No Surprise: Men Are Cooking More
Author(s): City Air NewsPuneeth Mehta,Celebrity Chef who curated Kitchen Expo at HITEX. Men, the gastrosexuals, take cooking to impress friends, women, prospective partner/s Hyderabad, October 15, 2017: As we celebrate World Food Day tomorrow,...
Men, the gastrosexuals, take cooking to impress friends, women, prospective partner/s
Hyderabad, October 15, 2017: As we celebrate World Food Day tomorrow, it is no more a big surprise to know that more men are cooking. And they are more likely to cook with a Smartphone in hand instead of recipe book said Puneeth Mehta, a Celebrity Cook and who curated Second Edition of Kitchen Expo 2017, which concluded at Hitex on Sunday evening.
Well-read, well-traveled men enjoy cooking too. Men have shrugged off the notion of cooking as women's work and redefined it in their terms, informs Sambit of Hitex.
More men frequented the three day Kitchen India Expo than the women. The steady rise of men visiting stalls, making inquiries, getting acquainted with appliances, etc. could be noticed, informed one of the organizers of the exhibition.
Another reason why men are getting into cooking says Puneeth Mehta is that it is getting smarter and smarter. More and smarter gadgets, appliances are making their way into Kitchen. Appliances come handy for fast cooking because of past faced life. They save time too. Food habits of people have changed over a period. Earlier we used to eat to fill the stomach, but now it is all about the presentation he informed. People are becoming more health conscious. There is a fast decline of eating fast food especially among those above forty years. They prefer cooking at home than dining out even if he is a male says Puneet.
'Many celebrity chefs are male only, says Puneet.
Source of inspiration for this could be that Many Chefs are now big time celebrities. They earn in crores. Even TV programs like Master Chef etc. inspire people to get into Cooking says, Ravi Prasad.
Because of IT jobs, there may be a situation, where some men have to be ‘stay-at-home dads.' Because of the wide variety of reasons, they get engaged in cooking and become responsible partners doing the best for their families, rather than getting labeled as “out-of-work” dads.
Even young boys are not afraid of cooking. I have invited 15 to 20 of our relatives to my house Sunday evening. I am going to treat them with "Vegetable Fried Rice" and Garlic Gravy, Both these dishes will be cooked by me says 15 years old Tenth Class Student of Vidyaranya, Vaibhav Prodduturi.
Cooking is the stress buster, you know says Ravi Prasad, a consultant from Kukatpally, who until recently worked with an IT company.
The kitchen is a very important part of the home. The kitchen is not just women oriented. Now many men are getting into cooking and are good cooks also said Mehreen Perizada, a film actress and fame of Mahaanubavudu, the just-released film. Mehreen inaugurated the expo.
Because of nuclear families and both husband and wife working, men cooking has gone up, observed Puneet.
I am just married in April this year. My wife is not all that a great cook. In fact, she cants cook many basic foods stuffs. I teach her cooking says G. Srinivas, an automobile employee.
I love cooking, says Praful Sehgal, who runs an Outbound Training Company. Cooking is my favorite past time. I have even grown a kitchen garden in my flat at Basheerbagh, he says.
As both wife and husband are working, they have little time to cook. Curry points are the only alternative. But, due to health reasons, because you are what you eat, men are getting into cooking observed an expert.
Hyderabad is known for 'Curry Points". This outside food may be a blessing for many, but, is turning out to be a major cause of lifestyle diseases, say the doctorpreneurs. The city has more than 50,000 outside unorganized food eateries comprised of roadside pushcart eateries, stalls, mess(es) and curry points doing a whopping business of approximately Rs 7,200 crore per annum.
The three hybrid entrepreneurs--Dr. Seshagiri Gedela,; Dr. Suresh Kamireddy and Dr. Rama Krishna Bojanki, all Pediatricians together with a hospitality professional Chakradhar have introduced a new offering, "curioueaty' as a solution to unmet need of Hyderabadi, Students, Bachelors and the working couples in providing access to hygiene and healthy daily meal/food at economical price.
Men are also cooking for a different reasons. While traditional factors of a man’s attractiveness — physical health, personality, salary — have not diminished, a man’s capability to wield a carving knife now makes him a more suitable partner for many women says laughingly Alpa Jain of Agromech Homestore.
The man who cooks is more appealing shares Shruthi, a management student who just married. We live in Gandhinagar. We started a family a few months back. My husband is a very good cook. He doesn't like what I cook. So he ends up cooking most of the time, she shares.
Many men are getting into cooking to impress women; the fact is also confirmed by surveys and studies conducted some time ago says Apoorva, a hotel management student who came to Kitchen Indian Expo to participate in a Vegetable Carving Competition.
The organizers of the “Freedom Refined Sunflower Oil Kitchen India Expo-2017” have lined up competitions like Vegetable Carving, Chef Ki Patashala Workshop, Cook-It-With-Chef Recipe Competition, Taste to Win, etc. activities at the expo as engagement activities for the visitors. Men on par with women have participated in these activities indicates that men are wielding ladle with pride in the kitchen.
They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. But that is an old saying now. Increasing number of men is taking up cooking in a bid to seduce women. They are turning the dining tables. And it is a fact, says Ranchitha Das, a Chef Working in Star Property. They are dubbed as GastroSexuals, a word coined in the recent past, she says. According to her, a man, who uses culinary skills to impress the potential partner. GastroSexuals are those who deploy their culinary aptitude to attract romantic partners.
Men with the ability to cook is a new attraction. Now it is also a key factor in attracting women besides personality, appearance, salary, and status according to some researchers.