City’s professional kitchens are a man’s world

From finding a foothold in a male-dominated field to dealing with physical hardships, the number of hurdles for women chefs are many

Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White’s comments made during a recent interview have taken the Internet and the culinary world by storm. He said, “The real positive with men is that men can absorb pressure better, that’s the main difference because they are not as emotional and they don’t take things personally.”

He was called “extremely sexist” and “a let-down” by netizens and industry insiders, especially since he holds a prominent status in the industry.

But reflecting on whether there existed a gender bias in professional kitchens, Metrolife found out that there aren’t any female executive chefs at the hotels in the city. The highest position they hold is of a sous chef.

Why is that, especially since the few women in the industry seem to be acing their work? We asked a few hoteliers but most of them didn’t want to comment as they thought it was “too sensitive a topic”.

Others were more open, especially the women. Chef Soni Rana, Sous Chef at ITC Windsor, told us that she was the only girl in her batch at culinary school. “When I decided to become a chef, people told me that I cannot do it. Their lack of support pushed me to work harder and prove my worth.”

After working hard under some of the best chefs in the country, Soni says she is now in a position to “be how I want, and people listen to me.”

Though it’s a male-dominated industry, she is seeing more women coming in slowly.

“Over the years, this has become a plausible career option for us women. If you are willing to work hard, your gender doesn’t matter,” she says.

So why is it that one of the most globally recognised chefs thought that women can’t handle the pressure?

“Marco is well-known for losing his temper and succumbing to pressure. What he said is utter nonsense. When I was working at Fava in UB City, I had male interns dropping out within weeks as the work was too much for them to handle,” says Pallavi Mithika Menon, a chef who has been in the industry for almost a decade.

She got the position of the head chef at ‘Fava’ as the owner, Abhijit Saha, wanted someone who could handle a team.

“He wanted someone to bring in some discipline to the kitchen. I don’t think my gender mattered to him. He must have been impressed with my work and felt that I could get the job done.”

She has now moved on to doing independent projects.

Pallavi points out that though the job is a rigorous one and takes a toll on each person, a woman has to prove herself more than the men. “It’s the case in every industry. But if you stand your ground, nothing can shake you,” she says.

“I was lucky to get the opportunities that I did. Not everyone can deal with the pressures of the work,” she adds.

She also points out the discrimination starts from something as basic as the vocabulary. “Why do you have to say ‘women chef’ and ‘female chef’? Just call us all chef. At the end of the day, your plate of food doesn’t have a gender,” she says.

Big players have understood the need to get more women into the field. In an effort to break the barrier, the Taj Group is training female candidates to join the culinary industry.

Felicita, HR personnel at Taj West End, says, “Through the initiative ‘Taj Tata Strive’, we are encouraging girls to join the culinary industry. We train them and give them employment opportunities in our hotels and outside.”

It’s not just the lack of opportunities, women who pass out from culinary schools prefer to work in the corporate sector than in the kitchen.

“The trend is usually to work for a few years, gain the experience and start their own business. This could be because the hotel industry requires you to work around the clock (on shift basis), whereas work in restaurants is more relaxed,” says a source who did not wish to be named.