Among the most important mechanics of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom There is the kitchen. Although it is often underestimated, this possibility offered by the developers allows you to obtain effects comparable to those of the rarest armor and overcome moments of difficulty.
Each food or potion cooked has a different effect and those that simply restore Link’s health represent only a very small fraction of those that can be made in the exclusive Nintendo Switch.
How to cook
Cooking in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is really simple, as it is sufficient to approach a pot, open the menu and put Link in the hands one to five ingredients to combine. Once the protagonist has the objects ready, press A near the pot to start the cooking phase, which in a few seconds will give us back a cooked dish or a concoction to drink.
The secret to learning how to cook is to read the descriptions of the ingredients carefully, as they contain every detail on how to prepare it and what the possible effects are. Unless you want to limit yourself to cooking fruit, meat or fish to create healing items, it is necessary combine neutral elements with others featuring special effects. For food, the neutral elements are for example the Hyrulino, pieces of meat and the Aspio Hyrule, while potions require a part of a monster such as horns as a starting point. Once the basic element has been chosen, it must be accompanied by an ingredient that provides a special effect: if we wanted to create a food to resist the cold, we could combine a neutral element such as meat with one or more Caldoperoni. The number of items that provide the special effect it is not irrelevant, since the higher it is, the greater the effectiveness of the potion: in the case of Caldoperone, the duration of protection from the cold will be longer.
A differenza di Breath of the Wild, in Tears of the Kingdom the recipes are saved and it is possible to immediately put in Link’s hands all the ingredients needed to repeat one. In this case, simply press a on one of the ingredients you need and then click on ‘Select a recipe’, so as to scroll through all the preparations already unlocked.
Effects
Here are the bonuses that can be received through the kitchen in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom:
Vivax: temporarily adds some heart containers, recognizable by their radiant yellow color: restores hearts lost due to damage taken from Miasma
Fatigue Remover: restores part of stamina gauge
breath: adds a temporary segment to the stamina gauge, marked in yellow
Woodpecker: helps to withstand the cold (protection depends on the level)
Insulating: protects against electric shock (protection depends on level)
Fireproof: protects against fire (protection depends on level)
Strengthener: temporarily increases attack
Burning: Temporarily increases attack in hot locations
Pungent: Temporarily increases attack in cold places
thundering: Temporarily increases attack in lightning storms
bark: Temporarily increases your hit resistance
Sprint: Temporarily increases movement speed and improves running, climbing, and swimming
Agile: Temporarily increases your swimming speed
Non-slip: allows you not to slip on wet surfaces for a few minutes
Stealth: makes movements quieter for a short time
Shiny: causes a small area around the protagonist to temporarily light up
Emergency kitchen
We are well aware that situations may arise where it is necessary to prepare something on the fly but there is no way to do it due to the lack of large pots nearby. At times like these, don’t give up as there is always a solution. The first, which is also the most practical, is to use the Zonau device which takes its name from ‘Portable Cauldron’: just take it out of the backpack to have a station at hand with which to cook once, after which it will self-destruct. If, on the other hand, you are short of healing items, you can follow our guide for creating a bonfire in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Once you have created the small fire, you can drop some objects nearby and, once cooked and before they burn, collect them again. In this way you can for example cook apples or pieces of meat to enhance their healing effects.
Have you already read our guide on the best starting armor of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom?
