Pages from the Royal Chef's Cookbook

ElectricDragon

Explorer
Eric,
Found these loose pages at the bookseller, they could be part of the stolen cookbook you mentioned.
Ambrose

Infused plants
Some plants have developed a bonding with magic that alters their abilities from normal plants. Listed below are several types of such altered plants. Some are altered by spells, others were originally altered through experimentation untold eons ago, others acquired their bonding through being in some highly magical place for generations, and still others just seem to absorb certain magics naturally.

Dreambush, Dreamberries: Most often found around druid circles, this shrub always has ripe berries no matter the season. Originally, blackberry bushes, their berries are now small, bright red or purple, tangy, and sweet. Eating a berry has the following effects for 10 minutes.

  • When one is eaten before a scrying spell is attempted, it gives the caster double the chances that the following spells will work through the scrying sensor: detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, detect magic, and message (that is, +10%/caster level instead of the normal +5%/caster level). Furthermore, read magic, and tongues both have a 5% chance/caster level of working through the spell.
  • When one is eaten before casting a greater scrying spell gives the caster a +1 enhancement bonus to that spell's DC.
  • When one is eaten before casting a dream spell; the berry strengthens the magic such that it prevents the target from getting its spell resistance versus the dream spell.
  • When one is eaten before casting a nightmare spell gives the caster a +4 bonus to his/her DC for the nightmare spell in addition to any other modifiers.
  • The berries (4-5) can be used as a material component for the vision spell. They provide a +1 bonus on the required caster level check.
Costs: Not sold, not usually guarded either—unless someone tried to strip all the berries...
Cook's Note: It seems that blackberry bushes thrive and even absorb stray bits of magic from the environment, so druids often cultivate them to decorate their grove, supply a steady source of berries, and (after an adjustment period of one to five years) provide bonuses to the scrying spell.


Fire Seeds*: These magical plants last only a short while but have devastating special effects as described in the spell.
Acorn Grenades: special splash weapons that can be hurled as far as 100 feet. A ranged touch attack roll is required to strike the intended target. Together, the acorns are capable of dealing 1d6 to 20d6 fire damage. (caster level determines max # of d6; caster splits available d6's into 1 to 4 acorns).
Cook's Note: These look like normal acorns but vibrate slightly to the touch. Not a usable food.
Holly Berries: If the caster is within 200 feet and speaks a word of command, each berry instantly bursts into flame, causing 1d8 points of fire damage +1 point per caster level to every creature in a 5-foot radius burst and igniting any combustible materials within 5 feet. A creature in the area that makes a successful Reflex saving throw takes only half damage.
Cook's Note: The enchanted berries glow with an inner fire. Not a usable food.


Golden Pear: Those eating this fruit gain the benefits of all the following spells: remove fear, remove blindness/deafness, remove curse, remove disease, and neutralize poison. Further, the eater is protected from these effects for the next four hours, gaining a +4 bonus to any saving throw against such effects. Costs: Must be negotiated, wt. 0.4 lbs.
Cook's Note: A mythical fruit, thought not to exist, but recently found by my scouts in the heart of an ancient ruined keep deep in a primeval forest. As usual for rare grown foodstuffs, the orchard was tended by some druids and some sylvan creatures. The chief druid was a centaur. In exchange for providing him with a, hem, harem of no less than 4 female centaurs, I was able to own 3 bushels of these marvelous fruits. I had to deal with a dirty slave trader to get all the female centaurs (he claimed it was a special order and blatantly overcharged me, so my profits have been cut nearly in half. Eric will be forced to offer a few of the marvelous fruits for sale in the capitol for only 5,000 gp each to recoup my losses; keeping most of the rest for a special dish I am preparing for the royal reception next week. And some few I saved for more disasters with an undetected assassin. [Eric assures me that no more will get through. The episode with my yearly dinner with my ambassadors will not be repeated. Eric says that last one was not a member of the assassin's guild and had only been pursuing a personal vendetta rather than trying to cause a war or start a coup. Same result I say.]


Goodberry*: Each transmuted berry provides nourishment as if it were a normal meal for a Medium creature. The berry also cures 1 point of damage when eaten, subject to a maximum of 8 points of such curing in any 24-hour period.
Cook's Note: Unfortunately, it takes a druid (of sufficiently high level) to tell goodberry berries from normal ones. Hiring druids to provide these berries has proved distinctly impossible so far. The taste is slightly tingly but otherwise as the normal berry. I can think of several uses for the tingly taste...


Healing Apple: A strange, mildly tart yellow apple from the Elven realm of the Great Forest. Claimed and tended to by an ancient elven druidic circle,
 When eaten, the apple heals 1d4 hp.
 More often it is found as apple cider which heals 3d4 hp per pint.
Costs: Apple: 55 gp each, wt. 0.3 lb.; Healing Apple Cider: 150 gp per pint, wt. 1 lb./pint (usually wineskins, but jugs are common too).
Cook's Note: Acquisition of these fruits required some expenditure and an agent as escort through the elven lands to their revered ancient apple orchard, then long trading talks with the ranking druid culminating in a promise to spread the seeds of each apple when eaten, in addition to magic mushrooms equal in number to the apples (we must make our own cider, Eric will take care of it).



Magic Mushrooms: Grown by diligent dwarves deep underground usually close to a dwarven temple or citadel. Eating a mushroom imparts improved ability to cast divination spells for the next four hours. Eating a mushroom improves the eater's caster level by +4 when casting divination spells. [This level adjust stacks with the level adjust from the Knowledge domain.] After the four hours, the eater suffers nausea for 1 hour unless he or she succeeds on a Fortitude save DC 15. Dwarves gain a +4 bonus versus this save.
Costs: 25 gp per mushroom, or 300 gp/ basket (1d4+11 mushrooms).
Cook's Note: If we can dilute it enough so that nausea is not likely, this might make a decent addition to a stew. I'll have Eric get some for experimental purposes.


