Cooking is a gameplay feature in Odin Sphere and Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir.
Description[]
Pookas have two restaurants in their village where you can take ingredients and money to purchase food. they are called Rabbit Café and the Pooka Kitchen. Food cooked by the Pookas is imbued by their magic and so is better than the usual recovery items. In other words, it also gives you EXP and increases your Max HPs in addition of recovering your HPs.
In Liefthrasir, the two restaurants instead give food based on the three coins of Valentine in particular the Ariel Coin, Valentian Gold and the Commemorative Coins instead of having the ingredients. This mechanic was changed when they implemented the Maury's Touring Restaurant who would appear by hitting a bell in rest locations. He will cook anything provided you had the recipe, and the ingredients for free. Also for the first 3 times he cooks a meal that will give bonus EXP which is helpful for leveling up along with getting health. Keep in mind though that the Café and Kitchen can have recipes that Maury doesn't but also will not have certain recipes unless they are discovered via Maury.
It shall also be noted that for some of the dishes, they have a slightly stat variation (EXP, Max HP, and HP) depending if they are cooked on the Rabbit Café/Pooka Kitchen or in the Maury's Touring Restaurant.