[#13 Cathexis]

[#127 Dragon's Teeth]

HAIL TO THE CHEF

Soon after Kes begins the airponics bay project and still very early on in the voyage, by [#5 Phage], the crew are already getting fed up with emergency rations and the replicator rationing. Aware of this, Neelix converts the captain's private dining room into a galley so that he can prepare meals for the crew with real ingredients and utilise his chef's skills. He does not seek the captain's permission for this, but there is no doubt about the wisdom of his decision now that the crew must rely on foodstuffs they can gather on visitable planets and trade. Immediately before Janeway is surprised to discover the new galley, she and Chakotay have the following conversation:

Janeway: "Are you sure you won't join me for breakfast? I was thinking of having eggs Benedict with asparagus, strawberries and cream. I said I was thinking about it. I'm actually having ration pack number five, stewed tomatoes with dehydrated eggs."
Chakotay: "Mmm, sounds delicious, but I've already had my vacuum packed oatmeal this morning."

It is no mean feat to operate a galley and messhall successfully let alone in addition set up the operation from scratch as Neelix does, as I can attest from my own short and limited experience of once working as an office canteen assistant. Early in [#5 Phage], Neelix tells Janeway, at the same time letting us in on his quality of resourcefulness (making something out of nothing): "It wasn't easy. I had to completely re-route the Messhall conduits and scrounge a lot of supplies from all over the ship. That's my specialty - making something out of nothing. I know it doesn't look like much now, but in a few of days you'll swear there'd been a galley here for years." At the end of [#5 Phage], Janeway gives Neelix permission to retain the galley and continue acting as chef and feeding the crew. Neelix also assumes responsibility for monitoring the ship's food stores and warning the captain when the supply of foodstuffs is running low. Indeed, he eventually becomes effectively the ship's quartermaster, as indicated by this exchange between Kim and Neelix in 2375, in [#99 Once Upon A Time], note that non-food supplies, and important ones, are being discussed:

Kim: "Sickbay's running short on emergency medkits. We're going to need a few more if we send another away team after the shuttle."
Neelix: "I've got half a dozen stockpiled in Cargobay 2."

Chakotay pulls out a bottle of alcohol: "Antarian cider. Not the replicated stuff. There are only a couple of bottles left, and I don't want Mr Neelix getting his hands on them."
Icheb: "Then you should store them with the salvaged Borg components. Neelix never inventories those containers. He says they give him the creeps."

This kind of quartermaster's job is not normally one that a chef carries out, at least not in as direct a fashion as Neelix has to, which means that his workload and responsibility are worthy of recognition. The importance of his job is seen in [#68 and #69 Scorpion], when ship and crew are about to face great peril:

Chakotay: "Neelix, I doubt we can resupply the ship any time soon."
Neelix: "No problem, sir. I'm working on a plan to extend our food and replicator rations."
Janeway: "We have to act fast. The Borg have captured one of our probes - they know we're out here."

In providing this much-needed service for the Voyager crew, Neelix enlists the Captain's aid in making the experiment work. The crew are to be encouraged to eat the naturally-produced meals, implicitly this means they are to be discouraged from using their dwindling replicator rations. In [#6 The Cloud], Janeway refrains from upbraiding Neelix for criticising her, and in her response she acknowledges that he is correct, albeit that he is ordering the Captain around:

Janeway is irritated when she finds the coffee has run out.

She goes into the Galley which is deserted. "Neelix?"

She looks round curiously.

She blows away the steam from a simmering cauldron and is about to pick out one of the cooking items when....

....Neelix enters the Galley from the corridor and sets down the basket of supplies he has been fetching. Neelix: "Captain!" Janeway starts. She straightens up and turns to face him.