Mana: In a secluded valley, far from civilization, a small circular pond yields bright yellow dew each morning in the grass in a ring around it. The local elves have learned to collect it with large nets made of spiderwebs (looking much like butterfly nets) each morning, set it aside to dry for several hours, add spring water and mix into a paste. Form the paste into yellow wafers and bake them over a hot fire for twelve hours. These baked wafers can be stored safely for years and still retain their flavor and effects.
Eating a wafer provides nourishment for one meal, 3 will sustain a person for a full day.
Costs: Never sold, only given as gifts to worthy travelers. The pond is very well guarded, night and day, wt. 0.1 lb. [My ambassador found that buying and freeing elven slaves in their territory worked wonders for gaining several pounds of wafers.]
Cook's Note: The wafers have little taste, slightly sweet, but totally unimaginative. Eric will use some for taste experiments, the rest will be for scouts' and ambassadors' on-the-road meals, but I predict it probably will not be an important foodstuff as far as banquets.


Steel Acorns: From the southern coast, these strange gray acorns are not normally magical, but if a barkskin spell is cast on one, it retains the magic indefinitely. The acorn provides the spell's effects to anyone that cracks the shell and eats it. The spell effect is activated at 1st level and there is no known way to raise this level. Once the shell is cracked, the acorn loses its magic quickly, lasting only 3 rounds before the magic dissipates.
Cook's Note: The taste is mildly reminiscent of peanuts with a slight earthly taste (whether enchanted or not). I've ordered my scouts to gather several bushels in addition to their spice order and return to the capital.
 
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ElectricDragon

Explorer
Eric,
I think these pages are more of the purloined book, alas only 2 pages but with the addition of a secret dwarven recipe. I had to shell out nearly 10,000 gp at the bookseller/fence. I did not realize the book was so unique as to break me in recovering it. We need to renegotiate the worth of the remaining pages as it seems the prices will not go down from here. I suggest that a roguish raid to reacquire the book might be the better option as far as costs. In any case, further pages will only be offered after appropriate compensation to me, I am scraping the bottom of my cash-box as I write this. Please note, they have had the book long enough to take it to a scribe and make copies so I assume there are copies out there. Should any of this information (in the book) be of a secret nature like the recipe; you should consider that those secrets are no longer secret.
Ambrose


When Do We Eat?
Meals
Even with their small stature, halflings eat more meals a day than any other race in the realms. They spend an inordinate amount of time eating. Halflings divide their meals into three categories: full meals, partial meals, and snacks. Generally, full meals consist of 4-7 courses. Partial meals have 2-3 courses and snacks are just a single course.

Full Meals
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Supper
Snoozie

Partial Meals
Brunch
Nooner
Brinner
Jokes
Sleepsie

Snacks
Berries
Napsies
Relaxation
Smoke
Dreamfuel
Midnight Snack


Explanation of Halfling Meals:
Snoozie is a late-night meal that supposedly aids in getting to sleep starting with warmed milk and cookies moving through citrus fruits, fried meats and fine wine. Nooner is served as close to noon as possible and usually consists of fruit juice, rolls, fruits, and nuts. Brunch and Brinner are just later applications of breakfast food (bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes, etc.; though never the full fair of a complete breakfast). Jokes is more entertainment than a meal but offers beer of some type, fried potato logs, pickled eggs, and various types of nuts. Sleepsie is a wind-down meal with light and airy foods like fritters, cakes, or other pastries often dipped in melted butter served with chocolate or dipped in a sugary sauce and served with a fruit compote. Berries is just a serving of fruit or berries, (pears and apples are popular choices) sometimes with tea or milk. Napsies is hot tea, crackers and/or cookies. Relaxation is a dessert with pastries dipped in honey usually followed by a stiff drink of whiskey (the theory is that the sweets and liquor combine to relax the mind and body). Smoke is brandy or other alcoholic beverage, pipe tobacco (smoked of course), and smoked (local) fish (though the fish is usually replaced with beef, pork, or chicken inland). Midnight Snack is just that, and varies with the individual as to what type of foods are offered.
Most adventuring halflings try to fit in with their companions by limiting or hiding their many meals to conform with the expected norms; but some halflings will not do this and insist on their full compliment of meals even on the road.
Meals of Other Races:
Humans settle for only 3 meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and an indeterminate amount of snacks. Eves eat a full day's food in a single sitting (called simply the Meal) that usually takes 2 hours to eat. The elves also have a snack called Berries that consists of nearly any type of fruit to start the day (oranges and plums are popular choices). Elves traveling with non-elves usually modify their eating habits to fall in line with their companions so as to not delay the group. Orcs and goblinoids do not name their meals but rather eat whenever they get hungry and food is available (the orcish and goblinoid definition of food is considerably wider based than for other races mentioned here). Dwarves have the same meals as humans but limit their snacks to a single one called Grog, a morning repast before breakfast that consists of dwarven brandy (or other alcoholic beverage) and toasted, salted bread (sometimes with a hot mustard sauce known as Forge Starter, whose recipe is a racially guarded secret). Gnomes have as many meals as halflings but refrain from eating partial meals and limit their snacks to only twice a day: mid-afternoon (called Expository; with fruits, nuts, and berries and most importantly, explanations of their day's work) and just before bed (called Dreamfuel, which consists of warm milk and cookies). Most other races fall into one of these categories.

Eric came through again. He acquired the Forge Starter recipe. I am jotting it down now because I tend to misplace things and two copies will make it easier to find.
Forge Starter
HOT MUSTARD SAUCE:
3 handfuls of ground dry mustard
2 handfuls of. ground sugar cane
3 pinches of salt
5 drips of white vinegar (the dwarves use something called mushroom cider vinegar, I have no clue what that is, but Eric is checking it out).
1 cockatrice egg (most people use 4 chicken eggs instead)
In a cauldron, combine all sauce ingredients. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened, about 2 minutes. Chill 10 minutes in mountain stream.
Cook's Notes: I add the following after cooling:
2 chicken eggs
1/2 lemon
Squeeze lemon into bowl, add two eggs and stir rapidly. Set bowl next to high heat fire for 2 minutes then stir into sauce to make it smoother and more palatable to non-dwarves. It still causes me to sweat for a few minutes after I eat some, but I am not yelling for the cleric any more.
 
