Gender imbalance in cooking ability

Ash.J.Williams

jaysus i had dinner in a mates house (female) it was a chorizo pasta dish, and she asked me did i want the recipe....


it was pasta and chorizo....

LirW

I believe cooking comes down a lot to having a good routine of the basics. How to prep and chop, how to treat veg, meat, fish and starches so they turn out decent. How to make basic sauces, how to sear, steam and braise.
It's not rocket science but requires a lot of practice.

I'd be the chief cook at home with my husband having a solid repertoire of recipes for when I can't cook. He's the better baker though, I'm too impatient for it.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

NSAman wrote: »

Always amazes me that... it is simple. I can make a curry or sweet and sour from scratch (not out of a bottle) with nothing except natural ingredients in 30 minutes...(25 if I am rushing). It is quicker than they can deliver from the takeaway and much healthier.

I too, have noticed that the younger generation of women either cannot cook/dont want to cook and it is the guys that do most of it.

It amazes me that here in the States there is a massive week long cooking marathon before Thanksgiving with people (mostly women) getting stressed because people are coming over... last year I cooked for 20 took a few hours but was not exactly taxing. Herself cleaned up but is equally a good cook.

I cook mostly as I am in from work earlier....

That will take longer than 30 minutes to do it right, especially the curry. All in, considering everything, it will be longer than 30 minutes. I love cooking but the porky pies people tell about how long it takes in order to encourage people drives me mad.

rainbow kirby

I'm female, mid 30s and genuinely enjoy cooking (and am reasonably good at it). I like to get my kids involved too - my almost 4 year old son is fascinated by food and loves to help out where he can.

charlietheminxx

I'm a woman in her early thirties and a good cook but if you want lovely presentation, you'd hate my food. It's all about flavour for me and I love tinkering with recipes and fine-tuning the seasoning but neatly chopping everything just doesn't come into it and I tend to throw everything on the plate while it's hot, instead of making it look tidy.

My other half is a brilliant cook, and everything is done evenly and systematically and looks perfect. To him it's a science, to me it's an art... I enjoy it more so dinner is usually my job.

charlietheminxx

charlietheminxx wrote: »

I'm a woman in her early thirties and a good cook but if you want lovely presentation, you'd hate my food. It's all about flavour for me and I love tinkering with recipes and fine-tuning the seasoning but neatly chopping everything just doesn't come into it and I tend to throw everything on the plate while it's hot, instead of making it look tidy.

My other half is a brilliant cook, and everything is done evenly and systematically and looks perfect. To him it's a science, to me it's an art... I enjoy it more so dinner is usually my job.

this for meself and the mrs (ie gender roles reversed)

meeeeh

rainbow kirby wrote: »

I'm female, mid 30s and genuinely enjoy cooking (and am reasonably good at it). I like to get my kids involved too - my almost 4 year old son is fascinated by food and loves to help out where he can.

I must admit that I hate that. I have radio on (usually some sort of politics that's how sad I am) and everyone else is banished from the area. I have a 10 and 7 year old who are both completely useless at cooking and if it is up to me to teach them it will stay that way.

Aongus Von Bismarck

Muahahaha wrote: »

What kind of Michelin quality dishes would you be cooking Aongus? Is it very time consuming? Been meaning to try it out myself

It depends on what I’m cooking, but, yes, it can be time consuming. I consider it time well spent though - good food is one of the great pleasures in life. People complain about not having the time to cook, but do seem to have the time to spend 4 hours a day flicking through Instagram and Twitter.

On Saturday I prepared a meal of sika deer tartare with a pickled plum sauce, smoked monkfish with oyster mousse, and finished up with a watermelon and passion fruit vacherin.

Aongus Von Bismarck

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

On Saturday I prepared a meal of sika deer tartare with a pickled plum sauce, smoked monkfish with oyster mousse, and finished up with a watermelon and passion fruit vacherin.

You're still scraping the pizza out of the toaster. Michelin star retracted.

Feisar

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

My current partner is a solid, if unspectacular, cook. She enjoys cooking traditional and rustic German food which isn’t one of the world’s great cuisines.

I’m an exceptional chef though, and prepare meals that are as good as anything you’d be served in a one star Michelin restaurant. I also love cooking and find it extremely relaxing, so I tend to do the majority of the cooking.

That rustic German stuff is great especially when washed down with a dark beer.

I do most of the cooking. My specialty is slow cooker food. Curries, casseroles, stews, hearty soups, and more curries. I'm a half-decent baker, and I do a nice line in beef or chicken pies. I suppose I'm a competent plain cook, as opposed to an AVB level kitchen savant.

If my nearest and dearest was left in charge, we'd be eating grilled cheese or BBQ of some kind every night of the week.

Apparently i hit delete instead of save

We're both good at cooking. He probably does it more often. Both at baking also

kowloon

Do some women resent cooking as it was something they were expected to do in the past?

kowloon

kowloon wrote: »

Do some women resent cooking as it was something they were expected to do in the past?

I sometimes resent it because I'm expected to do it in the present.

