So you want to cook? Well, then, you also want to fish! Here's Tootsa's surefire way to level both cooking and fishing with a minimum of running around looking for materials.

Step 1: Learn to fish from any local Fisherman. Also, buy yourself a Fishing pole, and the recipes for Brilliant Smallfish and Longjaw snapper.

Step 2: Learn to cook. Memorize the Brilliant Smallfish Recipie you got from the fisher supplier.

Step 3: Go to a newbiegarden (Example: Northshire Abby) NOTE: Capital cities do NOT count!!

Step 4: Fish till you get 50 Raw Brilliant Smallfish.

Step 5: Return to Town. Cook the Smallfish.

Step 6: Learn the recipie for Longjaw Snapper

Step 7: Fish in your favorite Capital City till you get 30 Longjaw Snapper

Step 8: Cook the snappers, stop by a fisherman and pick up the first recipie for Sagefish and Bristle whisker catfish; learn the next level of fishing.

Step 9: Go to a lowlevel area such as Westfall or Loch Modan, fish till you get 20 Sagefish. There are schools of these- run around looking for them if you want a 100% chance of getting the fish you need.

Step 10: Cook the sagefish.

The rest of the process is the same. Move to a slightly higher level zone. Fish till you get enough of your current fish to level cooking till the next recipie is learnable. Cook them. Learn next recipie. Fish. Cook.

Here are all the cookable fish, and the level of cooking at which you can learn to make them (Remember, fishermen sell these recipies, NOT cooks!):

Brilliant Smallfish: Cooking 1

Slitherskin Mackrel: Cooking 1

Longjaw Mud Snapper: Cooking 50

Rainbow Fin Albacore: Cooking 50

Smoked Sagefish: Cooking 80

Savory Deviate Delight: Cooking 85

Bristle Whisker Catfish: Cooking 100

Rockscale Cod: Cooking 175

Mithril Head Trout: Cooking 175

Sagefish Delight: Cooking 175

Cooked Glossy Mightfish: Cooking 225

Spotted Yellowtail: Cooking 225

Filet of Redgill: Cooking 225

Grilled Squid: Cooking 240 (NOTE: Winter Squid can ONLY be caught during the winter months, replaces Summer Bass)

Hot Smoked Bass: Cooking 240 (NOTE: Summer Bass can ONLY be caught during the Spring and Summer months, replaces Winter Squid)

Nightfin Soup: Cooking 250 (NOTE: Higher success rate if you fish when the Server time is "night", meaning a moon icon on the minimap)

Poached Sunscale Salmon: Cooking 250

Lobster Stew: Cooking 275

Mightfish Steak: Cooking 275

Baked Salmon: Cooking 275

So, to level cooking to 300 as quickly as possible, you would need to fish up (or buy)

50 Brilliant Smallfish/Slitherskin Mackrel

30 Longjaw Mud Snapper/Rainbowfin Albacore

20 Sagefish

75 Bristle Whisker Catfish

50 Rockscale Cod/Mithril head trout/Greater Sagefish

15 Glossy Mightfish/Spotted Yellowtail/Redgill

10 Winter Squid OR 10 Summer Bass

25 Nightfin/Sunscale Salmon

and

25 Darkclaw Lobster/Large Raw Mightfish/Whitescale salmon

Fishing may not be the most interesting way to spend time, but running around killing for mats takes (in my experience) the same amount of time, so I like this method to level two skills at once. Hope it helps you too!