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ElectricDragon

Explorer
Hmmm, I'll work on one for the recipe section. Next though has to be weights and measures, then building the perfect fire, so that the recipes can be fully understood.
 

ElectricDragon

Explorer
Eric
We were able to recover a total of 8 pages from the fence along with a ledger that lists his sales, prices charged, and to whom. Though it does not say which pages went where; it does give us a list to find the rest of the book. You will be happy to note that not only did we make a huge profit from this raid, but your share will more than recompense both you and Ambrose for past pages and the cost of this raid.
Kaleb


Most meals require some type of heat applied to the food. Some chefs suggest a specific type of wood to enhance the flavor of certain cooked foods. And types of fires come in a bewildering variety.

Building the Perfect Fire

Types of Cooking Fires:
Low Heat Fires:
Soft Coals*-peat and lignite coal-150-250°F
Medium Heat Fires:
Coals*-bituminous coal-250-350°F
Softwoods-cedar*, juniper, pine*, redwood, spruce*, yew-250-350°F
High Heat Fires:
Hard Coals*-anthracite coal-350-750°F
Hardwoods-beech, hickory**, mahogany, maple, mesquite, oak, walnut**-350-750°F
Elemental Earth:
Elemental Plants-pillow plant-200°F
Elemental Fire:
Elemental Plants-flame bush, fire tree-625°F
Elemental Creatures:
Elemental Fire-azer, efreet, fire elemental, fire mephit, magmin, salamander-varies with species 350-700°F, temperature control directly related to intelligence of the creature.
Enchanted Stone:
Stone Fire-fire crystals-830°F
Wood Fire-stonewood-350°F
Enchanted Wood:
Magical Wood-darkwood-500°F
Magical Wood-spirewood-1,250°F
Fiendish Plants:
Fiendish Fire-abyssal aspin-150-250°F
Fiendish Fire-hellpine-200-250°F
Fiendish Creatures:
Hellhound-hellhound breath-1,500°F
Balor-balor immolation-2,000°F
Magical Fire:
Enchanted Fire-flaming sphere-350-1,000°F


*All types of coals should only be used outside or with a freshly cleaned (within the last 6 months) flue. All evergreen softwoods should also follow these restrictions.
** Some fuels can add a distinctive taste to foods cooked with them. Hickory, walnut, and various fruit tree woods produce popular flavors. Fruit tree woods are usually hardwoods, but there are exceptions. The smoky flavor of the mesquite tree from the Red Sand Desert is popular with the king.



Special Fuels:
Enchanted and Elemental Fuels
Elemental Earth
Pillow Plant:
A plant from the Elemental Plane of Earth that resembles nothing more than a mound of dirt about 4 ft. high. The mound is actually a plant and does not fall apart like it would if it were actually a dirt mound. No matter what it looks like; it has been used to cook food. It can be used for any meal needing high heat; but it requires magic to set it afire. It gets its name from the folktale that it provides good dreams if used as a pillow. [The plant actually does provide protection within 5 feet from creatures or spells that use dreams to attack, e.g. night hags, nightmares, the nightmare spell, or similar magic; once the wood is burning though, it loses this protective benefit] Market Price: 100 gp per mound when it can be found (very rare); Wt. 8-10 lb. per mound.
Cook's Note: Adds a spicy hot tang to a meal cooked in its smoke. The plant will not grow on the material plane.

Elemental Fire
Fire Tree:
A plant from the Elemental Plane of Fire that looks like a normal tree about 30 feet tall except for having flames instead of leaves. Fire trees are thought to be exceptionally beautiful by most. The burning tree gives off bright light for 60 feet and shadowy light out to 120 feet. for up to an hour once it is on the material plane. On the Elemental Plane of Fire, there is no duration and it does not go out unless the tree is destroyed. Water snuffs out this plant's flames immediately. Elemental water will cause an explosion if coming into contact with a burning fire tree. The explosion causes 3d6 damage from the steam created in a radius of 10 feet from the limb, resist fire, protection from fire, etc. can not prevent or lessen this damage.
Unfortunately the trees or their limbs do not last long on the material plane, barely an hour after being taken from their home, these trees go out, smoke for a few seconds then crumble to ash. This ash is still a valuable substance, it can be used in place of bat guano for fireball spells. One tree limb provides enough ash material to cast many fireball spells (10d10). Market Price: 50 gp per limb, more often the ashes go for 20 gp per flask (good enough for the 5d10 castings of fireball). Wt. 5 lb. per limb or 1/2 lb. per flask
Cook's Note: Bland. No taste buds tickled with this wood as fuel for meals. Seems a lot of trouble to get the equivalent of normal wood. The ashes are even worse, tainting food with a nauseatingly foul taste whether added to the food while cooking or thrown on the fire to "enhance flavor".

Flame Bush: This "bush" looks and feels more like a fire than any type of plant. These bushes grow easily on the material plane if fed a diet of wood (about 1 cord/day seems sufficient) and sunlight. Without sustenance, the bush dies within a single day, drying up and becoming charcoal-like spiny limbs with no flames at all. At least 8 hours of sunlight is necessary each day. On the elemental plane of fire these bushes are always in bloom. These bushes bloom on the material plane only once a year for about a week. The blooms are fire flowers resembling flames, bright red and yellow.
The flame bush gives off bright light out to 30 feet and shadowy light out to 60 feet. When in bloom, its light reaches 45 feet and shadowy light reaches to 90 feet. A piece of a flame bush (i.e. a limb) burns for only a single round before becoming a dark gray thorned stick that crumbles to dust at the slightest touch. Limbs give light equal to a torch for their short duration. Market Price: 2,000 gp per bush; Wt. 12 lb. per bush
Cook's Note:This is the perfect fuel for exceptionally hot fires as it is steady in temperature as long as it is well fed and gets plenty of sunlight. I have 4 of these bushes now and I plan to use them for the king's next royal hunt to provide exquisite fare for the king's hunters and the royal court without having to return all the way back to the castle.

