Why men get all the glory in the kitchen

Barry Artiste Op/Ed

You know what really puzzles me?  The Term "All Great Chefs are Men", Now many of us growing up remember Good Old Dad carving the Thanksgiving or Christmas Turkey, standing Majestically at the Head of the Table "Eatin Irons" in hand, while us kids marvel at Dads skill as he carves the Big Bird, Mom sits on the sidelines, almost passively letting Dad have his moment, After all it has always been Dads Domain as head of the family, when actually  it has always been Mom who was the one up at 4 am prepping and roasting the Big Bird and all the Fixins.   On the other hand, many Great Chefs when asked who is the best cook around, invariably the response is "My Mom"!  

I remember as a Kid, my Mom, a noted Authour would sometimes have to travel and give speaking engagements, that left Dad in charge to feed us, my 3 brothers and 3 sisters (Okay we're Irish and Mom couldn't say NO!) Anyways our Dinners consisted of Dad standing over the Freezer scratching his Head, hands on hips, looking more like Mr. Bean, wondering what to feed us! Then, once he picked something out of the Freezer, the next question was, Kids! do you know how your Mother cooked this?  Picture this like a Majestic Lion all big and powerful, while his kids were his scrambling, whiny hungry pride.  Most times Dad would place a slice of cheese on bread, two slices of raw bacon on it and put it in the oven on broil. DINNER IS SERVED! 

Most times, Dad would pick up the phone and order Chinese, East Indian Food or Italian, and covering his hand over the phones mouthpiece he would say to us, Don't tell your Mother!  We, all starving would Nod in agreement!  And just because an East Indian Man, Chinese man or Italian would save us and deliver our food, we knew Damn well, somewhere in those Take Out Kitchens, it was their Moms doing all the cooking.

So lets call a spade a spade, Moms always silently gave credit to Good Old Dad in letting him share the Glory reserved for Mom, as Dad Carved the Big Bird! Let's Face it people if Dad were left to cook the Big Bird, we would all be DEAD of Food Poisoning. 

In Ending, Lets just Give the Baby his Bottle and title them Chef, but in Reality we all know where the credit goes to and thats MOM, so when they say "All Great Chefs are Men", we all know its "Moms Home Cooking" that Sustains us, including Great Chefs!

So any Now Public Readers have any Dad Kitchen Horror stories to share?