So who does the cooking in your house?

[Anonymous]

Ever since I started doing work in clients' homes a few years ago I have been noticing an interesting phenomena that seems to have escaped the attention of the media.

These days, blokes do all the cooking!

In nearly every house I visit, including my own, it is the man of the house who is more likely to be preparing the evening meal than the woman.

What has brought about this change in roles?

My guess is that, as more women go out to work, men have been expected to take on a bigger share of domestic duties. Putting the bins out once a week is no longer enough!

Men being men, we have picked the plumb, creative job - cooking. This means that we can retreat into our kitchen as if it were a second shed, put the radio on while the rest of the family watches Emmerdale, and play at being Gordon Ramsey.

Naturally, this new shared role does not extend any further into the areas of dish-washing, laundry, ironing, bog-cleaning etc etc.

Because after all...

...we cooked the tea!

Of course, I'm not talking here about subsistance cooking. Fish fingers and chips for the kids remains wifey's domain. No, I'm talking about glory cooking - creations of subtle, interlocking flavours, with a flourish of colour served tastefully on bone china.

Of course, if we didn't do the cooking, we'd be living on Tesco microwave dinners or the kids' leftover fish fingers and chips (actually very tasty on a butty with tomato ketchup!)

Does this scenario sound familiar to anyone else, or is it a peculiarly Mancunian phenominum?

Who does the cooking in your house?

Cheers
Brad

It's nearly time to put the breakfast on!

 

[RogerS]

Saturday night. Me, a large G&T (or two) and opera from the Met. Locked away in the kitchen to create a culinary masterpiece.

Other days by prior arrangement :wink:

 

[ike]

Naturally, this new shared role does not extend any further into the areas of dish-washing, laundry, ironing, bog-cleaning etc etc.

Because after all...

...we cooked the tea!

Resistance is futile. You WILL be assimilated (eventually)!

 

[duncanh]

As I'm currently single I'd have to say that it's always me!

The last 2 women I went out with were terrible in the kitchen so it was pretty much always me that cooked. With the last partner I can only remember one decent meal that she cooked and that was when we were on holiday.

I won't eat ready meals so if I want to eat properly I end up cooking.

Duncan

 

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately the wife cooks, usually I'm not sure what it is. :lol: :lol:

 

[BrianD]

I my house, my wife always does. My getting home at 8pm does not allow for other options.

However, on various occasions I am allowed to be Master of the Kitchen

.

OF course my kids enjoy the the results - actually so much so (and do they express it) I am not allowed to do this to often as my SWMBO gets jealous

.

So from a self-interest point of view one does not push the envelope to far!

 

[Gill]

...we have picked the plumb, creative job ... and play at being Gordon Ramsey.

Naturally, this new shared role does not extend any further into the areas of dish-washing...

This bit is telling . I can't help wonder if there's a correlation between men cooking and the advent of dishwashers?

We're still traditional in our house, mostly because His Lordship would subject us to a diet of pork chops, bacon, burgers, chips and baked beans, all smothered with ketchup and no vegetables. So I not only cook the meals, I also make my own 'processed' foods such as bacon, sausages and burgers; at least I can make them with healthy ingredients. They don't take much effort to make and they taste nice too.

The odd bit of 'unhealthy' food now and again is a nice treat, but it's a rarity. His Lordship normally works on Sunday so I can't remember the last time we had a proper roast dinner. Today, he's got a rare day off but the thought of roasting a joint never even occurred to us. Instead, we're having fresh mackerel fillets dressed with low fat cheese and chilli peppers, plus pasta and a tomato salad. Is that the sort of thing blokes would choose to cook?

Gill

 

[woodbloke]

I do most of the cooking in our establishment and have recently developed my curries, 'specially Thai...yum. SWIMBO's not a bad cook but can't be ar**ed much of the time, so if we want to eat decently then it's me wot cooks.....dishwashers are the most fantastic inventions ever tho' :wink: :lol:, roast pig and apple sauce for T tonight, finished shift at lunchtime so it's an evening meal - Rob

 

[wizer]

I'm a trained chef and the missus takes advantage of that fact! :wink:

Actually I love to cook. I grow all my own veg now and I have been a life long foodie.

 

[woodbloke]

So here's a question for all the foodie cooks.....how am I going to Get the perfect crackling on my pork tonight? My usual way is to cook the pork as per usual (salt on the rind) at a highish temp, then separate the meat from the crackling and nuke the cracking in the oven in a Pyrex dish whilst the veg and gravy are done and I carve up the joint. Any further suggestions? - Rob

 

[ike]

Rob,

I get good crackling leaving it on the joint. I was told the secret is to dry out the skin (overnight in the fridge). The drier it is before you salt it, the crispier it gets.

Ike

 

[Effigy]

My wife says the only reason we have a kitchen is because it came with the house :roll:

Needless to say, I do the cooking (more out of self-preservation really :lol: )

I remember the first time she cooked a chicken - it was in and out of the oven so much I had to give it a travel pill!

 

[Steve Maskery]

I cook (and have a waistline to prove it).

My wife defrosts. (But then she's the one who goes out to work and earns the money to pay the bills and buy the food etc, etc, etc.)

There is one exception. On the rare occasion we have a Sunday Lunch, that is always Judith's demesne. Whilst I have cooked a roast, I've not done so for many, many years. It's just not part of our diet. I'd have to read it up in Delia. Judith can and does do that. With rhubarb crumble. Always. But I do just about everything else, including making the spares that she can later defrost!

Tomorrow I'm cooking liver in a herby tomato sauce, with mashed potato and cabbage. A real winter dish.