Enchanted Stone
Fire Crystal:
A dull red opaque stone usually found close to a volcano. When placed around at least a medium heat fire; these stones reflect the fire's heat making the fire hotter. The resulting fire is hotter than even normal high heat fires. While doing so, the stones are glowing red and translucent, hence the name. One hour later, the stones return to their dull red opaque look and do not change again, each crystal can only be used once. Market Price: 100 gp per sack; Wt. 5 lb. per sack. 1 sack full is enough to surround a campfire-sized fire.
Cook's Note: Though the extra heat could be used for quick cooking, and I have used it when preparing dinners of state on the road; it is better used as a fuel supplement for home heating in far northern climes.

Stonewood: Only found in some legendary underground forest tended by dwarves, this dark gray wood feels like stone but burns like wood. Has hardness of stone (8). Market Price: Not for sale except to dwarf-friends and dwarves, 500 gp per bundle. Wt. 15 lb. per bundle.
Cook's Note: Adds a lemony flavor to foods cooked with it.

Enchanted Wood
Darkwood:
This wood got its name from its ability to always seem to be in shadows even in bright light. A sage told me that it is because it is partially on the plane of Shadow and that also serves to lessen its weight. Market Price: 201 gp per bundle. Wt. 10 lb. per bundle.
Cook's Note: Adds a tangy citrus taste to the meal if the wood is uncured; cured wood provides no bonus flavor.

Spirewood: Spirewood is a shiny black hardwood found only in festering mangrove swamps where it competes with mangroves for space and sustenance. It is thought that spirewood was originally created by a forgotten recluse wizard as some type of experiment ages ago, and it has bred true in swamps for at least several hundred years. This wood has recently been brought to the capitol on merchant ships from undisclosed destinations. It is thought that adventurous merchants from the island nations originally brought the wood from some eastern port; but details are sketchy at best. Some ships use spars of this wood for their masts, claiming it holds up to storms better than other woods. It seems that knowledge of where spirewood grows is a trade secret. Market Price: 2,000 gp per bundle. Wt. 20 lb.
Cook's Note: Foods cooked with this wood are slightly sweet.

Treant Wood: This is a black market only item. A limb provides a 5' radius aura of antiplant shell while burning (usually as a torch). Market Price: ~5,000 gp per limb, 1 limb burns for 1 hour. Wt. 2-3 lb. per limb.
Cook's Note: Adds the taste of ashes to any food cooked with it. I do not recommend this wood for cooking any meal.

Fiendish Plants
Abyssal Aspin:
This angry tree will grow anywhere so be careful where you plant it. It looks like nothing more than a dead tree with blackened limbs, but when any creature gets near it (within 25 feet) it bursts into flames dealing 1d4 damage per round as long as the creature stays within that range. Once there are no creatures within range, the flames snuff out and it goes back to being just a dead tree. The "dead" limbs still retain this property for several days after being cut from the tree. Market Price: 1,000-5,000 gp per limb; Wt. 5-7 lb. per limb.
Cook's Note: Some kind of fire resistance is necessary to use this wood as a cooking fuel as even though the flames stay under the cooking pot, the heat still fills the 50-foot circle around it. Makes the food cooked over it taste bittersweet. For most foods this is an unwanted addition, I am working on a recipe that will make full use of this.

Hellpine: This common tree is always in "bloom" with blackened needles and bright blue flowers. The flowers are mildly poisonous to the touch, numbing whatever touched it for several minutes (-1 Dex penalty for 1d4 minutes). The flowers do not last outside of that plane, crumbling to dust almost immediately. The wood is sturdy and burns slowly giving off nearly no smoke. Structures can be built of this wood if expense is no problem, though clerics have told me the wood radiates dim evil. Market Price: 3,000 gp per bundle; Wt. 10 lb. per bundle
Cook's Note: Foods cooked on this wood become absurdly sickly sweet; making this useful for masterpiece deserts that are to be served in bites only. Too much such food tends to give belly-aches and sometimes nausea (Fortitude DC 5, +1 per bite or -1 Attacks from belly-aches and nausea for 10 minutes).


Food For Thought
Servings are based on Medium-sized creatures with smaller or larger creatures requiring less or more servings as shown below.

Creature Size-Servings
Fine-1/16
Diminutive-1/8
Tiny-1/4
Small-1/2
Medium-1
Large-2
Huge-4
Gargantuan-8
Colossal-16


Weights and Measures:
Our world has many different systems of weights and measures. There are several systems of measurements found around the known world and they have been compiled below. The recipes use the system of measurement from the area where the recipe was found.

