Assuming we're sticking to some kind of physical realism, either the art of cooking can fit in a virus capsid, or it's encoded into the larger laws of physics somehow. I don't think there's anything in between that could possibly respond in a complex-but-controlled way.
Edit: Although come to think of it, there should probably be more layers after roach. Maybe fruit fly next; that's an awfully big tardigrade and one of the larger protists, and as a result a normal-sized bacteria would probably fit quite comfortably on top.
More likely a group of neurons, and they fight the rest of the network to try get more basil. And within single cell that shit is hard-coded into the genome.
Hmm, what would the maximum latency for cooking be, assuming basic motor functions can be handled locally, as well as simple instructions? "Put some basil in that shit" is usually something that could happen a full minute later.