Anonymous asked: What's your headcanon on all the Robins' eating habits and cooking skills? I think Jason would be the best cook. And Tim would eat the healthiest.
My headcanon for the cooking abilities of the various Robins is influenced primarily by their background. In my experience, most people who are good cooks are kids that either had a parent that was invested in teaching them when they were younger, or kids that had to fend for themselves. So!
Dick: Dick is a better cook than people give him credit for, but only because Alfred didn’t want the poor boy to leave the nest completely unable to fend for himself. He’s good with simple, filling meals, but with the way he budgets his time, he’d usually rather go for quick meals that don’t require a lot of prep. He’s terrible with multitasking in the kitchen, so if he’s trying to make a fancy meal on his own, you should brace yourself for at least one completely ruined side dish. He has yet to make spaghetti with french bread without torching the bread. Dick is the most fun to watch cook, though—-it’s dinner and a show, because he has no problem with climbing on counters to get stuff out of the higher cupboards. Alfred just pours himself a glass of wine and looks away. Dick really likes to cook for others, though he rarely has the time or opportunity to do so.
Jason: I agree with you that Jason is the best cook out of the Robins. He had to learn to provide for himself and his mother from a young age, so he’s the master of making do with limited—-and often poor—-ingredients. I see him as being a super food-driven kid, since he knew what it was like to go hungry. Because of that, he got into the habit of never going to bed on an empty stomach under Bruce’s care, and spending a lot of time in the kitchen with Alfred. The different types of dishes fascinated him, and he was amazed by the sheer spread that well-to-do people had with every meal. Alfred was tickled by his interest, so he taught Jason the basics. Given his level of activity and size in adulthood, Jason has to eat often in order to keep from losing weight—-needing about five to eight thousand calories per day means a lot of grazing and liquid calories (i.e., fruit smoothies with protein powder). He has a very no-frills cooking style, but once in a (very long) while, he’ll splurge and make a nice meal for himself. He’ll never not see chilidogs as a staple of a healthy diet.
Tim: Tim is not a very good cook. He can follow recipes, but since he sort of sees eating itself as a waste of time, he rarely makes anything fancy. When he’s wrapped up in a project, he forgets to feed himself—-and if he does remember, he usually only surfaces from his work for long enough to choke down a protein bar or something of the like. He sticks to a balanced diet with appropriate serving sizes most of the time, but he’ll always have a weakness for pizza. The stuff that he cooks for himself isn’t bad, but it isn’t very good, either.
Steph: Like Jason, Steph had to learn to cook for herself early on in her childhood. One of the reasons that she loves waffles so much is that it was the first “fancy” meal that she learned how to cook for herself, by herself—-waffles have always been equated with victory in her mind. She is big on the comfort carbs—-mashed potatoes and waffles—-and (unfortunately) has figured out how to make just about anything in the microwave. She didn’t have the money to have a very balanced diet, growing up, but she tried to eat healthier when she started running around rooftops at night. Tim gave her the diet that Bruce had outlined for him during his Robin training, but Steph was too proud to admit that she couldn’t afford half of the fresh, raw ingredients on the list. Organic skinless free range chicken breast? Hahahaha no. Hamburger Helper is kind of the same, right?
Damian: Damian is a snob about what he eats, but he’s completely useless in the kitchen. He’s never had to cook for himself, and I personally believe that he inherited Bruce’s completely ridiculous inability to so much as boil water. I’ve always found Bruce’s terrible cooking to be delightful, and well, like father, like son. Damian can scramble eggs, and that’s literally it. But he scrambles eggs better than anyone else. Especially you, Drake. Damian’s choosiness about food will probably go out the window as soon as his puberty hits.
