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Old 12-21-2012, 03:23 PM   #253
fredtheobviouspseudonym
 
Join Date: May 2007
Default Cooking not valueless --

In the American Civil War (War Between the States for our southern brethren) at first the fresh faced volunteers on BOTH sides drew their chow (hardtack, bacon, beans, and salted meat. Sort-of meat) then cooked it themselves.

Between dirt in the food and too much grease and just bad cooking a certain ADDITIONAL number of coffee-boilers (the ACW term for "grunt") wound up in sick bay; some had so much intestinal irritation that it made them more vulnerable to other ailments.

When units started to detail (and supervise) company cooks the ailments declined. To some degree.

And, as late as WWII, getting a decent cook and having decent chow was a big morale boost.

So some capability in cooking, as in swimming, is almost always in every GURPS character I play.
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