	Neelix: "May I say you look beautiful this morning! Is that a new colour lipstick?" Janeway: "Oh! No, it's the same colour I always wear." Neelix: "Well, perhaps it's just the way the glow of the food heater lamps hit you but you look wonderful! Not to suggest that you don't always look wonderful."
	Janeway feels disconcerted by all this flattery. "Neelix. Do we have any coffee left?"
	Neelix: "No, but we have something even better." As he goes to the store cupboard she tells him: "I don't want something even better. I want coffee!"
	Neelix: "It's made from a proteinacious seed I discovered on-" Janeway: "Never mind. I'll use one of my replicator rations for coffee." She starts to leave. Neelix calls after her: "That would not be appropriate, Captain." Janeway stops at this. As Captain, no one should dream of speaking to in this way. She calms herself and summons patience.
	By the time she turns round and speaks to Neelix she has mostly suppressed the urge to rebuke him. "I beg your pardon?" Neelix: "You need to set an example for the crew." Janeway: "Well, thank you for reminding me."
	Her sarcasm is lost on him. "You're welcome. I mean, after all, if you want the crew to begin to accept natural food alternatives instead of further depleting our energy reserves you need to encourage them by your own choices, don't you?" Janeway: "Fine. Give me your 'even better than coffee' substitute."
	Neelix: "And how about some Takar loggerhead eggs with that this morning?" Janeway is finding it hard to maintain her patience. She holds up her hand to stop him. "Just coffee." She holds her cup ready.
	Neelix starts to pour: "It's a tiny bit richer blend than you're used to but you'll learn to love it." But it comes out of the pot not as the steady flow of liquid but as drops of gloop! Janeway looks horrified.
	When the com. signal sounds and Chakotay says: "Bridge to Janeway-" she sees an avenue for escape and replies at once, "On my way! Janeway out." Neelix pours Janeway his 'even better than coffee' substitute. (pop-up window) [#6 The Cloud]
	Hastily she hands the cup to Neelix and hurries off, pausing only to say, "Tomorrow maybe." As far as she is concerned, that tomorrow will never comes if she has anything to do with it.
	Neelix has the coffee substitute himself - no use wasting it. He manages to swallow it.

As an expert on much of that area of the Delta Quadrant's indigenous flora, Neelix is almost always a leading member of supply-gathering missions. For instance, later in 2371, in [#11 State Of Flux], Neelix is considered to be in charge of the supply-gathering, although Chakotay is in overall command but of the personnel aspects of the away mission. Neelix is able to prevent Lieutenant Joe Carey from gathering poisonous kaylo fruits, and during the same trip he gathers a quantity of the nutritious (if foul-tasting) foodstuff - leola root.

Neelix believes himself to be an excellent chef. This must be true for the most part despite the Voyager crew's reservations, certainly as regards Talaxian cuisine because in [#169 Homestead] he prepares a meal for fellow-Talaxian Dexa (the meal includes taga cake) and she, who can be expected to know good Talaxian cooking when she encounters it, tells him: "You're a good cook." She is not the only one who definitely likes Neelix's food, although it is noticeable that the positive comments often come from aliens not humans. For instance, Kellin, a Ramuran woman, in 2374, in [#90 Unforgettable], says: "As a matter of fact, I was quite fond of Neelix's food." Garon, the captain of a Nygean ship that in 2377, in [#161 The Void], joins Janeway's alliance in the resource-poor area of space known as 'the Void' explains, perhaps lightly, why he joined the alliance: "Captain Janeway is very persuasive and the food was good." Because of the need to conserve power supplies in the Void, the food Garon had was most likely prepared from scratch by Neelix in the challenging circumstance of a food shortage. It is such a challenging time that marks out a chef as being resourceful or not. It is not hard to cook good food with plentiful and varied supplies. In [#5 Phage], Neelix tells Janeway how he managed to create the galley: "I had to completely re-route the Messhall conduits and scrounge a lot of supplies from all over the ship. That's my specialty - making something out of nothing." The last sentence is telling. Neelix's self-assessment that he is a good cook is probably also derived from the reception given him by others who have dined on his fare previous to his joining USS Voyager. It is not known if he developed his culinary skills while his family was alive or whether he sometimes traded them for goods during his trader years or whether his opportunities were simply very limited before he joined Voyager. But he says in [#3 Parallax], in the hearing of the senior officers at a meeting in the Briefing Room: "I can do some wonderful things with vegetables, Captain. My feragoit goulash is known across twelve star systems."

