Personal Cooking Trainer
Personal Cooking Trainer. Japan: Nintendo. 2008.
Mar 3, 2009 by Stephanie Oh 1Introduction
Photo of Cover of Personal Cooking Trainer found on LBJ's Brown Bag
I am sure that everyone, at one point or another, stumbled upon delicious looking dishes on television or even simply chanced upon a picture of one in a magazine. Some individuals may have even looked up recipes for these dishes in the hopes of making it at home. However, how many novice chefs, like myself, have found themselves lost when following a supposedly simple recipe? Questions such as "what is the difference between sauteing and frying?" may pop up. Or people may even be confused as to which cooking utensils to use for different dishes?
Now, many beginner chefs who are actually motivated enough to try their hand at cooking, might thumb through cooking books only to be exasperated at the lack of detail. Authors make many assumptions that the people reading the books already understand the basics. That is not to say that there are not books that offer some instruction on basics and explanations of techniques, but the small blurbs offered in the introduction will not suffice for a complete novice.
Some people have been lucky enough to have someone that was willing to teach us the art of cooking, but many people who wish to take a jab at the skill are left to blindly fumble around hoping for some sort of revelation. Unfortunately, cooking is not something that can be done with a flick of a wand. It is a skill that must be honed through practice and diligence. Talent makes only 10 percent of your proficiency at a task; the rest is perfected through repetition. That being said, it does not mean that a little help here and there is not useful. Personal Cooking Trainer, a game for the Nintendo DS might only appear to an interactive cookbook at first glance, but the wealth of knowledge that is available exceeds mere recipes.
In Personal Cooking Trainer, if a user is confused about any aspect of the recipes offered, the game offers an abundance of detail to clarify the instructions. There is a large range of resources included in the game from descriptions of ingredients and utensils to video tutorials. Owning the game allows the user to have a shadow of a more experienced chef guiding them through each of the steps.
Game controls and Navigation
Photo found on The Play Forum @ time to play
If there were any worries about the controls for this cookbook for non-gamers, there is no need for alarm. The interface is very clean and simple that is makes it easy for anybody to navigate the game. It utilizes a touch screen to access different portions of the cookbook as well as voice activation while cooking, the latter of which I will touch on later in this section. Many customizable features were included in the game that allows the product to be utilized to the fullest.
When you first start the game, you are brought to a menu with a couple options. The first one that you would probably want to click on is the settings. Several useful functions are included in this section. For those of you who have specific food allergies, there is a subsection under settings that allow you to exclude certain ingredients, such as shellfish. Once you do so, all recipes that have these marked ingredients will be marked with an x indicating that they contain food materials that you are allergic to. The function allows the search option much more efficient, as it allows you to sort through recipes that you cannot eat much more quickly.
I will not discuss all of the options under settings, but another important one is to set the chef's voice speed setting. This is very useful when it comes to the actual hands on cooking because you must be able to hear the chef clearly. While there, will be text on the screen, who would want their hands tied to a DS, while holding a spatula in one? It is much simpler to use the microphone function included in the game. The voice activation feature seemed like a gimmick at first, a mere ploy to entice buyers, but I soon realized how invaluable the feature was while cooking. Any chef's, whether you are a beginner or advanced, will find the ease in listening to the game reading each step to you.
In addition, the microphone function is also a big plus. When you want to move on to the next step all you need to do is say, "Continue" at a semi-loud speaking voice so the DS can pick up your voice. If you missed part of the step, just say, "Repeat" and the chef will say the step again. Another useful tip is, if there is ever a time that you are confused at the instruction given, say "More Details" and the game will offer you will add further description to the step. For example, if the recipe called for diced onions and wanted more details, it would give you the exact measurements as to how big they want you to cut the vegetable. There are limitations, but for the most part, the developers were thorough enough to include enough material that you will actually feel like the game offers enough tools that you do not feel like you were left in the dark.
Content
Now I know what you are all thinking: having these features are all well and good, but exactly how many recipes are actually in the game? There would be no reason for all the technology available for the game if they only included a handful of dishes. Well fear not, there are 256 recipes from over 30 different countries. So for those with an adventurous spirit will not be disappointed as they will be able to try a wide variety of different cuisines from both Western and Eastern cultures.
There are a large range of resources included in the game from descriptions of ingredients and utensils to video tutorials.
The game makes it very easy for you to sift through all of the recipes by allowing you to search for recipes by region or even by ingredients and the choices they offer are numerous so you will not be bored for a while. Also, when you click on a certain recipe, it offers an option to include all the ingredients on a shopping list so that you will know what you need to purchase for the meal. It makes it convenient to take with you on your next shopping trip if you decide to design a dinner for a specific day. Another option is to search by a main ingredient you have at home, maybe you will be able to surprise yourself, or even friends by what you will be able to conjure up with common materials around the house.
On a side note, if an ethnic cuisine comes up and you do not have the proper ingredients for it, check the game and see if it offers a more common substitution. It may change the taste subtly, but normally it is so miniscule that you will not notice a difference. The many recipes included in the game that you could practice and pick up a variety of skills necessary for other recipes that you can find outside of the game.
Conclusion
The one downside to this product is that you will need to purchase a Nintendo DS system to play the game, which means you have to weigh the pros and cons. The game itself can easily be bought for around 20 dollars new and 18 used on popular gaming websites like Gamestop, but you may be able to snag a cheaper copy on eBay.
The product, proved to be very nifty guide to a complete beginner like myself, but it may not be worth buying an entire handheld system just for the game. It offers features that cannot be found in a simple recipe book, but you will have to determine for yourself whether or not you want to spend the money to buy the DS. If you are interested in gaming however, this might prove to be a good investment because the games offered for this system are good. Overall, Personal Cooking Trainer is a great alternative to cookbooks that are potentially frustrating and unhelpful to cooks who want to start cooking for the first time.
This hReview brought to you by the hReview Creator.