Liquid (In the capitol and other civilized areas)
Dram: 1/16 ounce, 1/128 cup, 1/256 pint, 1/512 quart, 1/2,048 gallon
Ounce: 16 drams, 1/8 cup, 1/16 pint, 1/32 quart, 1/128 gallon, ~1/3 dolop
Cup: 8 ounces, 128 drams
Pint: 2 cups, 16 ounces
Quart: 2 pints, 4 cups, 16 ounces, ~1 literjon
Gallon: 16 cups, 8 pints, 4 quarts

Liquid (uncivilized areas)
Drip: a sip, ~2 ounces
Mug: 5 drips, ~10 ounces
Jug: 4 mugs, 20 drips, ~40 ounces, ~1 literjon
Cant: 6 jugs, 24 mugs

Liquid (The island nations)
Drop: 1/11 ounce, 1/33 dolop
Ounce: 11 drops, 1/3 dolop, 1/33 literjon
Dolop: 3 ounces, 3/4 gill, 1/11 literjon, ~50 drams
Gill: 4 ounces, ~1/8 literjon
Literjon: 11 dolops, 33 ounces, ~1 quart, ~1 jug

Dry (In the capitol and other civilized lands)
Pinch: 1/3 dram, 1/48 ounce
Dram: 3 pinches, 1/16 ounce
Ounce: 48 pinches, 16 drams, 1/16 gallon, 1/32 peck
Gallon: 16 ounces, 1/2 peck, 1/8 bushel
Peck: 32 ounces, 2 gallons, 1/4 bushel
Bushel: 4 pecks, 8 gallons

Dry (Uncivilized areas including the island nations)
Sprinkle: 1/90 handful to 1/110 handful
Handful: what will fit easily into an open hand, palm up, ~3 ounces, 100 pinches
Pouch: 3 handfuls, ~9 ounces
Bag: 5 pouches, ~45 ounces, ~3 gallons
Sack: 3 bags, ~135 ounces, ~8.5 gallons
Cart: 15 sacks, 45 bags, 225 pouches
Canoe [In the island nations]/Wagon [Elsewhere]: 40 sacks, 120 bags, ~360 gallons
Keelboat [In the island nations only]: 150 sacks, 450 bags, ~168 bushels


Basic Recipes
Ambrosia
Transmutation
Ingredients:
3 mugs reindeer milk, 1 dolop of giant bee royal jelly, 2 gills of strained vanilla bean broth, spiced with a sprinkle of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
Serves: 4
Effects: Haste effect for 3 rounds.
Time to Drink: standard action (does not count as a meal)
Directions:
In a small iron pot over coals, combine and heat all ingredients while chanting the haste spell into the pot. Stir over coals 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes. Pour through a fine strainer into a mug. Stays fresh for only three days before curdling. Craft (cooking) DC 5. Caster Level: 5, haste, Market Price: 24 gp per jug (4 doses); Wt. 1/2 lb. per mug.
Cook's Note: This recipe is rare and difficult to acquire if not an elf. Even other elves need to perform a service for the "tribe" before they will be considered honorable enough to be the custodian of this recipe. It took my assistant nearly 2 years to get a copy of this recipe from his kinfolk; it was far easier and cheaper to get the herd of reindeer.


Assassin Vine Berry Wine Vinegar
Abjuration
Ingredients:
1 bottle of assassin vine berry wine.
Serves: 4
Effects: Though this liquid is incredibly bitter, it can be drank (Con check DC 8 to keep it down and thus gain the effects). Drinking this substance provides electricity immunity for 1 minute.
Time to Drink: 1 full round (does not count as a meal)
Directions:
Open the bottle of Assassin Vine Berry Wine, tie a cloth cover over the closure to prevent bug infestation, cast resistance on it, and let sit for 3 months in darkness. Craft (cooking) DC 5 or Craft (brewing) DC 5, Caster Level: 1, resistance, Market Price (of the wine): 25 gp; Wt. 1-1/2 lb.


Dragon Egg Drop Soup
Transmutation
Ingredients:
1 dragon egg; 1 cauldron of water, boiling; 1 gill of saffron, 1 literjon of brandy, 2 onions, finely chopped; 2 bell peppers, finely chopped; 1 lb. griffon meat, in strips, boiled until tender; 1 clove of garlic, crushed; 8 black peppercorns, finely ground
Serves: 12
Effects: +4 enhancement bonus to Constitution for 1 hour.
Time to Eat: 1 hour (counts as 1 meal)
Directions: Bring cauldron to a boil, crack and drain dragon egg into cauldron. Add saffron, onions, bell peppers, griffon meat, garlic, and peppercorns. Continue boiling for 10 minutes. Remove from flame and let cool for 10 minutes. Cast bear's endurance on the food. Craft (cooking) DC 10, Caster Level: 3, bear's endurance, Market Price: 600 gp per bowl. Wt. 1 lb. per bowl


Elven Waybread
Transmutation
Ingredients:
1 mug each of rye, wheat, cornmeal, oatmeal, and brown rice, 2 mugs of rowan berries, 1 mug of ambrosia (cow's milk can be substituted but there is then no haste effect).
Serves: 6
Effects: In addition to the effects of ambrosia (hasteduration increased to 1 minute), elven waybread is a meal that provides a full day's nutritional needs for 6 people (or 1 person for 6 days).
Time to Eat: 10 minutes (counts as 3 meals)
Directions:
Must be an elf, half-elf, or any other partially elven race to become worthy of the recipe. The following instructions also require the cook to whistle, hum, or sing an ancient elven cooking song while performing them. Grind each grain separately to a fine consistency, sift, then mix grains with berries and mash into a paste at night under starshine, add ambrosia slowly while keeping the paste smooth. Spread paste onto pan, season with garlic and salt. Cook over anthracite coals for until golden brown (about 2 hours). Once cool, it is ready to be eaten, but stays fresh for up to a year. Craft (cooking) DC 8. Caster Level: 3, Caster must be an elf. Market Price: 35 gp per loaf. Wt. 2 lbs.
Cook's Note: This recipe is a jealously guarded secret of several elven enclaves (especially those that have large temples to nature, most of these churches have their own herds of reindeer and use ambrosia garnered from their northern elf kinfolk to give their waybread a little kick.). This bread can also be used as a trade good, 1 loaf = 35 gp. Elven waybread can also be made with bovine milk (this produces a much darker loaf, the golden brown quickly turns to a dark chocolate brown and is easily recognizable) and still will stay fresh for up to a year, it will have no haste effect; 1 loaf = 15 gp.


