Arcane Cooking

History

To the elves magic is in everything from the lights that allow their scribes to work well into the night to the chefs cooking with magic. To most elves a quick cantrip will light a flame to cooking flame is the basics of arcane cooking but as elven magic advanced and the elven nation grew into cities there was more time directed to greater pursuits of leisure and experimentation. As time progressed the art of arcane cooking advanced and became recognized as a modern advancement when Aias Chaenan was recognized as the first Cooking Sage. Today the art has advanced to the degree that even can be sampled at some of the more high end inns and taverns.

Execution

The key to arcane cooking is the use of magic in various ways to improve the overall quality of the food. The earliest use of arcane magic was to ignite flames but it was Aias Chaenan who popularized the use of fire magics to cook evenly, at specific temperatures, or to cook in specific patterns. By the time Chaenan was recognized as a sage the art of Arcane Cooking had grown with the use of various spells such as flash feezing to preserve fish, light acids to make tougher meat more edible, and even cooking with lightning. One of the more controversial cooking methods requires imbuing the meats with raw magic.

Components and tools

Besides the proper tools for cooking there have been a number of wands, crystals, orbs, and other such tools that are used for arcana, though with the booming industry of arcane cooking there have even been various tools that combine book cooking and arcana such as wands fashioned into spoons and bowls made out of magically conductive crystal.

Participants

While a single chef with magical talent is required other individuals can be added to improve time, management, and size. In the largest kitchens there are several positions first being the lord chef who controls the whole kitchen, from managing kitchen staff, finding suppliers, and creating the menu. The chef vizier is second only to the lord chef, much of his duties overlap the lord and is often tasked with overseeing smaller duties of management to free up the lord chef. The master chef is trained specifically to master one style of food and depending on the kitchen the titles will vary. The majority of major kitchens will have a master of butchery for all cutting, master of the sea for all things edible from the sea, master of the air for poultry and other such birds even if they are flightless, master of flames for all things grilling, and the master of sweets for deserts of all kinds.