i like to think that reason solomon cooks like That (TM) is bc he just has fun playing around with the ingredients, and it's like a safe-ish version of mixing potions together.

he thinks about cooking the same way he thinks about magic - "what new thing can i make if i add this and this?" but he knows that throwing random potions together can have really bad consequences, so he turns to cooking instead! it's fun!! what's food poisoning again