Enchanted Elven Waybread
Conjuration (healing) and Transmutation
Ingredients:
1 mug each of rye, wheat, cornmeal, oatmeal, and brown rice, 2 mugs of rowan berries, 1 mug of ambrosia.
Serves: 6
Effects: In addition to the effects of ambrosia (haste duration increased to 1 minute) and elven waybread, enchanted elven waybread removes fatigue and lessens exhaustion to fatigue (two servings can remove exhaustion); heals all non-lethal damage, 1 point of ability damage on each stat (Strength, Intelligence, etc.) or 1d6 hp if there is no ability damage. Other than removing exhaustion, there is no benefit to eating more than one serving a day.
Time to Eat: 10 minutes (counts as a 3 meals)
Directions:
Must be an elf, half-elf, or any other partially elven race to become worthy of the recipe. The following instructions also require the cook to whistle, hum, or sing an ancient elven cooking song while performing them. Grind each grain separately to a fine consistency, sift, then mix grains with berries and mash into a paste under a full moon, add ambrosia slowly while keeping the paste smooth. Spread paste onto pan, season with garlic and salt. Cook over coals for 2 hours while enchanting it with the spells listed below. Once cool, it is ready to be eaten, but stays fresh for up to a year. Craft (cooking) DC 10. Caster Level: 7, lesser restoration and cure light wounds; Market Price: 525 gp per loaf; Wt. 2 lbs.
Cook's Note: This recipe is a jealously guarded secret of several elven religions that all claim it was handed down personally from their god or goddess. Luckily, my assistant is a highly respected elven priest and he agreed to make some for me whenever needed in exchange for a small donation to his temple.
 
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ElectricDragon

Explorer
Eric,
Lord Canton agreed to return the recipes he bought "in good faith" that they weren't stolen; if only we would agree to include him in the next dinner of state of note (the elvish delegation I presume). I accepted the offer in your name; I was sure you would agree. Here is the page he held.
Ambrose
P.S. He assures me that there are no copies. I would prefer magical assurance on that though...


Hollandaise Sauce
Abjuration
Ingredients

3 egg yolks; 1/2 drip of catoblepas cream; 1 mug of catoblepas butter, melted, cooled to room temperature; 1 drip lemon juice (or white wine vinegar); 2 sprinkles of sea salt; 1 sprinkle of cayenne pepper, finely ground and sifted.
Effects: This sauce provides the eater with protection from energy (cook's choice, but that choice is for the whole batch) for 3 hours when added to a meal.
Directions:
Beat egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl until smooth. Slowly stream melted butter into the egg yolk mixture while whisking to incorporate. Heat on low heat fire for two minutes; whisk. Cast protection from energy on the meal. Craft (cooking) DC 20, Caster Level: Cook's character level.
Sauce Cost: 8-10 sp plus the cost of the cateblepas cream and butter.
Cook's Note: The catoblepas butter and cream is expensive but worth every copper, as the taste with cow's milk and butter is flat and uninspired. A local monastery herds the beasts and makes the butter. The cream cost extra as they do not usually sell the cream because it tastes bittersweet. Made with white wine vinegar, the sauce is not as robust a taste but it does have a bit of a bite that some people love.


Cockatrice Eggs Benedict
Abjuration, Conjuration (healing), and Transmutation
Ingredients:
2 cockatrice eggs, 1 loaf of enchanted elven waybread, 1 mug hollandaise sauce, 1 lb. hickory-smoked dire boar blade steak, 1 yellow onion (coarsely chopped), 3 sweet peppers (finely chopped); a dozen mustard seeds, finely ground and sifted; a sprinkle of sea salt.
Serves: 7
Effects: In addition to the normal effects of enchanted elven waybread, ambrosia (haste duration increased to 2 minutes), and hollandaise sauce; this meal gives those that eat it immunity to petrification for a day (24 hours).
Time to Eat: 1/2 hour (counts as 3 meals)
Directions:
Crack the cockatrice eggs into boiling water, cover and steam for 10 minutes over a high heat fire. Slice enchanted elven waybread into two slices. Toast lightly over an oak fire in a drip of dire boar grease. Sear the hickory-smoked dire boar blade steak with onions and sweet peppers in a dollop of dire boar grease. Cut steak in half, and place on the two slices of toasted enchanted elven waybread. Scoop eggs, peppers, and onions onto the dire boar steaks, add hollandaise sauce liberally. Season with mustard powder and sea salt. Cut into wedges and serve piping hot. Craft (cooking) DC 15 Caster Level: cook's character level, Meal Cost: 1,506 gp plus the cost of the non-enchanted rare ingredients (cockatrice eggs, dire boar blade steak) and hollandaise sauce, wt. 12 lbs.
Cook's Note: This meal is still tasty without the spell, but the king deserves only the best. It is also possible to use normal elven waybread, but to me, the flavor becomes slightly musty.
 
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ElectricDragon

Explorer
Eric
Another minor lord capitulated and added his page to our store in exchange for a seat like before. If it is all this easy, we'll probably need a feast just for all the minor lords.
Ambrose



Fiery Mayonnaise
30 olives, pressed for oil (1 mug of oil); 1 phoenix egg (or 6 chicken eggs or 1 red dragon egg or 1 pegasus egg); 6 mustard seeds, finely ground and sifted; 10 sprinkles of sea salt, finely ground; 1 lemon, halved and juiced.
Effects: Fire resistance (amount varies with accompanying meal).
Directions:
Place the egg, 1 drip of oil of the olive, mustard powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. While mixing, slowly drizzle in the remaining oil of the olive. After you’ve added all the oil and the mixture has emulsified, add lemon juice to taste, stirring gently with a spoon to incorporate. Craft (cooking) DC 13, Caster Level: N/A
Mixture Cost: 15 gp (6 chicken eggs)/5,000 gp (1 phoenix egg)
Cook's Note: A very useful concoction even if not magical in the slightest bit. And it does mix well with magical components without diluting their powers. The tales of the phoenix returning are false at least from an egg; I have documentation. Ashes, they only return from ashes; and then I think only from the adult creature. Not sure why they would even have eggs if they were immortal. I'll have Eric look into it. He'll add it to his list of eggs and spices I've asked him to find.


