of 100 credits for the permit, which does not expire. Once a licensed chef, you will have basic ability in the Cooking miniskill. The more you train in this skill, the higher quality your products will be.

Fundamentally, cooking is a simple process. It is the application of heat to ingredients, making an edible product. To cook any dish, four fundamental things are required: a recipe, a cooking vessel (such as a frying pan), a heat source, and the ingredients specified by the recipe. Once you have placed the ingredients into your vessel and ]located a heat source (such as an oven or even a campfire), simply COOK IN OVER . Assuming the proper ingredients were present, the completed food should then be found inside the vessel.

Once you have gained Expert skill in Cooking, you will gain the coveted ability to design recipes of your own. This process is a bit more involved:

1) Purchase a blank cooking design sketch from a craft guild office.

2) Acquire a recipe of the same type as the item you wish to design (cake, pie, etc.), then DESIGN COPY . This will make a copy of the existing recipe on your blank sketch.

3a) Customize your sketch's appearance when held, when viewed in a room, and when examined closely:

  DESIGN  APPEARANCE ,
  DESIGN  DROPPED ,
  DESIGN  EXAMINED .
  DESIGN  EXAMINED EDIT.
  DESIGN  EATEN 1P .
  DESIGN  EATEN 3P .
  DESIGN  TASTE .
  DESIGN  SMELL .

When designing eaten messages, you must use certain conventions to establish where the eater's name fits into the message.

  $(name$) = Eater's name
  $(him$) = Him/her
  $(his$) = His/her
  $(he$) = He/she

This is just an example: $(name$) looks suspiciously at a grilled snake. Then $(he$) licks $(his$) lips and takes a big bite.

3b) Optionally, you may further customize the requirements of your recipe sketch:

  DESIGN  TOOL 
  DESIGN  HEATSOURCE 
  DESIGN  ADD 

If you do opt to require a specific type of tool or heat source, it will improve the quality of the finished product so long as those tools are used by the cook preparing it.

4) Take your design sketch to a craft guild office and DESIGN SUBMIT it for evaluation. The craft guild will review your sketch and make a recipe from it if the design is approved.

5) When the recipe is finished, you will be notified by letter that your recipe is ready to pick up. Return to the craft guild office and DESIGN REQUEST , using the recipe number specified in the letter from the craft guild. The craft guild charges a fee for the creation of the recipe.

Use DESIGN LIST to list all of the unsubmitted sketches you are holding.

Once you have attained Transcendent skill in Cooking, you will have the ability to list all recipes in your inventory by typing RECIPES.