P i s t a c h i o

The tension between cooking and masculinity has been resolved. It is now perfectly acceptable for men to show passion for food.

– from The Emergence of the Gastrosexual [2008]

Great news.

Apparently, he’s 33 to 64 years old, passionate about cooking and may also use his cooking to seduce. Curiously, or maybe not, even though he cares about the authenticity of a dish and cooking from scratch, he’s not above buying prepared food. Asian is the style of cooking that captivates him most.

I hope the Gastrosexual doesn’t go the way of the Metrosexual, like a tony sauce that was once a notch on your gastronomical belt, but is now relegated to the catch-all shelf on the fridge door. You don’t want to throw it out because it’s beautifully packaged, it was expensive and still has some cachet.

The sauce calls to you every so often, and you think about it for a minute, and then decide to be honest with yourself.

You’re just not into it anymore.

Riffling through some research for a profile I’m writing about Anne Yarymowich, Executive Chef of the Art Gallery of Ontario, I came across a couple of those “Why-aren’t-there-more-women-chefs?” articles, and I have to ask: why are we still measuring women against men in terms of a body count?

The complaint is a half-empty glass, and in a gulp, all women cooking professionally are “not enough,” particularly the new 26-year-old chef being reviewed in said piece and whom the writer admired.

No one should enter a field to represent her gender. Our only purpose is to feed the fire in our bellies, whatever the work. The fire knows more than we do, and it’s not gender-specific.

Thanks to Gremolata, here’s a London Times piece about the mini cow.

She’ll give you 16 pints of milk a day, and you can drink it unpasturized.

The piece reports that the Dexter is a Irish breed the size of a German Shepard and touts it as “the world’s most efficient, cutest and tastiest cow.” She’ll keep your lawn mowed and be a great family pet for years “before ending up in the freezer.”

Hmmm. Don’t think the kids’ll go for that.