THE COOK

By: Samantha Howard

THE COOK’S PORTRAIT..

Starts out good, but gets disgusting. He has

fairly decent dishes he makes, and cooking

techniques: he can cook a chicken in spices,

stew, or pie. He knows his London Ale (I’m

assuming this is what he drinks all the time..)

The cook does not run a sanitary kitchen. He

has a gaping, puss-oozing wound on his leg,

which makes them not want to eat anything he

cooks, no matter how good it may be. There are

also a lot of flies loose in his kitchen, and

needless to say, he has given many pilgrims

food poisoning. The Host says the Cook sells

meat-pies regularly.

THE COOK’S TALE

The story starts telling of an apprentice named

Perkyn who is fond of drinking and dancing. Perkyn

is released by his master and moves in with a friend

who also loves to drink, whose wife is a prostitute.

This tale was supposedly “deliberately

unfinished” by Chaucer. Scholars say he meant to

“rewrite” the tale for the Cook.

ALL IN ALL..

The Cook is an absolutely revolting person to

be around, yet somehow seems to prepare a

decent meal.