Once players repay Zess T. for squishing her contact lens in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, they'll be able to ask her to whip up several different recipes for them in her kitchen. These culinary creations can have effects ranging from incredible HP and FP restoration to explosive weapons to use against enemies.

It costs no coins to employ the services of Zess T. and her kitchen; Mario just needs to have the ingredients he wishes to use on hand. And although a few recipes only call for one, players will need to solve Zess T.'s trouble from the Trouble Center if they wish to create all the recipes the game has to offer.

Related

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - Happy Lucky Lottery Guide

You can try your luck at the Happy Lucky Lottery in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for some useful battle items.

Where to find the Cookbook for Zess T. in TTYD

After making their way to Twilight Town and completing Chapter 4, players can visit the Trouble Center in eastern Rogueport to find a listing from Zess T. She is seeking a legendary cookbook written by the famous chef, Maitre Delish. Upon visiting her in her kitchen, players learn that a copy of the book should be found somewhere within Creepy Steeple, but without much more information.

Players should return to Creepy Steeple and either enter through the front door or otherwise make their way to the front of the main hall. Although releasing the boos within the steeple isn't required to get the cookbook, it can be found in the same room as the Boo that will quiz Mario for item rewards. Just to the right of the first pillar from the entrance, players should be able to spot a small gap in the far wall.

By turning into a tube, Mario can slip inside where he can find the cookbook in a chest to the right, as well as a Shine Sprite.

When Mario returns to Zess T. with the cookbook, she will be overjoyed. Using her new ability to use recipes with two ingredients, she will demonstrate and reward Mario with a Honey Mushroom. From this point on, players can bring Zess T. any two ingredients and have her attempt to create a dish.

How to get all the Recipes in TTYD

There are 58 total entries that the game will record in the Journal's Recipe tab, and by creating or finding all of them, players will be rewarded with a trophy for their hard work. Any other kitchen creations by Zess T. not pictured in the gallery above are not necessary for completion (such as combining a Point Swap with any Mushroom to get its Syrup counterpart). In order to have a recipe recorded in the journal, players need to have held the dish in their inventory at some point during the game. Whether they had Zess T. make the dish herself, received it after a night at an inn or got it as a reward for helping solve a problem, as long as Mario has held it, it will count.

When Mario has recorded all 58 recipes (including the Mistake dish made with two incompatible ingredients), he will receive an email congratulating him and a Cooking Trophy to commemorate his efforts. The trophy is just one of three needed to receive the endgame's shiniest reward.

Complete Recipe Guide for TTYD

​​​​​​

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2024)

Franchise

Paper Mario

Platform(s)

Switch

Released

May 23, 2024

Developer(s)

Nintendo

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Genre(s)

RPG

ESRB

E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes

How Long To Beat

30 Hours

Expand