An apparatus comprises at least one cooking device (21-24), in particular a baking oven (22) or a steam-cooking appliance (21), for preparing at least one foodstuff. The apparatus further comprises an input device (3), an output device (4), and a central control unit (1). The central control unit (1) identifies a recipe based upon input parameters specifying the foodstuffs as well as further ingredients and generates a cooking process for the recipe. The recipe is output by means of the output device (4) and the cooking process is transmitted to a cooking process control (26) of the cooking device (21-24).