pirates
For other uses, see Cook (disambiguation)
The cook that served aboard the Edinburgh Trader.

The cook that served aboard the Edinburgh Trader.

"Aye, the Cook. Perfect."
―Blackbeard shortly before punishing the Cook[src]

A cook is a crew member working aboard a ship. The cook's principal role is to ensure the preparation and serving of food and meals that are both delicious and nutritious.

History

The runaway slave Gombo was a cook aboard the Black Pearl before he became known as Gentleman Jocard.

The runaway slave Gombo was a cook aboard the Black Pearl before he became known as Gentleman Jocard.

"My cook made good use of your supplies, I see."
"I know he did a better job than mine could have."
―Esmeralda and Jack Sparrow[src]

The galley where food was cooked was just in front of the foremast. During rough weather the cook douses the stove to reduce the risk of a fire. The crew has to make do with cold food until the sea is calmer.[1]

According to one particular legend, the infamous pirate Captain Left-Foot Louis had two left feet because his cook, the equally notorious pirate Silver, attached and stitched to Louis' stump the left foot cut from their slain boatswain. However, Arabella Smith did not believe that story, claiming that Louis' deformity was just an accident of birth.[2]

Three days after the EITC brig the Fair Wind sailed from Jamaica for England, the ship's cook served the First Mate Jack Sparrow fresh fruit with his porridge.[3] After the taking of the ship by the pirate frigate the Venganza, Sparrow was invited to a dinner with the pirate captain Esmeralda. As they ate, Esmeralda commented that her cook made good use of the supplies taken from the EITC merchant vessel, to which Sparrow replied that her cook did a better job with the food than his could have.[4]

A potbellied Englishman Phineas Taylor served as the cook aboard the EITC merchant ship, Wicked Wench.[5] He quit the job when the ship's captain, Jack Sparrow, announced the ship would carry slaves on its next voyage. First Mate Robert Greene eventually found a new cook, but he was worse than the old one. After the capture of the Wicked Wench by the EITC fleet, Jack Sparrow was locked in the brig of the EITC patrol vessel the Sentinel. The marine who locked Sparrow in the cell, Corporal Andrews, told him that the Sentinel had a good cook and he would bring him some chow after the crew's mess.[6]

At the beginning of the quest for the Shadow Gold, the runaway slave Gombo joined Captain Jack Sparrow's crew of the Black Pearl as a cook, having escaped his former master, Gentleman Jocard.[7] Gombo left Sparrow's crew some time later, taking the name "Gentleman Jocard" when the Pearl encountered the Ranger, a ship stolen from his former master by other runaway slaves who chose him as their leader and captain.[8] A few months later, when Sparrow's crew encountered Jocard's crew in Libertalia, the Ranger had its own cook, who was trained by Gombo himself.[9]

The pirate Ragetti served as the cook of Captain Hector Barbossa's crew of the Black Pearl at least one time, notably when the crew discovered a castaway and brought him onboard. Barbossa ordered Ragetti to make a stew for their guest, but since he was under the curse of the Treasure of Cortés like the rest of the crew and thus unable to taste anything, the food Ragetti prepared for the castaway was dreadful.[10] A huge feast with meat and bread was later laid out on the table of the captain's cabin for Elizabeth Swann, the "guest" of Barbossa's crew whom they believed to be the child of William "Bootstrap Bill" Turner following the Black Pearl's the attack on Port Royal, though it is unknown who cooked the food.[11]

Notable cooks

Behind the scenes

"All right! Only I knows the route home."
"That would make you -- the navigator."
"Captain."
"Cook?"
―Barbossa and Jack Sparrow[src] (original screenplay)

On June 1, 2006, Cooks were first identified in the Rob Kidd book Jack Sparrow: The Siren Song,[2] and first appeared in Irene Trimble's junior novelization for the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.[13][14]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's first screenplay draft of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, after Captain Barbossa leads the search for Captain Jack Sparrow in Davy Jones' Locker, the two captains argues about Barbossa's rank aboard the Black Pearl on the return voyage, with Sparrow offering Barbossa the position of a cook.[18] The scene was omitted by the final version of the film.[19]

In Tim Powers' 1987 novel On Stranger Tides, which was used as the basis for the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the main character is John Chandagnac, a puppeteer who was forced to become a cook aboard a pirate ship until fully embracing the pirate life as Jack Shandy, later rising to the position of quartermaster and captain of his own ship.[20]

Appearances

Sources

External links

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, pp. 30-31 "Life Below Deck"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jack Sparrow: The Siren Song, pp. 2-7
  3. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter One: Fair Winds and Black Ships
  4. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Three: Doña Pirata
  5. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Six: The Wicked Wench
  6. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Eighteen: Exodus
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean, p. 124
  8. ↑ Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean, pp. 225-227
  9. ↑ Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters, p. 184
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Six Sea Shanties: Strangers Bearing Gifts
  11. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  12. ↑ Jack Sparrow: The Tale of Billy Turner and Other Stories, p. 38
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization)
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  15. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide
  16. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization)
  17. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  18. ↑ PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, original draft
  19. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  20. ↑ On Stranger Tides