To Buff or Debuff? That is the question.
Surviving in games these days sometimes requires being able to cook or concoct something in order to keep yourself from starving or running out of hit points. You can create meals for yourself in games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Stardew Valley, or potions to drink in games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Minecraft, in order to give your character some extra hit points or a nice buff. Each of these games has rules about what you should or shouldn’t cook together, or which ingredients may help or harm you if you choose to include them in your recipe.
Since I started cooking for myself about two years ago, I’ve learned some real-life “rules” about preparing food. Though I wouldn’t say you need to follow these rules to a T, they can definitely help you avoid mishaps in the kitchen or getting sick. Still, I like to think of them more as guidelines.
These guidelines include things like:
- Avoid using olive oil to sauté
- Don’t mix water and oil
- Don’t reheat certain foods
- Don’t eat leaves you can’t identify
Today I made myself a delicious meal while at the same time breaking each of the four rules above. Now, you might be thinking, “Holy cow, that sounds dangerous!” Don’t fret! I still live and am here as a testament to the fact that, just like in games like Skyrim, testing new or unknown ingredients can sometimes lead to delicious new recipes and health-boosting effects!
I should leave a few disclaimers here: I knew the leaves were edible, and experimenting with ingredients in the same manner as in Skyrim will probably hurt you a lot more than leaving just a three-second debuff. Don’t do it!
New Recipe Learned!
Now for a cooking lesson! If you’re not interested in recipes or cooking, you can skip the kitchen talk. But hey, it won’t cost you any gold and you can add this recipe to your inventory for free!
My lunch today featured manioc, a delicious South-American root, sautéed onion (in olive oil), dandelion leaves (yes they’re edible!) and a mysterious purple-green leaf I don’t know the name of. A simple recipe, yes, but I’ve found that simplicity is almost always the best policy when it comes to meal-prep.
Manioc has been my go-to ingredient while I’ve been living in Brazil the past few months. It’s delicious, versatile, and very easy to find (as common as any tomato or carrot). It’s also fun to harvest! That said, I did have some difficulty pulling my first few manioc roots…[[[add link to harvest moon post here]]]
After choosing to reheat my choice of root, I decided I wanted to add some greens to my dish, so I went out foraging for leaves. There are so many edible plants surrounding the area I’m living now that I didn’t have to go far to find some potential candidates for lunch. Less than five paces out the door and at my feet were some decent-looking dandelion leaves and some interesting-looking leaves with purple veins.
I grabbed a couple of leaves from the dubious plant and picked a few dandelion leaves as well. There were many other greens to choose from, but I wasn’t feeling confident enough in my botanical abilities to identify enough leaves to make a whole salad from the surrounding foliage. And simplicity is key, right?
Satisfied with my choice of greens, I stepped back inside to begin preparing my meal. Another nice cooking rule I forgot to mention above states that sautéing garlic and onion can be the best way to start any meal, so I did just that.
Once I had a decent sizzle going on at the stove and the tantalizing aroma of sautéed onions filled the air, I chopped up the leaves, cut the manioc into cubes and tossed them all into the pan. The manioc didn’t heat so well, given the amount of water they absorbed while being boiled the previous night, but everything turned out tasting pretty darn great in the end.
Cooking Skill +1
It might not look that great, but let me tell ya, it was hearty and delicious! I even added an extra kick with some homemade molho de pimenta. (or in English: hot sauce)
It may (or may not) surprise you that just about two years ago I didn’t know how to cut a tomato if you’d asked me to! It was two years ago that I started my grand adventure and ever since then I’ve been adding recipes, skills and abilities, experience, and stories to my repertoire. My attempts at crafting a meal don’t always turn out looking as great as this one, and sometimes they even turn out looking better! I’ve gone from being someone who stays out of the kitchen, unless he’s looking for leftovers in the refrigerator, to someone who prefers his own cooking to eating out!
In this game of life there’s one mechanic that never fails: practice makes perfect. Sort of like in The Elder Scrolls series, the more you use a skill, the higher level you’ll achieve and the better you’ll get at it. This isn’t a difficult concept to understand, but it’s not something everybody takes advantage of very easily. Though for some it only takes one peek at the end-game skills descriptions, the rest of us need more motivation to keep at the grind. Whether we’re just starting out at something new or working to fine-tune a skill, it always helps to take a look back at all we’ve accomplished.
Today, I created something new, learned a new recipe, and gained even more confidence in the kitchen. That’s more than I ever could have accomplished at the stove a few short years back!
What skills have you gained or developed over the past few years? What are your favorite recipes? What kind of success (or lack thereof) have you found in the kitchen? Which video games have you been living? Feel free to share your comments, thoughts, criticisms, or advice below!