Mustard Aioli
1 garlic clove, minced; 3 sprinkles of sea salt, coarse-ground; 1/2 mug of (fiery) mayonnaise; 2 dozen mustard seeds, coarse-ground and sifted; 1 lemon, halved and juiced; 3 black peppercorns, finely ground.
Effects: Fire resistance for 3 hours (see below for amount)
Directions:
Using mortar with pestle, mash garlic with salt until paste forms (or mince garlic and mix with salt). Transfer garlic mixture to small bowl. Mix in all remaining ingredients except lemon juice and pepper powder. Stir. Add the lemon juice into the mixture; top with the pepper powder. Cast resist energy (fire) on sauce. Craft (cooking) DC 18, Caster Level: Cook's character level.
Sauce Cost: 7 gp plus cost of mayonnaise.
Cook's Note: Tastes best with a phoenix egg for the mayo (fire resistance 15), but I have experimented with chicken eggs (fire resistance 10), pegasus eggs (feather fall for 1 minute/fire resistance 10, heady taste, slight dizziness); hippogriff eggs (same as chicken eggs but more expensive); monitor lizard eggs (inedible), giant eagle eggs (levitate for 1 hour/fire resistance 10, gritty taste), and dragon eggs (red only, fire resistance 20, leaves a burning sensation in throat for duration of fire resistance)




Violet Fungi Mushroom Melts (with Mustard Aioli)
Abjuration and Transmutation
Ingredients:
1 pouch violet fungi mushrooms, sliced; 1 drip of butter, 15 olives, pressed for oil (1/2 mug of oil of the olive); 3 garlic cloves, pressed; 1 loaf elven waybread, sliced into halves; 2 handfuls of reindeer cheese; freshly grated; 1 sprinkle of sea salt; 4 black peppercorns, finely ground and sifted; 1 mug mustard aioli.
Serves: 5
Effects: In addition to the effects of the mustard aioli sauce (3 hours: fire resistance 15 with phoenix egg/10 with chicken egg/20 with dragon egg mayonnaise) and elven waybread (haste duration increased to 2 minutes); this meal instills in those eating it a +3 enhancement bonus to Strength and Constitution for 3 hours.
Time to Eat: 1/2 hour (counts as 3 meals)
Directions:
Heat a large skillet over a bituminous coal fire. Add oil of the olives and butter, then add mushrooms and toss well to coat. Cover and cook until soft and juicy, stirring once or twice during cooking time.
While mushrooms are cooking. finish the mustard aioli sauce and toast the elven waybread over a walnut fire until golden brown. Remove and spread a layer of mustard aioli on top.
Remove the cover from the mushrooms and stir in the garlic, sea salt, and pepper powder; just slightly warming the meal over a low heat fire. Distribute mushrooms evenly between the two slices of toasted waybread. Cover with grated cheese. Cook on grate over a lignite coal fire until cheese is bubbly and slightly golden. Cast bear's endurance and bull's strength on meal. Remove and serve immediately with extra mustard aioli on top. Craft (cooking) DC 12, Caster Level: Cook's character level.
Meal Cost: 50 gp plus cost of non-enchanted rare ingredients (violet fungi mushrooms, phoenix/dragon/chicken egg, and reindeer cheese).
Cook's Note: This meal is popular during fairs and festivals featuring contests of strength. His majesty's last military campaign started with a feast for his generals featuring this dish.



Danny, I used the idea of a phoenix egg, thanks for the inspiration, but decided that even the royal chef can get scammed, he still thinks he bought 3 phoenix eggs, while in reality neither he nor the shifty merchant knows what creature it comes from, but Eric's going to look for it...
 
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ElectricDragon

Explorer
Eric,
The aforementioned incarcerated fence sent a message that he had information to trade for his freedom. Since he was scheduled to be sold on the block as payment to you and the crown for his crime later that day; I went to see what he had to trade. He wanted not only freedom, but to trade his information for a commutation of his sentence to banishment. I listened to his story and agreed in your name to the terms. It seems his brother, a middling mage of no great significance, absconded with nearly half the book; the parts containing spells. In return for both his and his brother's banishment (instead of slavery or beheading, nice choice) he informed me of his brother's probable location. My terms were that we had to find both his brother and retrieve the book pages. I trust that you will mention this "deal" to His Royal Chefness so that he can pass on the suggestion to the king.

These 2 pages came from another minor lord. I will send you a list of all the minor lords when we finally retrieve the whole book.
Ambrose


Acolytes, Alchemists, Apothecaries, and Ailment
This chapter contains all food and drink items made by various classes or skills.
Acolytes are divine spellcasters and are included here because they make holy or unholy water (by that definition it also includes most clerics). Alchemists make semi-magical concoctions and poisons. Apothecaries gather or acquire herbs and spices, and use them to make salves, poultices, ointments, antidotes, other non-magical medicines, wines, and poisons (no apothecary does all these things, different ones specialize in different ways; but most can do several of these things).


Antitoxin: If you drink antitoxin, you get a +5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison for 1 hour. Craft (alchemy or apothecary) DC 25, Market Price: 50 gp; Wt.
Cook's Note: Like all medicines, this tastes awful.


