Despite the fact that, statistically speaking, most of the cooking in homes is still done by women, there has always been a curious lack of female head chefs in restaurants. Why is this and are there any signs of it changing?
A Bloomberg survey of 160 head-chef positions at 15 well-known restaurant groups across the United States in 2014 revealed only 6.3 per cent were held by women. In addition, of the 172 Michelin-starred restaurants in the world, only 10 – 5.8 per cent – have female head chefs, and fewer than one in five chefs at any level in the United Kingdom are female.
Women head chefs in the UAE are also rare. Rosalind Parsk, the executive chef at Courtyard by Marriott Dubai Green Community, says in her experience the one-in-five figure is about right.
“Mainly you will find female chefs in pastry, with just a few in hot kitchens,” she adds.
So why do so few women make it to upper positions in professional kitchens? The answer seems to be the same the world over.
“Being a chef isn’t the most glamorous of jobs,” Parsk says. “You work very long hours, you are always on your feet and it requires a lot of passion for food – it’s just not a job for everyone.”
She doesn’t believe it is necessarily harder for a woman to be a chef – at least not until you get older.
“When you’re younger, you’re full speed ahead and full of energy, and as long as you can handle working long hours and want to learn, it doesn’t matter what sex you are – it’s when you get older things get harder,” she says. “I don’t have children yet, but I think this is when it becomes hard – balancing home life and work life.”
Time and again, the issue of family comes up when asking questions of top female chefs. Prue Leith, the best-selling cookery writer who was at the recent Emirates Literature Festival in Dubai, offers her opinion.
“Women cannot be top chefs, mostly,” she says. “You look at the top women chefs, and they are unmarried and don’t have children.
“The reason is chaps will not stay at home and look after the children while women work. You don’t get to be a Michelin-starred chef by cooking lunch.”
Although there are top female chefs who have children, the long, family-unfriendly hours undoubtedly have an effect. That being said, there are signs more women are making it work.
Liz Nuñez was recently appointed chef at Grand Hyatt Dubai’s steakhouse, Manhattan Grill. She agrees her gender is vastly underrepresented in restaurant kitchens, and also points to the long hours, tough environments and a lack of stability as factors.
“Most people say that the position of head chef is a tough, male-dominated job and yes, this image has been correct – but we are starting to notice a change,” the Argentine says.
“There have been women who have managed to grow as head chefs and prove themselves among the best chefs in the world, and show that a woman in the kitchen can really do just as amazing a job as a man.”
Nuñez lists numerous examples, including Dominique Crenn of two Michelin-starred Atelier Crenn in San Francisco; Anne-Sophie Pic of three-starred Maison Pic in south-east France; Ana Roš, a Slovenian who is considered one of the world’s best; and Clare Smyth, who became the first British woman to hold three Michelin stars, during her reign as chef patron at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
There has been a notable change at the top in recent years, and despite women still being outnumbered, those who do make it are more visible and could well be inspiring other women to work their way up in the profession.
“It’s a male-dominated industry but lately, we have seen more women coming in,” says Sunjeh Raja, the director and chief executive of the International Centre for Culinary Arts in the UAE.
“For the professional industry courses we run, which are a lot more demanding, in an average year between 30 and 40 per cent of the students are women, but for the amateur courses it’s about 80 per cent female.”
Recalling her time at college in London, Parsk says: “We had quite a good number of females, but I think there are only one or two of us that are still in the industry today.”
Nuñez also believes female chefs have to sacrifice more than men to make it.
“The passion needs to be real,” she says. “In the majority of the kitchens I have worked in, I used to be the only female chef – but I have a tough personality which made things easier.”
“You do have to prove yourself – you need to show that you mean business,” Parsk agrees.
“I worked with one chef that quite enjoyed giving me the horrible jobs in my first week.
“When he saw I could handle it ... I sort of earned his respect and he started to teach me.”
Regardless of gender, the women who have made it are quick to point out that leading a kitchen is a more than just a way of earning a living.
“Someone once told me, our industry isn’t a job, it’s a lifestyle choice, and I agree,” Parsk says. “You have to really love it ... but it really doesn’t matter what restaurant you work in, or what sex you are – as long as you can cook to the standard required, that is important.”
artslife@thenational.ae
Company profile
Name: Oulo.com
Founder: Kamal Nazha
Based: Dubai
Founded: 2020
Number of employees: 5
Sector: Technology
Funding: $450,000
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The five pillars of Islam
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo
Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 28
Sector: Financial services
Investment: $9.5m
Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
The Word for Woman is Wilderness
Abi Andrews, Serpent’s Tail
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
SPAIN SQUAD
Goalkeepers Simon (Athletic Bilbao), De Gea (Manchester United), Sanchez (Brighton)
Defenders Gaya (Valencia), Alba (Barcelona), P Torres (Villarreal), Laporte (Manchester City), Garcia (Manchester City), D Llorente (Leeds), Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Midfielders Busquets (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Pedri (Barcelona), Thiago (Liverpool), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Ruiz (Napoli), M Llorente (Atletico Madrid)
Forwards: Olmo (RB Leipzig), Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Morata (Juventus), Moreno (Villarreal), F Torres (Manchester City), Traore (Wolves), Sarabia (PSG)
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
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Fourth-round clashes for British players
- Andy Murray (1) v Benoit Paire, Centre Court (not before 4pm)
- Johanna Konta (6) v Caroline Garcia (21), Court 1 (4pm)
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 217hp at 5,750rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 1,900rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh130,000
On sale: now
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Punchy appearance
Roars of support buoyed Mr Johnson in an extremely confident and combative appearance
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ponti
Sharlene Teo, Pan Macmillan
'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Score
New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs
New Zealand win by 47 runs
New Zealand lead three-match ODI series 1-0
Next match: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, Friday
As it stands in Pool A
1. Japan - Played 3, Won 3, Points 14
2. Ireland - Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1, Points 11
3. Scotland - Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1, Points 5
Remaining fixtures
Scotland v Russia – Wednesday, 11.15am
Ireland v Samoa – Saturday, 2.45pm
Japan v Scotland – Sunday, 2.45pm
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Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
MATCH DETAILS
Liverpool 2
Wijnaldum (14), Oxlade-Chamberlain (52)
Genk 1
Samatta (40)