However, the members of the crew seem more often than not to disagree with Neelix's self-assessment of his cooking, even though it is a traditional joke to criticise the chef in an institution, such as the ship's cook. (It was doubtless a deliberate decision made by executive producer Rick Berman and his team that, in contrast to Neelix, the successor Star Trek series, [Enterprise], set in the early 2150s, has a chef on board, whose talent is fully accepted by the crew. Equally intentional, I expect, is that he is known only as Chef, no name given, and he is not one of the main characters because to have two chefs as main characters in consecutive Star Trek series would be unnecessary; writers like variety anyway, and maybe it would not have gone down well with the fans.) Janeway appears to be talking tactfully rather than necessarily speaking the whole truth when she tells Neelix, but if it is a little white lie the pleasure it brings Neelix is clear. The audio clip is included so that you can judge Janeway's tone of voice for yourself:

Janeway: "And your meals are getting to be-" Neelix: "Yes?" Janeway: "-Almost certainly a highlight of every day." Neelix: "Oh, Captain! You always know how to touch one's heart, thank you." [#21 Initiations]

It is not mentioned in the series whether Neelix takes his shuttle Baxial out on occasions other than the official away mission such as the rescue of Paris and Kim from the Akritirian prison in [#45 The Chute] and for his personal mission to defend the Talaxian colonists in [#169 Homestead]. I suggest that if it is an advantage for 24th century starship engines to be 'turned over' regularly, then Neelix could have taken the opportunity to explore, in Baxial, during off-duty hours. Maybe he and Paris did eventually spend time together, though not, as originally suggested, with Alice the secondhand spaceship as it was destroyed (ref. [#125 Alice]), as per Neelix's suggestion: "Why don't we get her and Alice together and go on a double date?" Paris replies: "You pack the picnic basket, I'll bring the deuterium." Although not too much should be read into it, Neelix's role as food-provider is a given, and Paris probably likes his friend's food more than he would want to admit.

What discussion of Neelix as chef would be complete without mentioning.....leola root. Leola root seems to be universally detested by the crew.

Perhaps allowance should be made for the fact that Neelix cannot afford to be too choosy about the ingredients for his meals, even after replicator rationing becomes more relaxed and he can, if wished, replicate certain items. He says, however, in [#37 Deadlock], that he prefers not to use replicated. For the First Contact Day celebration, in [#169 Homestead], when the Doctor assumes that he replicated the snack refreshments Neelix chides him that he made the snacks himself. When crew are too busy to assist officially with any equipment problems, such as the thermal arrays used for cooking or the replicators, Neelix is fortunate that his good friend Samantha Wildman is able to utilise her engineering knowledge and assist instead. Neelix's preference for non-replicated and Samantha Wildman's ability to carry out unofficial repairs are noted in [#37 Deadlock]; incidentally, Samantha's first name is revealed for the first time in this episode.

