Can we eat that?

[Amaroq]

We had a half-orc monk who ate pretty much everything the party killed. It became the running joke of the campaign, as he'd offer it to the paladin, the prissy cleric, and the bespectacled goody-two-shoes mage, none of whom wanted anything to do with anything he'd eat.

He got a ton of great one-liners out of it - I think my favorite was after he'd rescued my armored character from a giant crawfish that was dragging me into the depths, popping to the surface with a huge claw of crawfish and shouting "Quick! Someone find a cask of butter! We're gonna need it!"

Our current DM is a bit of a foodie, and has made a bit of a thing out of describing our meals in some detail: its a very nice touch when, for example, he opens a session describing the aroma of the food coming off the campfire, etc.

 

[Piratecat]

Back in 2e I had a halfling psionicist named Groodle Brackenhaus. Every one of his psionic powers were targetted towards stunning, catching, and cooking animals (or monsters) for food. He'd constantly offer bizarre hors d'ouevres to the party as well. "Can I offer you an illithid puff? This is one tasty intellect you'll want to devour! No? Then how about crabman cacciatore?" All his treasure included bits of the monster to cook for dinner.

That was one fun character!

 

[RangerWickett]

Four giff - one each pink, green, blue, and yellow - walk into the galley of a Spelljammer . . .

 

[the Jester]

Well, in my campaign, the dragon would be horrendously toxic. In fact, there's a somewhat narcotic liquor called tiley; a barrel of it is made with one drop of the blood from the heart of a red dragon. More than that would be dangerous or even lethal.

 

[Armadillo]

Our house rule is something may be eaten if it (1) wasn't sentient and (2) didn't have a breath weapon. I believe we developed this rule after fighting a hydra.

 

[Rechan]

I have always wanted to play a halfling fighter specializing in cooking. Someone who wielded pots and pans and meat cleavers, whose mission was to write a treatise on the Adventurer's Guide to Eating.

Also, IIRC, in "Realms of the Underdark", there's a story about a cook who is captured by some drow, and eventually he writes a book about eating and the underdark.

 

[Totte]

I had a player playing a halfling warlock cook in 3.5, but he never served any "catch of the day" by the party. But he was always throwing witty oneliners around, like "Mother always said - never fry the pork naked".

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mty7VWODO-I&feature=related"]Iron Chef[/ame]

"The special ingredient is...HIPPO GRIFU!!!!"

Hey, if Iron Chef can get away with cooking just about anything and everything, why not a D&D chef?

OK, Bear Grylls and others might point out at this point that some critters- especially certain frogs, butterflies and almond-smelling millipedes are toxic to eat...and some, like Skunk, are simply revolting.

Make it a skill check, based on a whatever of Wilderness Survival, Lore, KS or whatever you deem relevant.

That way, even if something is toxic, perhaps they know (for a variety of reasons) a way of prepping the stuff to make it edible- see Fugu or Acorns.

(BTW, LOVE the Giff joke!)

 

[Gruns]

Heh.
This reminds of a campaign I DM'd for a guy that was totally new to gaming and D&D. The party ran into a pack of gnolls. He asked what they were. I went on to describe them, their tendencies, their weapons... his only question: "Are they delicious?"
Later!
Gruns

 

[Snotboy]

Depending on your campaign, a silver dragon is nonetheless a dragon, and might have no compunctions about eating you if you wronged it sufficiently. And many cultures might not have the sophisticated knowledge of dragonkind we do as players to differentiate between metallic and chromatic dragons. I recall dragon steaks to be a classic staple of old fantasy stories, so eating silver dragon might not be out of the question.