What's cooking? Men storm female bastion

Patna: Cooking is often considered as “female bastion” with hardly any space for men. However, with a large number of male candidates joining cookery courses of late, the trend seems to have changed, at least in the state capital. In some of the cookery centres, more than 50% seats are occupied by male students with many of them aspiring to become professional cooks.Some have joined the classes to hone their skill in a bid to improve their business prospects.
Sanjay Kumar, a middle-aged man, who learnt the nitty-gritty of cooking at a Boring Road institute before opening his eating joint near Naugachia railway station, said he started enjoying his work after receiving accolades from customers for preparing mouth-watering dishes. “The best part is that I am able to make a decent living with the money I earn,” he said.
Rajeev Singh (35), head cook of a ship, said he joined the cookery classes to further hone his skill. “Although I am very happy with the appreciation that I receive from people because of quality of the food, there is still room to improve,” Singh said.
Inderjeet Kaur, owner of a cookery centre on Boring Road, said she has been into the business for the last three decades. “When I started, I had a good number of students but all of them were women. Today I have more than 70 students and a large number of them are men,” said Kaur, adding that the boys are more attentive. A number of passouts of her centre have now opened their own centre and some have become chef in reputed restaurants as she teaches Chinese and Continental, Thai, Italian, Punjabi, Mughlai along with confectionary and bakery items. The course fee is Rs 3,000 for basic and Rs 5,000 for advance.
Reenu Shrivastava, a housewife who is learning the tricks of cooking, too said that a large number of men are her classmates.
Urvashi, owner of a cookery centre at Sardar Patel Colony in Kurji, too echoed Kaur’s tone. “I started with just 10 students three years ago. Today, I have more than 25 students, including boys, who actively participate in discussions on spices, blends and new experiments,” said Urvashi.