Profession vs Craft & Knowledge (Culinary)

[Cidius]

I am making a character that cross classes into a custom made cook based class.

as Profession (Cook), one is able to work as a cook correct making meals or helping with the preparation of said meals, but with Craft (Cooking) this stands under crafting a particular meal as in say a customer wants a particular meal not on the menu correct? To the same effect if i were making a meal for my part it would be a craft check no profession check even if i were making them pay correct?

Also under this idea if my character was creating a ale of sorts it would fall under craft correct? not profession as he isn't working as a brew-master in a establishment.

Lastly under Knowledge (Culinary), would alcohol related subjects fall under this catagory? or is there a broader word to cover all bases?

[Troacctid]

While a Craft skill represents ability in creating or making an item, a Profession skill represents an aptitude in a vocation requiring a broader range of less specific knowledge.

I'd say Craft (Cooking) represents your ability to actually cook the food, where Profession (Cook) handles all the other stuff involved in running a kitchen. If you had a lot of ranks in the profession but not the craft, your restaurant would make a lot of money, but the actual food would only be so-so, because you'd still have to use your craft ranks to do the actual cooking. If you had a lot of ranks in the craft but not the profession, you'd be making masterwork food, but it wouldn't necessarily be something you do for a living.

Most likely a professional chef would have at least 5 ranks in each to get a synergy bonus.

[firebrandtoluc]

Designing and creating things is craft. Selling your services is profession. Knowledge (culinary) would let you know which type of wine goes with which type of foods and why, where those drinks come from, what's in them, and how they are made. With enough detail to probably get a synergy bonus to crafting.

[Extra Anchovies]

I would suggest dividing it like so:

You'd roll Knowledge (culinary) to determine whether the drinks and dishes in a meal are paired properly (red wine with fish? You monster!), and would also make checks to determine how a dish should be served or eaten (so as to not embarrass yourself by saying that the gazpacho's gone cold). If you already were familiar with a dish (e.g. you'd eaten it often or prepared it yourself from time to time), you could use Knowledge (culinary) to determine if there are any unusual ingredients (abnormal spices, exotic meats, poisons, etc, with DC varying based on what changes you're looking for), and possibly make similar rolls with a -5 or -10 penalty for dishes you're not as familiar with. A food critic would focus primarily on this skill.

Craft (cooking) for creating and preparing new or unusual dishes, as well as for determining the quality of a particular meal. Could be used to influence NPC attitudes if you they allow you to prepare them a meal. Throwing scones at a beholder will never change its attitude, but if you can convince it via other skills to let you show it how much tastier elf-flesh is when spiced properly, a good Craft (cooking) check could make it more willing to let you exit its lair alive. The head chef at a restaurant would focus primarily on this skill.

Profession (cook) would be used for determining the general quality of your cooking, along with your ability to create an effective presentation for a meal, and also for the ability to accurately follow premade recipes. A lower-ranking cook in a restaurant would focus on this skill, as would a catering service.

Synergy bonuses:
5+ ranks in Knowledge (nature) gives +2 to Knowledge (culinary) checks for determining ingredients
5+ ranks in Craft (cooking) gives +2 to Knowledge (culinary) checks for identifying a meal
5+ ranks in Profession (cook) gives +2 to Craft (cooking) for determining quality of a meal (but not for making new dishes)