What to know
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You cook at bivouacs using the hanging burner, and cooking generally gives stronger survival value than eating raw ingredients.
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Basic cooked thistle is made with clear water plus thistle, and it provides warmth plus a health boost.
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Extra Sweet cooked thistle is made by cooking thistle with a sweet drink like Yellow Yak, adding a Burst buff.
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Once an ingredient becomes a cooked dish, you cannot use that cooked dish as an ingredient again, so plan your liquid base first.
In Cairn, after you start juggling hunger, warmth, and performance buffs on harder sections, thistle becomes a handy staple: it is easy to make, light on planning, and flexible depending on what liquid you cook it in.
| What you are making | What you combine | What you get (high level) |
|---|---|---|
| Cooked thistle | Clear water + thistle | Warmth + health, small hunger value |
| Extra Sweet cooked thistle | Yellow Yak + thistle (or another sweet liquid base) | Warmth + health + Burst buff |
What cooked thistle does and when to use it
Cooked thistle (with water) is a hot food that boosts warmth and restores health while also easing hunger a bit, which makes it a solid choice when you are getting chipped down by mistakes or environmental damage.
The Extra Sweet version is for pushes where you want movement speed benefits during climbing and traversal, since adding a sweet liquid base can grant Burst.
How to cook thistle at a bivouac
Step 1: Reach a bivouac with a hanging burner
You can cook foods and drinks at bivouacs using the hanging burner setup.
Step 2: Make sure you have thistle and a liquid
For the basic version, you need thistle and clear water. For the sweet variant, bring Yellow Yak (or another sweet drink base you have) instead of plain water.
Step 3: Decide your liquid base before you cook
Because cooked dishes are no longer usable as ingredients, you want to cook thistle directly in the liquid that matches the result you want.
Step 4: Combine the liquid and thistle on the burner
Cook clear water + thistle to produce cooked thistle. Cook Yellow Yak + thistle to produce Extra Sweet cooked thistle.
Step 5: Eat it when it best matches your situation
Use plain cooked thistle when you mainly need survivability and warmth, and use Extra Sweet cooked thistle right before a demanding section where extra speed helps you keep tempo.
Common mistakes that waste ingredients
Mixing incompatible ingredients can produce a failed result like a mysterious or strange mixture in some cases, so keep thistle cooking straightforward if you are low on supplies.
Also avoid cooking thistle first and then trying to add buffs afterward, because cooking finalizes it.
Rewards and effects
| Dish | Ingredients | Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Cooked thistle | Water + thistle | Hunger +10, Warmth +40, Health +20 |
| Extra Sweet cooked thistle | Yellow Yak + thistle | Hunger +20, Warmth +40, Health +20, Burst +1:00 |
If you want a low-effort loop, keep one slot for clear water and one for a sweet drink when you can afford it, then cook thistle based on whether you are about to play safe or push hard. This keeps your decision simple: plain for recovery, sweet for momentum.
Cooking thistle in Cairn is mainly about choosing the right liquid base at the bivouac: clear water for dependable warmth and health, or a sweet drink like Yellow Yak when you also want Burst.
