Dishes are items that, when consumed, give various buffs. Dishes are made out of either only food items or food items combined with other items. Examples of places where Dishes can be made are Kitchen Counters and campfires.

Compared to food items

Dishes are overall superior to food items. Since it often simply is an upgrade to the used food items. The downside of some dishes are that they requires other items to be crafted, compared to their core food item. At the current time no Dish have been found that only have debuffs though it's not impossible that there is or will be.

Where to craft/make

Food items can be crafted in various places, examples of these are: Kitchen Counter, Campfire and Oven. This adds up to the cost difference between dishes and their core food items, the crafting stations aren't consumed though and can be reused unlimited times. So the crafting station is more of an requirement than a big cost. The Roast Banana for example is simply an upgrade of the regular Banana. Though as you need a Kitchen Counter to make it, it costs more resources.