Cooking is an essential skill in Portia that allows you to craft nutrient-rich meals to restore health and stamina. However, getting started with cooking can be tricky if you don’t know where to find ingredients or recipes. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to get cooking in Portia.
Finding a Cooking Set
The first thing you’ll need to cook in Portia is a basic cooking set. Cooking sets include pots, pans, utensils, and other tools that you’ll need to prepare meals. Here are some ways to obtain a cooking set in early game:
- Purchase the Basic Cooking Set from the General Store in Central Plaza for 150 Gols.
- Receive the Frying Pan as a reward for completing the Foodie Feast mission from Presley.
- Craft a Stone Furnace, Pot, Pan and Spatula using resources gathered around Portia.
Of these options, purchasing the ready-made Basic Cooking Set from the General Store is usually the easiest route for beginners. If you’re looking to save money, you can gather materials around Portia to craft the individual pieces of a cooking set yourself.
Finding Recipes
Once you have a cooking set, you’ll need recipes to start preparing meals. Here are some ways to find cooking recipes in Portia:
- Purchase recipe books from the General Store or Alice’s Flower Shop.
- Receive recipes as rewards for completing missions from NPCs.
- Learn recipes from cooking shows on your workshop TV.
- Unlock recipes for leveling up cooking skill.
In the early game, focus on buying the Cooking 101 recipe book from the General Store and completing cooking missions from NPCs like Presley, Antoine, and Martha. As you level up your cooking skill, you’ll organically unlock more recipes to expand your culinary repertoire.
Finding Ingredients
Portia offers a diverse range of cooking ingredients from crops, fish, spices and more. Here are some good options for finding cooking ingredients in early game:
- Grow crops on your workshop farm like potatoes, carrots, beetroot, and cabbage.
- Purchase ingredients like milk, eggs, and wheat from the ranch and farm stores.
- Fish using a fishing rod from the river areas around Portia.
- Collect wild ingredients like onions and stalactites from the Abandoned Ruins.
- Defeat creatures like llamas, alpacas, and chickens for meat.
Focus first on growing a variety of crops on your farm and buying affordable ingredients from store vendors. This will provide a solid foundation of materials to cook with. As you progress, you can expand your ingredient haul by fishing, foraging, and farming creatures.
Essential Recipes & Meals
Here are some of the most useful early game recipes and meals to craft with your Basic Cooking Set:
Fried Egg
Unlocked by default. Restores 520 health and 380 stamina.
Ingredients: 1 Egg, 1 Oil
Grilled Fish
Unlocked by default. Restores 800 health and 330 stamina.
Ingredients: 1 Herring, Black Bass, Salmon, Neon Tetra, or Golden Salmon + 1 Oil
French Fries
Learned from Presley after Day 2. Restores 790 health and 510 stamina.
Ingredients: 2 Potatoes + 1 Oil
Stir Fry
Unlocked at Cooking Level 2. Restores 960 health and 640 stamina.
Ingredients: 1 Cabbage, 1 Carrot, 1 Potato + 1 Oil
Top Cooking Tips
Follow these tips to get the most out of cooking in Portia:
- Cook recipes with many ingredient types to maximize experience gains.
- Eat the Chef’s Special at the Round Table to temporarily boost cooking speed.
- Upgrade your cooking set with higher quality tools to improve stat bonuses.
- Use cooking boosters like Master Chef Feasts and Deluxe Meals for big XP boosts.
- Learn new recipes by watching Gust’s cooking show on specific days.
Where to Cook
You can cook dishes at the following stations in Portia:
- Your own workshop cooking table or kitchen once constructed.
- The cooking table inside the Round Table restaurant.
- Public cooking stations located in Central Plaza and Peach Plaza.
- Your portable Stone Furnace placed anywhere outdoors.
Your personal workshop cooking station is usually the most convenient place to cook. But public cooking areas can be useful if you don’t have the right facilities built yet. The Round Table is also great in early game for the free ingredients and Chef’s Special buff.
Cooking Levels & Perks
Leveling up your cooking skill unlocks handy perks and abilities. Here are some highlights:
| Cooking Level | Unlocked Perks |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Can cook Fried Egg and Grilled Fish. |
| Level 2 | Unlocks new recipes like Stir Fry. |
| Level 3 | Dishes restore an additional 20% health and stamina. |
| Level 4 | Unlocks new recipes. |
| Level 5 | 10% chance to refund used ingredients when cooking. |
| Level 7 | Unlocks new recipes. |
| Level 8 | Dishes restore an additional 50% health and stamina. |
Try to level up your cooking steadily as you progress through the game to benefit from the increasingly impactful perks.
Best Food Buffs
Certain dishes in Portia provide powerful temporary buffs in addition to restoring health and stamina. Here are some of the best food buffs to utilize:
- Chef’s Special – Available daily at The Round Table. Doubles cooking speed for the next 2 hours.
- Master Chef Feast – Reward from Chef Gale after reaching Cooking Level 4. Triples experience gain for the next 2 hours.
- Lemonade – Made from combining Lemon + Sugar. Increases attack speed and movement speed for 2 hours.
- Pineapple Steak – Made from combining Steak + Pineapple. Increases mining speed for 2 hours.
- Carrot Cake – Made from Carrot + Flour + Egg. Increases logging speed for 2 hours.
Time these powerful buffs wisely to maximize productivity. For example, use the mining buff before tackling hazardous ruins or mining heavy loads.
Gifting Cooked Dishes
You can increase your friendship with Portia residents by gifting them cooked meals tailored to their tastes. Here are some suggested gifts for key NPCs:
- Mint – Loves Salads containing Mint like Tossed Salad.
- Emily – Loves Cheese and Milk related dishes like Fried Milk.
- Django – Loves Spicy dishes containing Chili like Hot Pepper Steak.
- Sam – Loves Sweet dishes like Chocolate Cake.
Pay attention when interacting with NPCs to learn their favorite foods and colors. Then try to cook them gifts that align with their tastes for maximum relationship gains.
Cooking Set Upgrade Path
As you advance in Portia, upgrade your cooking set for efficiency and buff boosts:
| Upgrade Stage | Cooking Set Items |
|---|---|
| Basic | Stone Furnace, Copper Pot, Iron Pan, Wooden Spoon |
| Intermediate | Improved Stove, Copper Pot, Iron Pan, Wooden Spoon |
| Advanced | Industrial Oven, Aluminum Pot, Steel Pan, Silicone Spatula |
| Master | Electric Oven, Golden Pot, Carbon Steel Pan, Mythan Spatula |
Each upgrade stage increases the stat buffs provided by cooked food. Max out your kitchen with master gear to get the most benefit from each dish you craft.
Conclusion
Cooking in Portia provides a fun crafting system while also fueling your player with potent buffs. Obtain a basic cooking set early on to start frying eggs and grilling fish. Build your ingredients stock by farming crops, buying from stores, fishing, and foraging. Learn new recipes by purchasing books, watching TV, completing missions, and leveling up cooking skill. Cook dishes matching NPC tastes to build relationships faster. Keep upgrading your cooking set and kitchen to maximize efficiency and dish buffs. With this guide, you’ll be a master chef in no time. Now get cooking and savor all the flavors Portia has to offer!