Cook's Assistant

The Old School RuneScape Wiki also has an article on: osrsw:Cook's AssistantThe RuneScape Classic Wiki also has an article on: classicrsw:Cook's assistant

For the achievement, see Cook's Assistant (achievement).

This article has a quick guide. Quick guides provide a brief summary of the steps needed for completion.

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Cook's Assistant (#1)
Release date								4 January 2001 (Update)
Members								No
Voice Over								No
Official series								None
Age								Fifth Age
Timeline								Pathfinder
Start area								Lumbridge
Combat								None
Entity icon
Advanced data
Quest ID								257
Quest create ID								1
Quest timeline override sequence								1
Official difficulty								Novice
Links								Quests

Cook's Assistant was the first RuneScape quest ever released. In the quest, players must obtain a bucket of top-quality milk, a super large egg, and a pot of extra fine flour. They need to give the items to the cook, who requires the ingredients to make a birthday cake for Duke Horacio.

This quest was one of the six available during RuneScape's launch, and was originally developed by Paul Gower. It has since gone through a rework and another improvement which introduced different ingredients and additional rewards.

A sequel, Chef's Assistant, was released on 11 February 2019.

Official description

“	The Lumbridge Castle cook is in a mess. It is the Duke of Lumbridge's birthday and the cook is making the cake. He needs a lot of ingredients and doesn't have much time.	”
— Game Guide

Overview

Start point	Speak to the cook in the kitchen of Lumbridge Castle. Show on map	2001#1
Member requirement	Free to play
Official length	Short
Requirements	Quests: Cook's Assistant None
Items required	Items from the tool belt are not listed unless they do not work or are not automatically added. Empty pot (can be obtained during quest) Bucket (can be obtained during quest)
Enemies to defeat	None

A feast for a Duke

To start the quest, talk to the cook in the Lumbridge Castle's kitchen on the ground floor^[UK]1^st floor^[US] on the south side of the castle. He tells you that it is Duke Horacio's birthday, and he is supposed to prepare a cake for the celebration, but he has forgotten to bring some of the ingredients required for the cake. He then asks you to acquire a bucket of top-quality milk, a super large egg, and a pot of extra fine flour for him.

Before heading off to collect the ingredients, take the empty pot sitting on the table in the kitchen if you don't have one with you already.

Top-quality milk

Cook's Assistant

• Top-quality milk
• Super large egg
• Extra fine flour

Items needed: 1 Bucket

A bucket of top-quality milk may be collected from the Lumbridge cow field. The cow field can be found on the east side of the River Lum north-east of the goblins. To obtain the milk, simply use a bucket on the prized dairy cow. A bucket may be found near the cow if needed.

Super large egg

To acquire a super large egg, visit the chicken farm in Lumbridge. The chicken farm is located east of the River Lum and west of the cow field. You can pick up the super large egg there. The egg can also be found outside Fred the Farmer's farm, which is north of Lumbridge Castle and south-east of Mill Lane Mill, a local windmill.

Extra fine flour

Items needed: 1 Empty pot

Lastly, to obtain the extra fine flour, pick up one bundle of wheat from the field west of Fred the Farmer's farm. Leave the field, and head north-east to Mill Lane Mill. Speak to Millie Miller about making extra fine flour before climbing to the top floor, so she can convert regular flour into the extra fine kind by realigning millstones. Use the wheat with the hopper and then operate the hopper controls to grind the wheat. Finally, head down to the ground floor^[UK]1^st floor^[US] to collect the flour by using the empty pot on it.

Delivery

Head back to Lumbridge Castle and deliver the ingredients to the cook for your reward.

Congratulations, quest complete!

Rewards

• 1 quest point
• 300 experience
• 500 coins
• 20 sardines
• Permission to use the Cook-o-matic 25, which has a lower chance of burning food than other ranges
• If you have completed the quest before the update that awards 20 sardines and 500 coins, you can claim them at any time by speaking to the cook
• 2 Treasure Hunter keys (Ironman accounts will not receive these)

Achievements

• Cook's Assistant ( 0) – Complete this quest.
• Cook's Delights ( 5) – Claim the cook's extra rewards after 'Cook's Assistant'.
• Lumbridge achievements
  • Medium - A Meal Fit For a Duke ( 10) – Cook a lobster on the range in Lumbridge Castle's kitchen.
  • Hard - Have Your Cake and Eat It ( 15) – Cook a chocolate cake from scratch in Lumbridge Castle's kitchen.

