Ask him about stews, and he will tell you about beetle claw stew. Eventually, asking about beetle claw stew, he will give you a 4-slot container and ask you to fill it with beetle claws. (They drop from rhinobeetle hatchlings.) Combine it when full, return it, and he gives money and sometimes some tattered leather armor or a wooden practice weapon.
I haven't made him tell me about veggies yet.