Recipe for Disaster

Background
"I must kill the Gourmet, who is actually an Orc named Balagog gro-Nolob. Once he's dead, I must steal his Writ of Passage. And, if I can manage to hide his body, I'll get a bonus".

Walkthrough
After completing "The Cure For Madness", Astrid informs you that Festus Krex has information regarding your next mission. Krex informs you that you must kill the Gourmet, a celebrity chef due to cook for the Emperor. Before leaving the sanctuary talk to all the Dark Brotherhood members to gather advice on the contract, Festus Krex advice will lead you to a man called Anton Virane, who is located inside Understone Keep in Markarth.


 * Tip: You can gain speech levels by talking to Anton Virane.

Friend of a Chef
Question Anton Virane on the whereabouts of the Gourmet; he will refuse to tell you at first but you can convince him by intimidating him by telling him the Dark Brotherhood wants to know. He will tell you where to find the Gourmet and at the end of the conversation, he will ask that you let him live. Lie to him and tell him he will not be harmed. He needs to be killed, however, and the easiest way is to simply wait until 12:00 a.m. and wait for him to go to sleep, and as soon as he does, sneak next to his bed and kill him with your choice of weapon. When Anton Virane is dead, no one will have noticed and there will be no bounty, allowing you to walk out of the Understone Keep with no bounty. If for any reason he will not be in bed, just hide and cast Frenzy on him, (You may need to dual-cast) he will attack everyone in that room. Kill him, and walk out without a bounty.


 * Tip: An efficient way to kill him is to slip some poison in his pocket, if you have a high enough pickpocket and sneak, you can kill him in his sleep with this technique.


 * Tip: For those of you mages, you can place some fire, frost or lightning runes around his bed, and hopefully when he gets up, he goes kaboom.

Killing the Gourmet
Your next objective will lead you to Nightgate Inn. You'll find Balagog gro-Nolob, aka the Gourmet, either down at the dock by the lake (during the day) or in his room in the inn's cellar.

Killing him is rather simple, as there are no witnesses in the cellar if you choose to do the deed there. Alternatively, there are usually no witnesses outside the inn, if you'd rather kill him by the lake.

Acquiring the Bonus
To acquire the bonus, you need to find a way to hide the body. One of the Dark Brotherhood members, Gabriella, will hint that she uses bodies of water for hiding... bodies. At the Nightgate Inn, the innkeeper mentions Balagog Gro-Nolob often goes down to the lake. Wait in the cellar until Balagog Gro-Nolob leaves around 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Follow him towards the lake and kill him quickly. Dump the body into the lake (to do this, press and hold the action button when hovering over his corpse). (Note: this will only work with the lake. Drowning the body in the river near by will no reward you the bonus. Xbox 360)

However, if you have killed him in the cellar of the Nightgate Inn, you can drag him across the cellar towards a large empty barrel. If you drag him and dump him in the barrel, you will acquire the bonus. Dragging him behind the hay bales until this part of the quest is marked as completed is also an option. Dragging body under the bed also works. If you happen to be a werewolf, you can simply eat the body. (Doesn't work on PS3, tested) (does work on Xbox 360 tested twice)

ps3 : shoot the body with reanimate corpse from the top of the hill to the dumping site, bonus acquired


 * Tip: Removing all items from the body will make it easier to move. This may be necessary to hide the body in the wine barrel. To grab his body to hide him, hold down A, on the Xbox controller, E, on the keyboard, or X, on the PlayStation controller, and place his body wherever you like. For more info about grabbing things in Skyrim see Grab. Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning are very effective, in "moving" his body.

Alternatively, steal from him or attack him. He will then pursue you, so you can kill him near the lake. At night, there won't be any witnesses. If you're (un)lucky, a dragon might also do the killing part for you.
 * After obtaining the Gourmet's Writ of Passage, if you speak to Balbus, he will offer you a unique piece of silverware named Balbus's Fork. Balbus can be somewhat difficult to locate, as he wanders around Skyrim with no set schedule.

Report back to Festus to complete the quest.

Bugs

 * Sometimes, everyone will be asleep but you will still get caught killing Anton Virane, with a seemingly invisible woman shouting about the deed. Even if you kill all potential witnesses (the two women sleeping in the adjacent room), receiving the 'bounty removed' confirmation, the guards outside the room will attack you on sight.
 * Do not kill Gourmet while he is sitting in his chair. He will fall below it and get stuck, and you can not move him. (It is sometimes possible to dislodge him with the use of the Unrelenting Force shout, and grabbing him by the portion of his body that is stuck beneath the chair.)
 * He also sometimes get stuck under the bed if he is sleeping when killed. Grabbing his limbs or using telekinesis does not budge him. If he gets stuck under his bed and his dagger falls to the floor, it is possible to drag it behind the barrel, thus completing the quest.
 * Choosing to 'Eat' Gourmet with the Ring of Namira equipped will trigger a 'complete' for the bonus, but the bonus will not be rewarded.