In the Messhall, Samantha Wildman, a good friend of Neelix's, is enjoying a hot beverage. Neelix comes and pours her some more. Neelix: "Good afternoon, Ensign. How are 'we' doing today?" Wildman, who is heavily pregnant: "We're doing just fine, thank you." Neelix: "Good, good. By the way, I was wondering if you'd take a look at the thermal array in the kitchen. It overloaded this morning and vapourised an entire pot roast." Wildman: "I'd be happy to." She gets up and goes over to the Galley with him. Neelix: "Wonderful. I informed Ensign Kim about the problem hours ago and he still hasn't come down to fix it." Wildman, crouching down to look at the controls behind the serving counter: "He's been working on a problem with the structural integrity grid. I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about you." Neelix: "If this thing doesn't get fixed soon, we'll all be eating cold leftovers for dinner and who do you think the crew will blame?" Wildman: "Looks like you need a new set of anodyne relays. I'll go down to Engineering and get some for you out of storage." Neelix: "Thanks. Oh and while you're here, would you mind taking a look at the replicator. It's been having trouble making anything with large amounts of cellulose." Wildman: "Of course." They go over to the starboard-side replicator. Neelix: "Cabbages, green beans, celery and all. It all comes out looking a touch too yellow." Wildman: "I thought you didn't use replicated vegetables when you're cooking - always fresh, organic from the airponic bay?" Neelix: "Well, the yields have been a little low lately. Normally I would never dream of using synthesised veggies." Wildman: "It looks like a malfunction in the power grid. Shouldn't be too difficult-" Neelix: "What's wrong?" Wildman: "I think I'm having a contraction! Yeah, it's a contraction alright." Neelix: "That's wonderful. Labour can't be far behind. Let's get you to Sickbay. Try to breathe now, take deep regular breaths, not so fast now." He says to two crewmembers who are looking on: "We're having a baby!" The crewmembers look happy for Wildman. The end part, where Wildman's labour begins, is relevant to a later part in this article.

These factors, therefore, affect what Neelix is able to produce:

• Neelix's preference for non-replicated ingredients or at least vegetables
• the occasional equipment malfunction
• lack of choice leading to Neelix's thriftiness, for when one does not know where the next ingredients are coming from, nor the quantity, nor exactly which ingredients they will be, thriftiness is only sensible

Neelix: "Nothing striking your fancy, Lieutenant?" Paris, noticing what is cooking in the stewpot: "Isn't this the fourth day in a row we've had the same casserole?" Neelix: "Pleeka rinds and grub meal - very tasty, if I do say so myself."

Paris, tactfully: "Well, you, you did a great job with it, no question; and it'd just be nice to have a little variety." Neelix: "Well, you're perfectly free to use the replicators." Paris looks down, then up again. "Er, I'm out of rations."

Neelix: "Then....." Paris hopes Neelix will take pity on him and serve him something new, and nice, but Neelix takes a large portion from the stewpot and dollops it onto a plate-tray for him, and the way he squishes it down with the serving spoon makes Paris wince almost as much as Neelix, "...enjoy the casserole."

In 2374, in [#103 Thirty Days], whilst serving a sentence of thirty days in the Brig, Paris complains to Neelix: "Leola root stew again? That's the third time this week. Can't you just replicate me a pizza?" Neelix responds that the Captain has ordered he receive basic nutrition only. The repetition of leola root stew suggests one of the following:

1. Neelix has prepared leola root stew in bulk, having planned for the next three days to offer it to all the Voyager crew and to serve to the prisoner in the Brig.
2. Neelix has prepared leola root stew in bulk, each day cooking a fresh batch, having planned for the next three days to offer it to all the Voyager crew and to serve to the prisoner in the Brig.
3. Neelix has prepared enough leola root stew, having planned to serve a portion to the prisoner in the Brig for several days in a row.
4. Neelix has prepared leola root stew to all the Voyager crew only, but the crewmembers have been less than enthusiastic. Accordingly, the practical and thrifty Neelix, with a mind to his order from Janeway to give Paris only basic nutrition, serves the leftovers to the prisoner in the Brig over several days.

