Harvest Moon DS Cooking 101 Recipe Guide
In many cases, the 'basic' recipe represents the only form that recipe can
take. In other cases, however, there will be a basic recipe and a 'best'
recipe. The 'best' recipe adds optional ingredients that will enhance the
potential of that dish to restore Stamina and combat Fatigue.
Here is an example of the difference between the 'basic' and 'best' recipe:
Curry Rice (basic): +30 Stamina -2 Fatigue
Curry Rice (better) with Green Pepper: +38 Stamina -2 Fatigue
Curry Rice (even better): with Carrot, Green Pepper, Onion and Potato: +53
Stamina -2 Fatigue
Curry Rice (best): with Medium Fish, Carrot, Green Pepper, Eggplant, Onion and
Potato: +64 Stamina -2 Fatigue
Please note that using an upgraded level of raw ingredient will not improve the
SR or FR of a dish.
In FoMT and MFoMT, cooked dishes were worth more when shipped than the raw
ingredients from which they were made. In this game, they are virtually
worthless when shipped, but they are included as items in your Shipping List.
Even if cooked dishes do not add substantially to your total earnings, the
advantages of cooking are threefold. First, they are much more powerful than
raw ingredients when consumed in terms of restoring Stamina and combating
Fatigue. For example, a medium fish will give you +3 Stamina and -1 Fatigue.
The same medium fish when converted to Sashimi in your kitchen will give you
+30 Stamina -3 Fatigue. In fact, as Sashimi requires no utensils whatsoever,
you will be able to make it as soon as your Kitchen is delivered. If you were
sustaining your energy with expensive Bodigizer and Turbojolt medicines
purchased from Van for 500G and 1000G respectively before you had a Kitchen,
you will be delighted to be able to use Sashimi instead!
The second advantage is the ability of a cooked dish to raise FP. You will
find that there are a couple of individuals in the Valley who respond with
indifference to all gifts until you are able to give them 'cooked' dishes.
Takakura is one of these. Most items will boost his FP only by 1 point until
you have a kitchen. Once you do, you will be able to give him sashimi which
will raise his FP by 9 points!
The final reason to complete your Recipe list is because you need to ship one
of each 'cooked item' in the game in order to complete your Shipping List.
You cannot ship 'cooked items' in the ordinary shipping containers on your farm
but you can ship them by placing them in your Basket, then dumping the contents
into a shipping container or you can ship them directly through the Cannery.
You therefore need to purchase the Basket and/or Cannery if you wish to
complete your Shipping List.
Special Ingredients
Ingredients for Recipes in Harvest Moon are found in a number of different
ways. There are ingredients that are gathered in the wilds, such as all
grasses, bamboo shoots, wild grapes and matsutake mushrooms. There are
ingredients that are produced by farming, both as crops and as fruit harvested
from trees that you plant. There are ingredients that are purchased from
Karen's Supermarket, from riceballs to chocolate and wine. Fish must be caught
using a fishing rod and only medium and large fish can be used in cooking in
this game. Finally, there are special items that can be obtained only by
attending specific Festivals. These items are buckwheat flour/noodles and rice
cakes. By attending the Year End Festival, you will obtain either 9 Buckwheat
Flour or 9 Buckwheat Noodles. The actual item that you receive is a random
result. Buckwheat flour is the more valuable of the two as you can make
Buckwheat Noodles from Buckwheat Flour but there are two recipes that cannot be
made unless you have the actual Buckwheat Flour. (If you do not receive the
Flour, reload your game and try again!) By attending the New Year Festival on
New Year's Day, you will obtain 9 Rice Cakes.
Incidentally, in early versions of the game, you only could obtain Buckwheat
Noodles. In later cartridges, Buckwheat Flour was given at the Festival.
The Cooking Festival
The Cooking Festival in this game occurs on the beach each Spring and the
Gourmet judges the entries as he does both in FoMT and in MFoMT. There are a
couple of differences between the games, however. Theme in HM DS is designated
by a cooking implement rather than a type of food. In other words, you will be
asked to make any dish using a Pot in the second year. In FoMT/MFoMT, you
would be asked to make a specific type of dish, such as a 'noodle dish' or
'bread'. The other difference is that winning the Festival in HM DS is more
difficult. Making the 'best' version of a recipe will not suffice. Only
certain special recipes will allow you to win the Festival in any case. For
example, in the 2nd year, when asked to make a dish using the 'Pot', it was
only when I made 'Ultimate Curry' that I won. (N.B. The Gourmet HATED 'Finest
Curry', which is alleged to be superior to 'Ultimate Curry'. When I entered
that, I lost and he declared it to be 'B A D'. 'Ultimate Curry' on the other
hand, he pronounced to be the work of a chef of professional quality.) The
very best version of 'Cheese Fondue' or 'Curry Rice' failed to impress the
Gourmet! Evidently there is one exception to this, however. Any sort of
'Relax Tea' will win when the category is 'Pot'.
XVII. Cooking in Harvest Moon
One of the most enjoyable aspects of Harvest Moon games for many players is the
ability to cook. Every Harvest Moon game has its own recipe collection and
method of cooking. Harvest Moon DS is most similar to FoMT and MFoMT in this
respect.
In order to cook, you first must purchase a kitchen from the Shopping Network.
The kitchen will not be offered until you have expanded your house once. All
building projects are ordered by telephone from Gotz, the carpenter of Mineral
Town. The Shopping Network will not offer the Kitchen until you purchase a
Refrigerator to store your food items.
As soon as you obtain the Kitchen, you will be able to start cooking, as there
are a number of Recipes that require No Utensils. To make an item without
utensils, highlight the item, then choose 'N/A' as the Implement. The item
will be prepared and you will be able to add the Recipe to your Cookbook. Even
in your first Summer, you should be able to make a number of Recipes as soon as
your Kitchen arrives. A salad can be made with a Tomato. Pickled Turnips can
be made with a Turnip, and Pickled Cucumbers can be made with a Cucumber. One
of the best recipes you can make without any utensils is Sashimi. All that is
required is a Medium or Large Fish. Sashimi is a favourite for Takakura and
Carter, two individuals who are difficult to please until you have a Kitchen.
It is a good source of energy as well.
You can approach cooking through trial-and-error, but you probably will find
that most experiments result in 'Failed' or 'Burnt' Dishes. You need to use a
recipe that is acceptable to the game. Six books of 'Cooking 101' Recipes,
each dedicated to a different method of cooking, can be purchased with Medals
from the Casino. The recipes included in these books are not only a few of
many and if you wish to complete your Recipe list, you need to expand upon your
knowledge. Moreover, buying a book will not add the recipes in that book to
your list. You actually need to make the recipe successfully in order to add
it to the Recipe List. I have compiled a list of all recipes in this game
and it can be found at:
Cooking