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Battle of sexes stirs up a new front: kitchen

By Huang Yuli (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-31 08:12

A French guy once asked me: "Do you know who are the best cooks in the world?"

I had no idea.

"The French," he told me.

"And do you know who are the best French cooks?" he asked.

I was just about to say something when he proudly proclaimed: "French men."

His tone made it clear he considered this statement an undeniable truth.

Then the other day I saw an interesting kitchenware advertisement in a German magazine. It was a photo of a good-looking man holding a pan with the line: "We're the reason more and more men enjoy the kitchen".

Hmm, interesting. It seems that all the men in the world are silently taking over the kitchen.

Maybe it's true. I guess the reason lies in their constant need to eat and their partners' poor culinary skills.

At least that's the case with my boyfriend.

But I did try, honestly I did. I cooked some dishes for us and they tasted OK. Well, at least I thought so. Unfortunately, they all looked hideous. My boyfriend is very picky about his food and wants it perfect in color, taste and smell. So, of course, in the end he decided to cook himself.

Which was definitely a good thing, I thought, since he's a better cook and I could enjoy the fine food while watching soap operas and avoiding kitchen work.

However, this state of grace didn't last long and I soon found myself increasingly interrupted by his orders: "Peel these cloves of garlic." "Hand me a dish." "Can you check the pressure cooker?" "Would you heat the leftovers from yesterday?"

The funny thing is, whenever I approached him when he was cooking to ask if I could help, he always sent me away.

But as soon as I sat down in front of my computer, without fail, his voice would rise from the kitchen, asking me to do this or that. Sometimes I didn't reply. Then he would keep calling my name until I went to see what he wanted. I was like a slave, running around to get this or that done for him.

We had agreed that he cooked and I washed the dishes, a clear and fair division of labor. But since I was constantly asked to assist him, I offered to trade places.

He agreed.

So the next day I cooked. He entered the kitchen when I was chopping carrots.

"The slices are too thick," He pointed out. "The way you hold the knife is wrong." He demonstrated the right way and gave me more instructions.

I remembered that my mother used to moan to me about my father. She said my father complained about the taste when she cooked, and when she quit the kitchen and left him in charge, he complained about her not offering any help. Her not responding still causes quarrels now.

Finally I figured out a strategy.

I started to praise his performance in the kitchen: How well he cooks; how sweet he is to cook for me; how capable he is to handle everything on his own.

It seems to have worked. He certainly enjoys the compliments. I can feel his enthusiasm when he walks in the kitchen and rolls up his sleeves. What's more, he asks me for help much less frequently. He always says, "I can handle it".

Of course I will still work on my cooking skills, because he usually makes dishes he likes, and we have different tastes.

But that's another story.