Cuisine (sage study)

Cuisine is a sage study in the field of Gastronomy, representing the art of cooking meals in a kitchen, including not only the actual preparation of food but also the crucial aspects of ordering and purchasing inventory, as well as the practice and preservation of ingredients. This encompasses a comprehensive understanding of various culinary techniques, the selection and utilization of ingredients, and the cultural and regional traditions that influence the creation of dishes.

Cuisine is not just about preparing food; it's about creating unique culinary experiences that reflect the rich tapestry of flavours, techniques and traditions associated with a particular country, region or establishment.

In medieval times, cuisine was markedly distinct from modern culinary practices due to several key factors. Firstly, the availability of ingredients was limited, with people relying primarily on locally sourced, seasonal items. Spices, although highly prized, were costly and primarily accessible to the nobility. This scarcity of ingredients significantly influenced the flavors and dishes of the era.

Techniques and Culture

Cooking techniques during this time were basic, centered around open-fire cooking, and included methods such as roasting, boiling and stewing. Baking, particularly bread-making, played a crucial role in the medieval diet. To address the challenge of food preservation in the absence of refrigeration, various methods like salting, drying, smoking, and fermenting were employed.

Spices held immense value during the medieval period. Not only were they used to flavor food, but they also served as symbols of prestige and luxury. Exotic spices like pepper, cinnamon and cloves were imported from distant lands and featured prominently in medieval dishes.

Guilds and professional cooks were of special importance in the households of nobility and royalty. Expert cooks developed more elaborate recipes and culinary techniques, contributing to the diversity of medieval cuisine. Additionally, religious and other cultural restrictions had a significant influence on medieval recipes. During fasting periods, meat had to be replaced with fish or vegetables in dishes.

Sage Abilities

The sage abilities below are those acquired by a character through the study, according to status.

Amateur Status

• Cooking: enables the character to prepare basic food dishes that offer a limited taste sensation.

• Knife Skills: character has a weapon proficiency with the short knife, with basic knife skills for chopping, slicing, and dicing ingredients, as cutting techniques were essential in medieval kitchens.

• Preserve Food: gives mastery of food preservation methods such as salting, drying, smoking and fermenting to extend the shelf life of ingredients.

Authority Status

• Butchering: gives skill at slaughtering, dressing and preserving meat from livestock, game and fish.

• Culinary Art: enables the character to produce food of a higher quality and taste than an ordinary cook, using the same materials.

• Kitchen Management: a host of skills related to control over workflow and efficiency in a kitchen, hiring and training staff, cooking for large numbers, purchasing from vendors as cut rates and encouraging the patronage of customers.

• Knife Master: character's knife skills increase to where he or she is +1 to hit with the tool, and +2 when throwing it. These knife skills allow a chef to work quickly and effortlessly, saving time while maintaining precision; he or she is able to create intricate garnishes or decorative elements for dishes.

Expert Status

• Chef's Prestidigitation: provides an extraordinary connection with kitchen tools, so that spoons stir dishes by themselves, pans are cleaned with a scrub-stick without need of a dishwasher, where the stove knows when to turn on and off of its own accord, while a broom cleans the floor.

• Feast of Fortitude: with a guest or noble's kichen, the culinary artist is able to provide a meal for up to 12 persons that gives them 10 hit points they wouldn't otherwise have.

• Gourmet Alchemist: infuses culinary creations with the capacity to improve recovery from diseases, provide healing or otherwise give succor when cooking in a scullery, guest or noble's kitchen.

Sage Status

• Culinary Familiar: spontaneously recall the spirits of up to a dozen expert chefs who have shrugged off their mortal coil to work in the character's kitchen, preparing special dishes as only they knew how to create.

• Potion-making: enables the gastronomist the ability to mix any edible concoctions imaginable, even the most obscure magical items for which there's a template.

• Temporal Feast: create a feast equivalent to the heroes' feast, with elements of the feast of fortitude, within a hall where days are spent eating but while time fails to pass for the guests; to others, they seem to emerge a mere minute after entering the hall to begin their repast.

See Bard Sage Abilities