The Culinary Librarian Aspiration by Keksdrache Updated

Another aspiration I was asked to update. This was last updated in 2020 and needed some updates to match the way the game does things now and to add some newer options. You can see the original here.

I made some changes. A decent amount of changes. Some were to make the mod work at all. Some were to remove overrides--there were many overrides, and now there are none. Some were because once I removed the overrides, parts no longer worked as I assume they did, and I don't understand how they did work then, because they shouldn't have. Keksdrache did a good job getting it to work, but it makes no sense to me that it did. As a side effect, I fixed an issue that existed in the aspiration from the start--it now works even if you already know the recipes.

From the original description (along with the picture at the top):

The Culinary Librarian Lifetime Wish in Sims 3 has always been one of my favourite, despite not beeing updated for all the expansions added recipes. I wanted something similar for the Sims 4 so I created this custom aspiration. To make it a bit more interesting I made objectives that require the player to cook certain dishes with either high skill requirements in different skills or special ingredients. And of course you will have to eat tons of food to learn all the recipes from San Myshuno, Brindleton Bay, the experimental dishes and Selvadora!

Description:

There is a vast array of recipes to prepare for hungry guests and famished family members. By mastering the cooking skills and perusing the food stalls for recipes, your Sim can become a walking library of culinary expertise. The aspiration can be found in the Food category and therefor gives the Essence of Flavor Bonus Trait.

• Level 1: Grandma's Cookbook
  • Prepare a Honey Cake or a Signature Cake
  • Decorate Pastries 3 Times
  • Cook Emotional Meals 3 Times
  • Learn and cook all Recipes from Food Stalls in Brindleton Bay
• Level 2: Culture Shock
  • Survive Pufferfish Nigiri
  • Learn and make the two bar drinks from Henford-on-Bagley
  • Learn and cook all Food and Bar Drink Recipes from Food Stalls in Selvadorada
  • Learn and cook the Indian, Moroccan, Vietnamese, and Filipino Recipes in San Myshuno
• Level 3: Dine Out
  • Learn and cook the Japanese, Mexican, and Chinese Recipes in San Myshuno
  • Learn and cook all Experimental Food Recipes
  • Learn and make all of the Food and Bar Drink Recipes from Batuu
  • Cook Popcorn Crickets or Bombadier Beetle Stir Fry, or make Beetle Juice at a bar
• Level 4: The Spice of Life
  • Prepare Plasma Fruit Salad or Superfood Salad
  • Bake Alien Fruit Tarts or Cowplant Essence Meringue Pie
  • Cook Ambrosia
  • Eat Boiling Death Frog Hot Pot

Important info:

• See updates below for some info that was previously here.
• Have to cook multi-serving meals when they're available , not single serving. 4 or 8 is fine, but not one.
• The reason that it's now learn and cook is that it was originally done using a statistic, and that statistic would not work when done as an injection. It may have worked if I left it as an override and just updated that, but that's not a thing I can do. It would need constant updating and conflict with too many things. Learning is no longer tracked, just that you cook the unlocked recipe.

City Living learnable food stall recipes:

• Indian Food Stall (Curry & naan picture): Bhel Puri, Curry, Samosa
• Moroccan Food Stall (Tajine picture): Brochette, Merguez, Tajine
• Vietnamese Food Stall (Pho picture): Banh Mi, Gui Cuon, Pho
• Filipino Food Stall (Rolled food picture): Ensaymada, Lumpia, Pork Adobo, Siopao
• Chinese Food Stall (Take-out container picture): Egg Rolls, Mapo Tofu with Pork, Sweet and Sour Eggplant, Sweet and Sour Pork
• Japanese Food Stall (Ramen noodles picture): Dango, Nigiri, Pufferfish Nigiri, Ramen
• Mexican Food Stall (Desert picture): Bean & Cheese Burrito, Chicken Burrito, Empanadas, Spinach-Wrapped Veggie Burrito, Taquitos, Tomato-Wrapped Veggie Burrito

Compatibility:

• Probably compatible with mods that override food.
• Maybe compatible with mods that add extra serving sizes.
• Probably not compatible with mods that override food stall function, unless they leave the original foods intact.
• All of that's a guess. I could be wrong. You're welcome to test in your game and let me know so I can make a note of it.

Updates:

• Jan 31, 2025:
  • Have to cook the food instead of just learning them. This fixes some issues with updating, and also allows sims who already know the recipes to complete the aspiration.
  • Have to cook multi-serving meals when they're available , not single serving. 4 or 8 is fine, but not one.
  • Objective got changed around during the updates as a result of the changes.
  • String tables got altered beyond all recognition.
  • Added wants.
  • Pack requirements reduced due to EA starting to follow its own rules since the mod was last updated by Keksdrache.
• Feb 7, 2025:
  • By request, added Batuu recipes, Cottage Living recipes, and Eco Lifestyle recipes.
  • By request, added Life and Death recipe. You have to eat the Boiling Death Frog Hot Pot, not cook it, because it's not a distinct recipe the way others are. What you get is based on the ingredients used, and the ingredient test I tried didn't work.
  • Re-organized objectives to accommodate the new recipes, because there is apparently a limit of four levels and four objectives per level.
  • New strings are added. Some strings are removed.
  • City Living is now required. Sorry.
• Aug 27, 2025:
  • Switched making both Cottage Living recipes to making one, because you can only learn one through normal gameplay. I have no idea how I did it before 🤷‍♀️but that's fixed now.
  • Updated the PlumbBuddy manifest for newer features: there's a description, and recommended packs are listed, included what you gain from having those packs.
• May 12, 2026: Patch update

Requires Dine Out, Vampires, Spa Day, and City Living.

Strongly encouraged: Cats and Dogs, Get to Work, Jungle Adventure, Seasons, Journey to Batuu, Eco Lifestyle, Cottage Living, and Life and Death, to get the full experience. Any or all of them will add things.