Description by Michael Hyde
The cook didn't serve individual meals, but instead supervised the steeping of (to get the salt out) and boiling of (to get the taste out) the hundreds of pounds of salted pork or beef that would be served at each meal. The cook also served out dried peas, onions, hard tack and other basic ingredients to the crew, along with grog rations. The shares would then be served out to each mess or watch, who would then make their own meals from the staples served by the cook.
Our own mass of humanity, Simon Kettlebottom, is the cook of the Black Dawn.