Brandy: Dwarves are famous for their brandy. Dwarven brandy is always a top shelf item. Apothecaries have been known to dabble in brewing, but none that I know of compares to dwarvish brandy. Apothecary brandy is more expensive than normal brewer's brandy, but to these lips, it does not warrant the price increase. Look for a red wax seal on the label, apothecaries always mark their spirits with a red seal. Craft (brewing or apothecary) DC 15, dwarven 20; Market Price: Bottle: 25 gp, dwarven brandy 75 gp, apothecary brandy 35 gp; barrel (10 cants/ about 19 gallons) 500 gp, dwarven brandy 1,000 gp, apothecary brandy 650 gp; Wt. Bottle: 4 lb.; Barrel 200 lbs.
Cook's Note: The king is overly fond of his brandy after dinner. Only because I salvaged his negotiations with the dwarven ambassadors does he even have dwarven brandy available, you would think this would garner me some kind of discount when I buy mine from the Royal Cellars. It still is cheaper than what the dwarves want me to pay for it. Some silly story about dwarf-friend or something. I think they are still peeved about how my Forge Starter was better than any they've ever had before.


Holy Water: Holy water damages undead creatures and evil outsiders almost as if it were acid. A flask of holy water can be thrown as a splash weapon.
Treat this attack as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet. A flask breaks if thrown against the body of a corporeal creature, but to use it against an incorporeal creature, you must open the flask and pour the holy water out onto the target. Thus, you can douse an incorporeal creature with holy water only if you are adjacent to it. Doing so is a ranged touch attack that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
A direct hit by a flask of holy water deals 2d4 points of damage to an undead creature or an evil outsider. Each such creature within 5 feet of the point where the flask hits takes 1 point of damage from the splash.
Temples to good deities sell holy water at cost (making no profit). No aura (nonmagical); Faint good; bless water; Market Price: 25 gp; Wt. 1 lb.
Cook's Note: Other than the faint good aura, this water has no special taste qualities.


Manna: A species of corn infused with magic that breeds true. Thought to have been originally developed by the near-mythical Brotherhood of Lightning in some of their elemental experiments or enhanced by some long forgotten druidic circle; this crop can be activated and ground into meal that gives those that eat it (in whatever form) resistance 5 to electricity for 3 hours. The whole kernel, called the "berry" can be eaten to gain the same effect but the berry is bitter, Fortitude DC 5 or spit it out.
Craft (apothecary) DC 20 to activate up to a bushel of the grain by soaking it in a secret broth. Profession (miller) DC 5 to grind up to 5 bushels of the grain into meal. Craft (cook) DC 10 to bake a loaf (mixed with blueberries to counter the bitterness, and of course: water, a chicken egg, and cow's milk). Market Price: 8 gp per loaf. Wt. 1/2 lb. (loaf)
Cook's Note: One loaf is considered a partial meal by halflings, a full meal by most others. Loaves keep up to 1 month. The loaves have a yellowish hard outer crust and a rich, soft, brown interior, tastes slightly of honey and lemon. I usually slice these loaves and use them for bread along with many meals. Works well with everything I tried it with except wyvern (because the wyvern meat's inherent spiciness doesn't mix well with the sweetness of the bread).


Nectar: Water from special magical pools found in out of the way places, hidden grottos and such. Tastes mildly of strawberries. Usually guarded by some type of fey that charges a favor or a riddle's answer for a drink. Anyone imbibing this sweet water (at least a sip) gains blur for 10 minutes (standard action to drink). The water can be stored indefinitely only in clay jugs; any other type of container ruins the magic of the water and spoils it, making it not only undrinkable but also mildly poisonous [Fort DC 5, 1 Str/1 Str]. Mischievous fey often claim only clay jugs made by them can keep the magic pure and offer normal clay jugs for sale for only 200 gp or more. Malicious fey sell leather waterskins at the same exorbitant prices while claiming nothing else will work. Market Price: 200 gp or more per jug from the spring (1 jug = 11-20 sips), 500 gp or more per jug from the secondary market; Wt. 11 lb.
Cook's Note: Luckily I procured a nixie slave that was more than happy to give me a constant supply (1 jug per year) for a mere pittance in exchange for his freedom and transport home. The supply is barely enough for taste experiments though; but I have an idea for a meal...


Unholy Water: Unholy water damages good outsiders almost as if it were acid. A flask of unholy water can be thrown as a splash weapon.
Treat this attack as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet. A flask breaks if thrown against the body of a corporeal creature, but to use it against an incorporeal creature, you must open the flask and pour the unholy water out onto the target. Thus, you can douse an incorporeal creature with unholy water only if you are adjacent to it. Doing so is a ranged touch attack that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
A direct hit by a flask of unholy water deals 2d4 points of damage to a good outsider. Each such creature within 5 feet of the point where the flask hits takes 1 point of damage from the splash.
Temples to evil deities sell unholy water at 2x cost. No aura (nonmagical); Faint evil; curse water; Market Price: 50 gp; Wt. 1 lb.
Cook's Note: Other than the faint evil aura, this water has no special taste qualities.


Wines: Elves are famous for their wines. Elvish wine is always a top shelf item. Apothecaries are also usually good wine-makers. Though not all do this, some concentrate only on herbs, spices, salves, poultices, ointments, antidotes, other non-magical medicines, and poisons; a few are famous for their wine-making. It is easy to tell a bottle of wine made by an apothecary, a red wax seal covers the cork. Brewers who experiment with wines use just a cork.
Assassin vines grow berries that can be made into wine, expensive because of the danger involved in picking the berries, assassin vine berry wine is nevertheless a delicate but heady vintage. Craft (brewing or apothecary) DC 5 (Common); 10 (Fine), 15 (Elven, requires elven blood);Market Price: Common wine (pitcher) 2 sp,; fine (bottle) 10 gp, fine (bottle, with apothecary seal) 15 gp, fine (bottle, assassin vine berry wine) 25 gp; Elven (bottle) 50 gp or Elven (wineskin) 150 gp; Wt. pitcher: 6 lbs.; bottle: 1-1/2 lbs.; wineskin 4 lbs.
Cook's Note: I use elvish wine in and with a lot of meals, other wines not so much. Luckily I have several elvish scouts and ambassadors that afford me a cheaper method of attaining the wine than through the Royal Cellars.
 
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