As well as confirming that Neelix is an amateur cook now with the job of professional caterer-cum-quartermaster, his serving the same meal several days in a row (which a professional chef would not do) and (for the pleeka rind casserole served to Paris) with no attempt to present it attractively (which a professional chef would always try to do) reminds us of his privations before he joined Voyager. The most economical way to cater is to purchase, prepare and cook food in bulk. That creates several meals' worth economically. If one is on a tight budget, or there is not the practical or affordable means to store leftovers long-term, or if one is not sure when one can next reach the shops (the next friendly planet and/or one with suitable flora and fauna), then one eats those meals consecutively, particularly if one lives alone when lack of variety seems not as important. It is a matter of practicality or even sheer necessity. For serving the same meal several days in a row, Neelix does not deserve the amusement for television viewers at his expense that was doubtless intended by the writers, especially since the pleeka rind casserole is not the only available dish. Neelix rightly points out that Paris could use the replicator if he wants an alternative, although Paris reveals he has run out of replicator rations. However, I for one cannot help but smile at it, and it is always nice to see part of the everyday life on Voyager (perhaps significantly, the episode's teleplay was written by Jeri Taylor). And later that day, when the crew discover a fuel source within an astral eddy, Paris quips: "This may save us from Neelix's pleeka rind casserole after all." and Janeway replies in the same jocular vein: "We'll all thank you for that." However, Kim likes it. In [#75 Scientific Method]:

Neelix, ready to serve breakfast: "I was just about to whip up a fresh batch of scrambled eggs. Would you like some?"
Kim: "Actually I was hoping you might have some leftover pleeka rind casserole from last night."
Paris: "For breakfast?"
Kim: "I like it."
Neelix: "I'm sure I can find some for you."
He does not, in fact, as he is overcome by mysterious convulsions and is rushed to Sickbay.

Another, minor, thing which indicates that Neelix was not a professional cook, until qualified by his extensive experience on Voyager, is the nature and height of the cooking burners. As regards height, they are too high. Neelix has to reach quite high with his arms to work at any food and the angle is not conducive for best observation. That is why cookers and hobs are at a lower height, in the UK at least the standard height is about quite a bit lower than Neelix's, at 90 to 93 cm (I refer to two different makes, one of them built-in and so dependent on the height of the work units which in turn depend on the height of the kickboards, and a free-standing one - as I write these are the only ones to hand to take the measurements). Neelix's burners are the height they are for reasons of dramatic television presentation. The nature of the burners is not the most efficient - naked flames, such as in the gas burners in parts of the western world of Earth's 20th and early 21st centuries (the countries where Star Trek is mostly watched), are fine for domestic homes, but anyone who has worked in a professional kitchen (as I have, short-term, in a lowly capacity, with duties ranging from washing up to being part of the team doing assisted service) or seen one knows that any naked flame burners are covered so that the heat of the cover becomes even, allowing an even temperature across the base of whatever size pan is used. In addition, any reasonably proficient cook knows that having leaping flames up the SIDE of a pan leads to uneven cooking, anyway is not efficient, and is potentially dangerous. The flames can catch on clothes; and they make the handle of the pan too hot to touch or can, depending on the handle's material, damage it. (Neelix's pans, however, include a wok.) The screenshot to the right is from [#134 Memorial]. The high flames in that scene add, if only slightly, to the growing sense of unease in the atmosphere being generated by the story. In the screenshots below there is no denying that the images are dramatic and exciting, ending with only the stove flames dancing in the dark when main power goes offline. Importantly, however, it does remind us that Neelix is wise - in the early days, with economies being made to conserve ship's power, having an alternative power source rather than depending on ship's power is very sensible. I thought of this point for Neelix when I was about to light candles and the solid fuel in the fireplace during one of the frequent power cuts (and power blips and half-power - half-power is interesting as only some appliances work; one is in half-light; an electric kettle seems to boil less than half as fast, though I boil water on the gas during power cuts...) one gets in the remote north of Britain (and maybe elsewhere in remote rural areas) especially in winter - anyone planning to move to the countryside should equip themselves to ensure alternatives to electricity for heat and cooking, but be warned that fuel and living costs are higher in the countryside.

