WoW Cooking

Cooking is a World of Warcraft secondary skill that allows players to virtually cook delectable dishes for their character. These dishes can then be “eaten” by the character to increase its out of combat health regeneration or to receive buffs that some food provides. It's important to note that while cooking is often referred to as a profession it is truly not one. It is a secondary skill that does not count towards the two profession limit. Also, it is trainable by both factions and all races of those factions.

All though cooking is not incredibly popular, it is a very useful skill to have for any class. Melee classes that have no healing abilities are often stuck buying food and eating it after combat to regen their health. Even healers require food to regen health when low on or out of mana. And again, all classes benefit from the buffs food often provides. Since the food that is made through cooking is often better and cheaper (since you make it yourself) it's a good idea to become a cook. It's kind of like brown bagging it...making your food at home in your own kitchen (perhaps the fire you made with flint and tinder and simple wood) instead of going to the local vendor and dropping perhaps g-bombs (lots of gold)) on food.

The components for cooking are primarily dropped off of mobs. For example, much of the meat or eggs that drop across the “world” are used in cooking recipes. Once players have the meat, eggs, fish, or other main ingredients they need they can cook the item according to the recipe. Some recipes only require a heating element (fire, cooking pot, etc.), while others may require additional items like spices, which can be purchased from vendors. 

The recipes used for cooking are found in many places, some are given by completing quests, others can be bought from vendors, some are random drops, and of course some can be trained by cooking trainers.

If you are considering becoming a cook then it is highly suggested by top cooks that you also train fishing. Many of the fish caught through fishing are key components in cooking recipes. It is also much easier to level your cooking up since you are able to cook the fish you catch.

So remember, cooking is or rather should be considered an essential skill to have by every class. It is not only fun to do but also extremely helpful as you are trying to level through Azeroth or the Outland.