Required for completing

Cook's Assistant is directly required for the following quests/miniquests:

• Chef's Assistant
• Recipe for Disaster
• Recipe for Disaster: Another Cook's Quest

It is therefore an indirect requirement for the following quests and miniquests:

• 'Phite Club
• A Clockwork Syringe
• Aftermath
• Alpha vs Omega
• Azzanadra's Quest
• Battle of the Monolith
• Children of Mah
• City of Senntisten
• Full comprehension of Curse of the Black Stone
• Desperate Creatures
• Desperate Measures
• Full comprehension of Desperate Times
• Dishonour among Thieves
• Do No Evil
• Evil Dave's Big Day Out
• Extinction
• Eye of Het I
• Eye of Het II
• Fate of the Gods
• Full comprehension of Heart of Stone
• Full comprehension of Hero's Welcome
• Kindred Spirits
• Koschei's Troubles (miniquest)
• Love Story
• Mahjarrat Memories (miniquest)
• Full comprehension of Missing, Presumed Death
• Full comprehension of Nadir (saga)
• Nomad's Elegy
• Once Upon a Time in Gielinor: Finale
• Full comprehension of Once Upon a Time in Gielinor: Fortunes
• One of a Kind
• Our Man in the North
• Pieces of Hate
• Rebuilding Edgeville (miniquest)
• Recipe for Disaster: Defeating the Culinaromancer
• Recipe for Disaster: Freeing Evil Dave
• Recipe for Disaster: Freeing King Awowogei
• Recipe for Disaster: Freeing Pirate Pete
• Recipe for Disaster: Freeing Sir Amik Varze
• Recipe for Disaster: Freeing Skrach Uglogwee
• Recipe for Disaster: Freeing the Goblin Generals
• Recipe for Disaster: Freeing the Lumbridge Sage
• Recipe for Disaster: Freeing the Mountain Dwarf
• Remains of the Necrolord
• Ritual of the Mahjarrat
• Rocking Out
• Sins of the Father
• Sliske's Endgame
• Tales of Nomad (miniquest)
• The Great Brain Robbery
• The Light Within
• The Mighty Fall
• Full completion of The World Wakes
• Full comprehension of The World Wakes
• Twilight of the Gods

Transcript

This article on a quest has an associated dialogue page. Click here for a transcript of possible conversations and other messaging encountered throughout the quest. Click here for a transcript of the quest's journal entry.

Development and release

Paul (pictured) and Andrew Gower contributed to the quest

Cook's Assistant was first released on 4 January 2001 on the launch of RuneScape Classic, the same day The Restless Ghost, Demon Slayer, Romeo & Juliet, Shield of Arrav and Sheep Shearer quests were released. It was originally developed by Paul Gower, one of the co-founders of Jagex. Andrew Gower, another co-founder, also contributed to the quest, while Nishal K did the QuestHelp and audio developer Ian Taylor worked on the audio for the quest. A rework of the quest was developed by RuneScape game designer Chihiro Yamada, the Quality Assurance was completed by Daniel G, and the graphics were done by Matt M.

Another improvement was implemented on 15 December 2009. The 500 coins and 20 sardines rewards were added with it. The improvement also changed the type of ingredients that were required. Beforehand, players only had to bring an ordinary egg, bucket of milk and flour to the cook, which meant that they could just finish the quest by talking to the cook twice with the ingredients ready. The second improvement was developed by Fred M, the Quality Assurance was done by Dean O and James H, and the graphics were updated by Alec V, Giuseppe G, and Daniel J.

Reception and sequel

In a 2007 poll, 3% of players voted that Cook's Assistant was their favourite novice quest. In another poll in the same year, 50% of players voted that it was the first quest they completed. A sequel to the quest, Recipe for Disaster, was released on 15 March 2006.

Credits

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OriginalReworkSecond improvement

Cook's Assistant
Developers
Developer			Paul Gower
Conversion			Andrew Gower
Audio
Audio			Mod Ian
Other
Quest Help			Nishal K

Cook's Assistant
Developers
Developer			Mod Chihiro
Art & Graphics
Graphics			Matt M
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance			Daniel G

Cook's Assistant
Developers
Developer			Mod Maylea
Art & Graphics
Graphics			Mod Alec, Mod GiuG, Daniel J
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance			Mod Dean, Mod James H
Other
Walkthrough			Andrew WD, Mod Michelle

Update history

This information has been compiled as part of the update history project. Some updates may not be included—see here for how to help out!

• patch 24 October 2022 (Update):
  • Implemented the following adjustments at the request of players completing quests in timeline order:
    • Moved Blood Pact in the timeline sort between Cook's Assistant and The Restless Ghost, for an early intro to combat prior to the skeletal warlock.

• patch 27 May 2014 (Update):
  • The "I've not started this quest yet" text in the quest journal for "The Branches of Darkmeyer", "Cook's Assistant", "Deadliest Catch", "Ernest the Chicken", "The Restless Ghost", "Rune Mysteries" and "Salt in the Wound" has been replaced with a summary of how to start the quest.

• patch 29 August 2013 (Update):
  • The quest journal no longer states players haven't started the Cook's Assistant during or after the quest.

• patch 1 February 2010 (Update):
  • Added a check to the Cook's Assistant quest if you're at the Lumbridge mill when given hints.

• patch 15 December 2009 (Update):
  • The following quests have received a number of minor changes and improvements: Cook's Assistant, Ernest the Chicken, Restless Ghost, Rune Mysteries, Sheep Shearer. If you have already completed these quests, it may be worth your time talking to the Lumbridge cook, Fred the Farmer and Professor Oddenstein (outside Draynor Manor).

• update 4 January 2001 (Update):
  • Added to game.

Trivia

• For the 2013 April Fools' Day, a video was released by Jagex showing the development of 'Cook's Assistant: The Musical', to emphasise how iconic the quest is.