Men and the art of cooking

In the movie Julie and Julia, one sees Julia Child outdo her male batchmates in cooking class. She even simplifies French cooking with her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. But if you were to imagine a chef  tossing vegetables in the kitchen of a hotel, the person would be a man. Ever wondered why?

Naren Thimmiah planned on doing an MBA, but opted for hotel management (with not a single girl in his batch) instead. Today, he is an executive chef with Taj Gateway. Naren feels women not being chefs has nothing to do with cooking skills: “Women are better than us. The main reason could be the pressure, timings, etc.” Nimish Bhatiya of Lalit Ashok, who has been in the field for two decades, thinks it is the laborious physical work involved.

He says, “People are more educated and competent these days. This is leading to an increase in women for chefs.” Naren agrees: “The bakery and pastry section especially has a lot of women as it involves a certain level of creativity.” Architha Maheshwari, a cooking instructor, says, “We see women in various professions which we once thought only men could cope with. It is quite obvious that women can handle the stress of being a chef.”

“In the Indian culture, women cook for the family. Maybe that is why women don’t become chefs and why we see fewer men in the kitchen at home,” says Architha.

Manju M, also a cooking instructor,  says: “Tradition is definitely the reason
why women cook at home. But nowadays, trends are changing.”