[#145 The Haunting Of Deck Twelve], large close-up of stove

Sometimes, however, Neelix's recipes are not always to the crew's taste. This is not surprising given a crew complement of about a hundred and fifty as there is bound to be a wide variety of preferences especially given the sprinkling of non-human crewmembers. Neelix works hard to perfect his recipes (and doubtless has always done so, which is the mark of a dedicated chef), as we can tell from his conversation with Torres in [#29 Prototype] in which he successfully makes the point that she will think better if she rests first:

Neelix: "I remember when I was trying to perfect the recipe for my Jibalian omelette. I tried everything: a little more Spith basil, a little less prishic, but I couldn't get it right. Finally I fell asleep from exhaustion, right there at the counter. And then, in a dream, it came to me: I was using six spices, but the omelette needed seven." Torres: "Let me guess: leola root." Neelix: "Nimian sea salt actually." Torres: "Salt?" Neelix: "Yes, salt, the most common spice in the galaxy. But I was too tired, so I couldn't see it."

I would nit-pick here by observing that most cooks would consider six or seven spices in any one dish to be too many, certainly if also using more spices in an accompanying vegetable dish. (However, shortly after compiling this entry, in Delia Smith's television series 'Delia' this leading female food authority of her time was told by a professional spice preparer that the most spices in one dish that he knew of was one with twenty-four.) Also, for omelettes, one tends to use herbs not spices. Spith basil sounds, with "basil" in it, as if it is a herb. Therefore, one must suppose that his Jibalian omelette is a very special dish indeed, and I would like to taste it. Maybe Neelix used some herbs as well as spices and only mentions the spices.

But Neelix is also willing to experiment with new ingredients and a range of contrastingly different ones, in order to try and please his customers (although of course no currency changes hands) and to expand his repertoire. This is just as well since being culinarily adventurous must be necessary when it is a matter of obtaining supplies whenever and however one can. But Neelix also has a fondness for making certain meals spicy, regardless of its normal flavour. See also FOOD AND DRINK INDEX: Footnote 7: Spiciness in Neelix's cooking (pop-up). In [#6 The Cloud] he informs a couple of crewmembers dining in the Messhall: "The bantan is a little on the spicy side. Kes grows them herself in the hydroponics garden. Don't eat any of the little pink things, and you'll be fine." He has left the bantan at that level of spiciness rather than reduce the quantity or add an ingredient to alleviate the spiciness. It is interesting that Neelix leaves in the food either certain flavourings or garnish ("the little pink things") which must not be eaten in order to stay well; this is akin to 21st century chefs leaving poisonous bay leaves in a casserole as they assume (unwisely, methinks) that every diner knows they must not eat them. As regards serving alien foods and the level of spiciness (and leaving in things he perhaps should not leave in, like "the little pink things"), Neelix is happy for the crew to treat a meal as an adventure, which sometimes also means dealing with an element of danger!

TOSTFF says that all too often there is little to occupy Neelix but TOSTFF has obviously never had to run a kitchen that caters for over 140 people, let alone carried on simultaneously the other jobs that Neelix does, namely morale officer (from early 2371), ambassador (from early 2374), security officer (from mid-2374), and although these are part-time there are no fixed hours and at times are full-time. As morale officer in particular, Neelix would probably consider himself to be on call permanently. Being chef is really a job that ends only when he asleep because even amateur cooks catering for a family know that "spare" time is taken up with planning ahead, purchasing, getting things into and out of storage, managing waste, and if growing some food tending and managing the garden (or airponics bay) or liaising with whoever does that job (Kes). In fact, preparing the ingredients and cooking them take little time by comparison. As well as feeding the crew en masse in the Messhall, Neelix thoughtfully starts bringing the captain coffee or small snacks, considering that she will often forego normal meals for work. As good chef-managers do, Neelix considers all areas of Voyager and all crewmembers, without confining himself solely to one area (the Messhall and Galley) nor confining himself to one aspect (the preparation and cooking of ingredients). For example, in [#99 Once Upon A Time], he enters the Bridge with a flask of coffee and asks: "Coffee - anyone, Captain?" and pours some for a member of the Bridge crew (it is one of the rare occasions when Janeway declines to have coffee, though only because she has already had enough); and when the two alien astronauts including Gotana-Retz enters the Bridge in [#132 Blink Of An Eye], Neelix is in the middle of pouring coffee for Janeway.

