First of all, I don't know if this idea has been discussed before, if so, forgive me for not searching around.
Recently I've been thinking about Herbalism, I liked it, well planned system. But then I started to wonder, why not cooking?
Isn't possible to create a kind of...food that works like a potion? This would add more elements to the game, different animals could provide different kinds of meat, new plants, seasons, flavors. The crops on farmlands could be harvested for tomatos, cucumbers, turnips, corn, etc.
Let's see some random examples, all are simple suggestions, they can be implemented with more complexity
The meat of a Dragon, when well cooked, could give bonuses to Cons and/or Str, perhaps even + 2 natural AC;
A simple meat seasoned with garlic could give temporary +2 natural AC against vampires -4 Cha; Currently you just eat bare garlic to have any protection right? (Nobody likes to eat bare garlic, seasoning something with garlic makes more sense to me)
As a salad of some certains vegetals mixed with Belladona could give the same bonus against shapeshangers;
Following a complex recipe, one could cook something to heal diseases. Perhaps cook something to make you immune against diseases for some hours. Like a coctel of medicinal herbs.
And so on.......
Therefore all bonuses would only take place one hour after the meal would be eaten, plus certain foods could take more time to be digested, like, again, dragon meat. And it'd last 2~8 hours. (Suggestion)
Taking in count that the advantage that potions hold above food, potions have instantaneous effect, food must be digested first.
The only cooking that I've seem around takes place when one use meat on a campfire, then one get rations.
I think a new system like cooking could give to us a different option besides Herbalism, not that herbalism isn't enough, but brewing potions just gets old, we could have cookers, and herbalists. Would work more or less likewise. Of course, the effects of a potion still would be stronger than the majority(not all) of cooked meals. Like the flesh of a baddass monster could prove to be really useful.
I know the server and the community has other priorities in hand, but isn't this worth of care analizys?