Cooking in Cairn transforms raw ingredients into meals that provide crucial buffs for your climb up Mount Kami. The cooking system relies on combining two ingredients at a Bivouac camp stove, and understanding which pairings work—and what benefits they deliver—can make the difference between reaching the summit and turning back.
Quick answer: Cook two ingredients together at any Bivouac stove. Most combinations work, but pairing a base ingredient (foraged plant or protein) with a liquid (water, infusion, or processed drink) yields the best results and highest stat boosts.
How cooking works
When you set up camp at a Bivouac point, a gas cooking stove hangs in front of you. Select it to begin cooking. The system accepts two ingredients at a time, and most pairings are valid—though some combinations make more sense than others from a resource perspective.
Raw foraged plants and uncooked proteins provide weak or even negative effects. Cooking them amplifies their benefits significantly. A raw dandelion reduces health by 5 points, but cooked with water, it restores 10 health and grants 2 minutes of Grit (reduced climbing damage). The improvement is substantial enough that cooking should be your default approach whenever you camp.
Status effects explained
Burst increases your movement speed, letting you traverse terrain faster and react quicker to hazards. Focus accelerates stamina recovery, essential when you need to climb long stretches without rest. Grip boosts grip strength while climbing, making difficult handholds easier to maintain. Grit reduces damage taken during climbs, providing a safety buffer against falls or environmental hazards.
Most recipes grant one or two of these effects, typically lasting 60 seconds to 5 minutes, depending on the dish. Stronger recipes like the Ultimate Infusion provide all four effects simultaneously for 5 minutes, making them invaluable for difficult sections.
Foraged ingredients and their raw effects
Plants found across the mountain have minimal benefits when eaten raw, and some cause harm. Dandelion, Gentian, Juniper, Nettle, and Thistle all reduce health by 5 points when consumed uncooked. Mushrooms provide only 10 hunger. Honey Dipper is the exception—it grants 20 hunger and 4 minutes of Burst, making it valuable even raw.
Water sources are abundant throughout the climb. Clear Water restores 20 thirst and appears in rivers, springs, streams, and pools across every region. Raspberries restore only 5 hunger raw, but become powerful when cooked into Raspberry Juice. Eggs provide 20 hunger and can be found in bird nests and on ledges. Fish appear only in pools near waterfalls.
Processed foods and vending machines
Before leaving the climbing centre, search for two coins lying around. Use them at the vending machines to stock up on Energy Bars (40 hunger), Protein Bars (30 hunger), Chocolate (10 health, 20 hunger, 2 minutes Focus), and other provisions. Complete the climbing wall challenge—finish eight routes—to unlock a locked box containing extra supplies, including the Beekeeper's Map, which reveals honey locations.
Alpine Cola grants 20 thirst and 2 minutes of Grit. Berry Milk provides 30 hunger, 30 thirst, and 2 minutes of Burst. Yellow Yak restores 20 thirst and 2 minutes of Grip. These processed drinks serve as excellent bases for cooking variants because they already contain beneficial effects that stack with other ingredients.
Simple cooked dishes
Boiled Eggs combine an egg with water to create a meal restoring 40 hunger and providing 40 warmth when eaten quickly. Adding Alpine Cola, Chocolate Drink, Raspberry Juice, or Yellow Yak instead of water creates Boiled Eggs (Creamy), boosting hunger to 70 and maintaining the warmth bonus.
Cooked Noodles pair instant noodles with water for 20 hunger, 20 thirst, and warmth. Substituting sweet ingredients like Alpine Cola or Chocolate Drink creates Cooked Noodles (Extra Sweet), adding 1 minute of Burst. Pairing with herbal infusions produces Cooked Noodles (Herbal), which adds 10 health to the base benefits.
Cooked Dandelion transforms the raw plant's health penalty into a 10 health restoration plus 2 minutes of Grit. Cooked with sweet ingredients, it becomes Cooked Dandelion (Extra Sweet), restoring 30 hunger instead of 20 and adding 2 minutes of Burst alongside the Grit effect.
Cooked Thistle restores 20 health and 10 hunger. The Extra Sweet variant adds 1 minute of Burst. Cooked Mushrooms (Herbal) requires pairing mushrooms with Gentian Infusion, yielding 10 health and 30 hunger.