Neelix's waste-not-want-not-attitude means that we see him on two occasions drinking up beverages left unfinished (often barely started) by others, as shown in the screenshots below. It seems he did not taste them properly beforehand, to judge by his expression. As a general rule, it is important when cooking to taste the food (and not by unhygenically scooping up some using a finger as some television chefs do; certain tv chefs are unnecessarily hands-on, or hands-in, to my mind, when they could more hygenically use an implement to stir their concoction). Tasting is vital in order to season it correctly and ensure it tastes as expected, especially if, like myself, one cooks a number of dishes without (due to experience) needing to measure any of the ingredients. Neelix, whilst fully aware of the crew's reaction to leola root, insists on using it anyway, due to its nutritional value. When, in 2371, in [#11 State Of Flux], Chakotay first tastes it (and spits it out), Neelix chides him:

Neelix: "There's no better source of vitamins and minerals in the Quadrant than in this, this ugly little root."
Chakotay: "I'd find the second best source acceptable if it tasted better."
Neelix laughs. "You're not used to roughing it, are you." The three start digging for leola roots. "Look, you take it from one who knows, the day may come when you'll relish every last crunch of leola. Stew them for a few hours in a light herbal broth and you won't even notice the mildew."

"You're not used to roughing it, are you. Look, you take it from one who knows...." [#11 State Of Flux]

Below are screenshots showing Neelix finishing up food or drink left by others.

Neelix tastes the cup of 'better than coffee' that Janeway has hurriedly and gladly left behind [#6 The Cloud]

Neelix tastes the plomeek soup à la Neelix when Tuvok is summoned away [#14 Faces]

But he is most anxious, agitated and contrite when, in 2374 in [#82 Message In A Bottle] his addition of too many jalapenos (chilli peppers) causes two crewmembers to suffer heartburn which requires Paris to replicate some antacid in Sickbay for them. Neelix's enthusiasm for culinary exploration leads him to experiment quite often and his culinary experimentation is known about amongst the crew. It is not always a success, for instance, the thick gloopy 'even better than coffee' which underwhelms Janeway in [#6 The Cloud]. In 2371, Neelix makes a Vulcan dish for Tuvok, and during their conversation we learn about several of his culinary experiments:

Neelix: "Here we are, Mr Tuvok: one bowl of authentic Vulcan plomeek soup."
Tuvok: "As I have told you, Mr Neelix, this is an unnecessary indulgence. I am quite content to eat whatever the rest of the crew is eating."
Neelix: "Nonsense. Everyone aboard this ship deserves a little taste of home every now and then."
Tuvok: "Very well then. Thank you."
Neelix: "Oh don't thank me. I'm having a marvellous time experimenting with the native dishes of the entire crew. So far I've learned to make corn salad for Mr Chakotay, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Mr Paris. He calls it 'comfort food'." [#14 Faces]

Neelix: "Anthraxic citrus peel, orange juice with just a hint of papalla seed extract - an experimental blend."
Tuvok, aware of Neelix's culinary experimentation: "The success rate of your culinary experiments has not been high."
Undeterred, Neelix cheerfully counters: "Ensign Golwat tried some yesterday, and she thought it was delicious. In fact, she had a second glass, and she never has seconds."
Tuvok: "Ensign Golwat is Bolian. Her tongue has a cartilaginous lining. It would protect her against even the most corrosive acid."
Neelix: "All I ask is that you try it, Mr Vulcan."
Tuvok does so. "Impressive."
Neelix: "Ah, I'll start squeezing that second glass."

Neelix's cooking receives a mixed reception, and some of the comments by certain crewmembers, such as Paris and Kim and even Janeway, seem to be tongue-in-cheek (where the tongue has respite from tasting a Neelix concoction). One of Neelix's charms is that his cooking receives this mix reception, although I believe that Dexa's judgement ("You're a good cook." said in [#169 Homestead]) is ultimately the only one that really matters and, after all, no one becomes seriously ill or dies from his cooking!

