Gastronomy
When you cook food in a kitchen, there is a chance it will be a masterpiece. This appears to be dependent on the chef, the ingredients and other unknown factors. Anyone that eats the masterpiece will gain a gastronomy point unless they have tasted similar flavours in the past. The higher your skill, the harder it is to gain points (max is 256).
When you eat the food, instead of saying "You ate the (name)..." you will get a message describing what you thought of the masterpiece. As your gastronomy stat increases, the message changes. If you have already tasted a Masterpiece dish that tastes similar (ex: you eat two servings of the same meal), it will say "You sample the expertly prepared cuisine, but alas, your palate is familiar with these flavors. Your gastronomy skill remains at #."
- 01-06 gastronomy = "Hmm, fancy grub ain't bad. Your Gastronomy skill is now #."
- 07-13 gastronomy = "Huh, that food is pretty good. Your Gastronomy skill is now #."
- 14-27 gastronomy = "You enjoy the dish greatly. Your Gastronomy skill is now #."
- 28-48 gastronomy = "What a delicious pairing of flavors! Your gastronomy skill is now #."
- 49-?? gastronomy = "The humble flavors of this dish touch you on an emotional level. A tear, a gasp! Delightful! Your gastronomy skill is now #."
In addition to your appreciation of masterpieces rising as your gastronomy rises, you also gain the ability to discern subtleties in foods.
- At 20 gastronomy you start to observe how well various ingredients in a non-masterpiece dish go together. You will get a message saying: "You eat some (Recipe name) The combination of A and B in this recipe is particulary delicious.."
- At 60 gastronomy you will also be able to discern a bad pair of ingredients: "You eat some (Recipe name) The combination of A and B in this recipe is particulary delicious., but for some reason C and D didn't go together well."
Finally, you can also gain permanent perception boosts by increasing your gastronomy skill. A perception point may be gained at gastro 7 and 49.
- It is possible that, at 243 gastronomy, another perception point may be attained. It's questionable whether anybody would be able to reach 243 gastronomy before Tale's end, however.
See also: Beer Tasting, Oenology and Fumeology