Infusions and drinks
Infusions form the foundation of advanced cooking. Nettle Infusion combines nettle with water to grant 20 thirst and 1 minute of Focus. Juniper Infusion pairs juniper with water for 20 thirst and 1 minute of Grit. Gentian Infusion uses gentian and water to restore 20 health and 20 thirst.
Raspberry Juice blends raspberries with water, providing 20 hunger and 20 thirst. Adding another raspberry creates Raspberry Juice (Extra Sweet), maintaining the same hunger and thirst but adding 1 minute of Burst.
Chocolate Drink combines chocolate with water for 10 health, 20 hunger, 20 thirst, and 1 minute of Focus. Mixing the finished drink with caramel, honey dipper, or raspberries creates Chocolate Drink (Extra Sweet), boosting hunger to 30 and adding 1 minute of Burst alongside Focus. Combining the drink with another chocolate bar produces Chocolate Drink (Intense), doubling health to 20 and extending Focus to 3 minutes.
Sweet Infusion takes any herbal infusion and adds a sweet ingredient—caramel, chocolate, honey dipper, or raspberries. The result grants 30 health, 20 thirst, and 1 minute of Burst. Strong Infusion pairs any infusion with juniper, nettle, dandelion, or thistle, delivering 20 thirst, 30 health, and 3 minutes of Grip. Combining Gentian Infusion with dandelion creates Strong Infusion (Intense), increasing health to 30 and extending Grip to 4 minutes.
Ultimate Infusion requires a Strong Infusion mixed with juniper, nettle, dandelion, or thistle. This powerful drink grants 20 thirst, 50 health, and 5 minutes each of Focus, Grip, and Grit. Creating it from Strong Infusion (Intense) produces Ultimate Infusion (Intense), maintaining the same duration but boosting health to 50.
Secret recipes
Nine hidden recipes scattered across the mountain unlock when you find their written instructions in abandoned camps and shelters. Super Honey can be discovered in the Beekeeper's Cave at the Escarpment, tucked at the back of a crevice. Mountain Stew appears at the uppermost camp above the shrine in the Split Rock. Tourist-trap Noodles sits on steps near the cable car in the Shortcut. Cave-style Trout is found in the cave behind the waterfall near a Bivouac in the Waterfall region.
Porridge requires oats paired with goat milk made extra sweet by adding sugar. It restores 50 hunger, 20 thirst, and grants 2 minutes of Focus. Pasture Tomatoes combine a tomato with creamy tea (tea bag brewed with goat milk), yielding 10 health and 40 hunger. Mountain Rice pairs uncooked rice with Strong Infusion, providing 15 health, 20 hunger, 20 thirst, and 2 minutes of Grip.
Super Gentian Honey blends Gentian Infusion with honey dipper, restoring 10 health and 40 hunger while granting 4 minutes of Burst. Maple Fudge requires maple syrup mixed with extra sweet water (water sweetened with honey dipper, sugar, or caramel). Hunter's Mushrooms has not been fully documented, but the recipe exists somewhere in the Palace of Wind above the Crystal-cutter's area.
Ingredient sourcing
Foraged plants grow in grassy areas throughout early regions. Dandelion, Gentian, Juniper, Nettle, and Thistle cluster in Tenzen and the Escarpment. Mushrooms appear in caves across the mountain—check the Beekeeper's Cave, caves near the Arch, Split Rock, Shortcut, Vault, Ancient, Palace of Wind, and Peril. Raspberries grow on paths and near the Shepherdess's House in the Vault.
Water is everywhere. Rivers and natural springs provide unlimited refills. Streams inside caves and small pools near Bivouacs also work. You can even expand small water sources by breaking them open. Eggs nest in bird habitats and on ledges. Fish only appear in pools near waterfalls. Honey Dipper is found in a hive in Tenzen and throughout the Beekeeper's Cave.
Processed ingredients like powdered milk, oats, rice, maple syrup, and tea bags sit in pots and backpacks scattered across camps and shelters. Goat Milk appears at the Vault camp and the Shepherdess's House. Lentils and Ham waits in a pot near the Waterfall. Sugar and other sweeteners hide in various locations, including the Needle summit and near Bivouacs in the Palace of Wind and Secret regions.
Cooking transforms Cairn's survival mechanics from a resource drain into a strategic advantage. Prioritize infusions and complex dishes during difficult climbs, and always cook rather than eat raw ingredients whenever you camp. The small time investment pays dividends in stamina recovery, climbing ability, and damage resistance.