Neelix has a secret recipe for soup, stated in [#93 One]:

Kim: "Neelix, this soup is great. What is it?"
Neelix: "It's my secret recipe. I've never told anyone what's in it."

Janeway tells Neelix what she thinks of his cooking [#21 Initiations]

Neelix's keen interest in food might stem from his Talaxian heritage. He informs Tuvok, on the same occasion as trying to get him to try the fruit juice mentioned above: "On Talax it's a tradition to share the history of a meal before you begin eating. It's a way of enhancing the culinary experience. My mother was brilliant. She could make every course, every garnish come alive by making it a character in a story. My favourite was the one about the crustacean who-" (they are interrupted by a power overload which he goes on to say: "I'm afraid it decimated your breakfast. This is what my mother would call a tragic ending." (Incidentally, despite recent common usage, "decimate" means to reduce by one-tenth. A decimated Roman legion was one that had been punished for mutiny by having one-tenth of the force executed, with the soldiers compelled to draw lots amongst themselves and beat to death the one chosen. Sortition, or drawing lots, was considered by the ancients as the gods' way of choosing.)

Apart from the level of spiciness in the food, Neelix sets about exploring the culinary background of various crewmembers, since the crew complement includes Humans, Bolians, Betazoids, Bajorans and Vulcans. Neelix tries to make the crew feel at home by reproducing or amending food of their own culture. This is where he combines his role of Ship's Cook with that of Morale Officer (see heading 'MORALE OFFICER'). In [#14 Faces], Neelix presents Tuvok with Vulcan plomeek soup. (Plomeek soup is introduced into Star Trek in [TOS: Amok Time].)

Neelix: "Don't thank me, I'm having a marvellous time experimenting with the native dishes of the entire crew. So far I've learned to make corn salad for Mr Chakotay, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Mr Paris. He calls it comfort food. Isn't that charming? What are you waiting for? It's no good cold. Well?"
Tuvok, tactfully, after tasting it: "It is rather....piquant."
Neelix: "It is zesty, isn't it? I tried following the recipe in the computer's databank, but it seemed so bland so I took the liberty of spicing it up a bit. Call it plomeek soup à la Neelix."
Tuvok: "I must point out that if you take the liberty of changing a time honoured recipe you are hardly presenting a taste of home."
Fortunately for Tuvok, senior officers are called to the Bridge and he has to leave the soup, which Neelix happily takes a sip of after he has gone.

Neelix: "Brill cheese - I made it from that schplict we brought on board last week. Ensign Ashmore asked for something called macaroni and cheese."

Seven: "Eight weeks ago, an away team encountered a Kartelan freighter carrying supplies from Sector 492, a territory that included a former Talaxian colony. Mr Neelix used the opportunity to acquire twelve kilogrammes of amber spice, a delicacy among his people."
Torres: "What does that have to do with the sensor grid?"
Seven: "On the same day Ensign Kim was repairing a replicator in the Messhall."
Kim: "I remember that. Neelix told me to stick around and try something he was cooking."
Seven: "No doubt made with the amber spice which contained the larvae of the photonic fleas."
Torres: "How could you possibly know that?"
Seven: "Because I also downloaded data regarding their life cycles. The larvae flew out of the spice jar in search of their primary source of nourishment - plasma particles. The conduits within the nearby sensor grid contain an unlimited supply of these particles. Ensign Kim had unwittingly given the creatures access by exposing the grid. The now mature creatures periodically tap into the conduit for nourishment. When they do, the sensor emitters momentarily lose their resolution."

Some of Neelix's roles overlap or merge with each other, and in the rest of this article his continuing role as ship's cook is given in among discussion of his other roles, in particular those of the ship's Morale Officer and Delta Quadrant Guide (my capital letters). Those two roles also overlap and merge with each other.