Oranage2

Candie wrote: »

I sometimes resent it because I'm expected to do it in the present.

What's the household dynamic? Does your other half work and do you too?

joe40

What constitutes cooking. I have no problem making dinners with veg mince and passata, or potatoes with roast chicken or something.
Often use frozen veg for convenience. Is this cooking though?
I think the dinners taste fine and are nutritious, but very little skill involved.

return guide

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

My harridan of an ex-wife was an outrageously bad cook. Which is funny as she was a very talented eater.

I suspect she was trying to poison me with her dreaded cottage pie at one stage.

Had to google that word, I have heard and used many word for my dear wife but that is a new one to us!

tscul32

joe40 wrote: »

What constitutes cooking. I have no problem making dinners with veg mince and passata, or potatoes with roast chicken or something.
Often use frozen veg for convenience. Is this cooking though?
I think the dinners taste fine and are nutritious, but very little skill involved.

You'd be amazed how many people would struggle with what you listed

andekwarhola

Other way round here. I can cook basic enough, healthy stuff but I just don't really like cooking or feel strongly about food in general whereas my wife is a superb cook and really enjoys it.

Better Than Christ

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

She enjoys cooking traditional and rustic German food which isn’t one of the world’s great cuisines.

I'm sure it's not the Wurst.

NSAman

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

That will take longer than 30 minutes to do it right, especially the curry. All in, considering everything, it will be longer than 30 minutes. I love cooking but the porky pies people tell about how long it takes in order to encourage people drives me mad.

Nope... 30 minutes from start to finish....

Not a porky pie.

pwurple

Depends on the curry in fairness. Rice takes 30 mins to steam. If you're doing a green curry, with veg or fish it's pretty quick.

A Rogan Josh lamb curry takes a few hours... But most of those few hours are it simmering away in a pot in the oven or on a low heat.

It's split in my house. Husband does quick weeknight meals (stir-frys, pasta , salads, grilled chops or steak). Wife does more elaborate weekend dinners for larger groups, with desserts etc. Bake some bread too sometimes. Usually make something on Sunday that has leftovers for Monday. Either from the roast meat or big pot of rich soup from a homemade stock. Try to keep it local and seasonal. We enjoy it, it's a little stretch for the brain.

MissDisaster

When I was growing up, it was the general rule of whoever was home first made food. Which usually fell to me as a teenager I learned the basics easily enough. My other half is a divil for convenience foods and ready meals despite being a massive gym nut.

My younger brother (27) only learned how to cook when he hit his 20's but has a real knack and flair for it. Even if he goes overboard with the auld garlic cloves the odd time. In fairness Mam is a decent baker but Dad cant make anything other than beige frozen food taken straight from the freezer. Often arguments are had as Mam or myself will take meat out of the freezer for the next day only to come home to a spectacular array or beige pizza, dried-out hollow chicken nuggets and some limp chips.:(

It all depends on the teaching you had from your parents and the willingness as an adult or teen to learn. I know some people who learned tons from YouTube and others who simply say they're a bad cook and leave it at that.

Turquoise Hexagon Sun

Both my parents are decent cooks and my mother especially. My sibblings, all male like to cook and are decent to good, including myself.

It's hard to tell, I think it's just whoever is in to it, is in to it, really.

I think maybe gender stereotypes may point towards females enjoying or being good cooks and probably enforced some notions that generally, most women are good cooks. But anyone that enjoys cooking more than just nessessity of it will usually be better than average, men and women.

My dads a fantastic cook, especially desserts and curries. My mum would have struggled with toast.

freshpopcorn

I think lots of people can cook and bake if they want to and give it ago.
It's similar with D.I.Y. Some people like been the damsel in distress.

freshpopcorn

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I think lots of people can cook and bake if they want to and give it ago.
It's similar with D.I.Y. Some people like been the damsel in distress.

Or maybe they just aren't interested enough to try. There's nothing wrong with not being interested in cooking beyond a basic degree, either. Doesn't mean anyone is playing anything.

freshpopcorn

Candie wrote: »

Or maybe they just aren't interested enough to try. There's nothing wrong with not being interested in cooking beyond a basic degree, either. Doesn't mean anyone is playing anything.

Lot's of people don't like things but they make an effort for others tough.

I never said there was something wrong with not having an interest in cooking.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

I'm a reasonably good cook, my siblings are both way more accomplished than I am at it though. I usually mildly enjoy cooking, but not anywhere near as much as I like eating whereas they love the whole process. They watch a lot of cooking shows, buy fiddly little bits of kit and ingredient, make things from scratch for the craic and increased quality that I would never bother with.

Between my partner and I, I don't know. We've different strengths. I'm probably a more confident, intuitive cook, whereas he's more detail oriented and dexterous.

MissDisaster

Jade Helpless Cougar wrote: »

Between my partner and I, I don't know. We've different strengths. I'm probably a more confident, intuitive cook, whereas he's more detail oriented and dexterous.

Same here. I'm one for looking up a recipe and then not sticking to it 100% whereas if my partners cooking pizza and the box says it goes in for 12 mins - it goes in for 12 mins. :pac: