Theoretically it's time to say goodbye to the eternal question "What shall I cook tonight?," as the software includes 245 recipes from all over the world. A world map lets users choose from among three main areas -- the Americas, Europe and Asia -- and then select one of the many countries available. There's an incredible variety of dishes and all the recipes are quite easy to make and true to tradition. Or at least, this is what I've noticed about the recipes from my country, Italy. Other than by country, recipes can be selected by ingredients or by several different requirements: difficulty, main ingredient, cooking method, cooking time, even calories. Another search criteria can be whether a recipe has been already tried. Users can tag every entry as made before, not made yet, or favorite. Personal notes can also be added, as one would do in a paper recipe book.
Once a recipe has been selected, the preparatory steps require users to go through a couple of lists, one showing and explaining the utensils needed in the recipe, the other reporting all the necessary ingredients. In case one or more ingredients are missing, users can conveniently check them off on the list itself. This can be done with up to twenty recipes, as the software memorizes the missing items and shows them later in a specific shopping list section. Users can just bring their DS with them to the grocery store and check the ingredients they buy, instead of having to transcribe the whole list on paper. The shopping list page also has a calculator that can be used to quickly multiply or divide amounts.
After getting all the ingredients and setting the right utensils, the real cooking session can start. Users are guided through a number of simple steps that include a short text description, an explanatory picture and a chef's voice repeating the instructions aloud. Thanks to the voice recognition feature, users can keep their hands free and go back and forth through the various steps by just saying "Last Step," "Repeat" or "Continue." This function can be turned on or off; in addition, the chef's voice speed can be adjusted and the background music can be deactivated all the time or just while cooking.
Recipes aside, less-skilled users will probably find a useful tool in the Cooking A-Z section, a comprehensive encyclopedia for wannabe cooks. There are helpful tips, a terminology list to check when in doubt, and several short videos that show different cooking techniques. A special section tells users what to substitute for ingredients that are hard to find, such as Asian condiments and spices. What's even better, the Cooking A-Z section can be accessed at any time while executing a recipe. Another useful tool is the option to exclude specific ingredients or categories of ingredients, such as meat or seafood, so that both vegetarians and people with allergies can join in. The software can either show a red mark next to the undesirable ingredient or completely hide any recipe that contains it.
In an effort to prove that Personal Trainer: Cooking can also be enjoyed by skilled cooks, Nintendo held a demonstration at its latest pre-TGS event in San Francisco. The resident chef at the JW Marriott Hotel executed several recipes with the assistance of the software. While his hands were busy slicing fish and dicing potatoes, he dictated orders to the DS through the voice feature, creating in a matter of minutes delicious treats such as paella, souvlaki and sole fillet with vegetables. Personal Trainer: Cooking looks like a solid tool to learn more about cooking and it will be conveniently released on November 24th, just a few days before Thanksgiving.
