The way to a man's heart

Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Peter Gordon, Manu Feildel. There is no shortage of male chefs - why then is Kiwi men's repertoire limited to a Sunday fry-up or snarlers on the barbie? Bay men are bucking the trend and learning a few tricks of their own in the kitchen, finds Annemarie Quill.

Tauranga Simon Bridges may have the recipe for a perfect world, but when he gets in the kitchen he is limited.

"I can cook to survive. I can do staples like shepherd's pie but I think Natalie [Simon's wife] would like it if I could make more sophisticated food like pastas and risottos. She is a fussier eater than I am. People often ask me for my recipes for charity books so I think I need to branch out a bit."

Simon says he enjoys cooking and finds it relaxing, "I recently went on the Good Morning show with Astar to make a frittata. It was supposed to be easy but we had eight takes. So I am pretty good at frittata at the moment."

In the interest of surprising Natalie with a feast, Simon recently enrolled on a new cooking course just for men run by chef Siobhan Fitzgerald at the Bay's newest upmarket lodge, the French Country House at Pahoia.

As relaxing as golf

Irish-born Siobhan started the new cooking classes because she knows many men like Simon who are keen to learn new skills.



"Men want to learn more dishes that their partner or family will enjoy. They are realising that cooking doesn't have to be a chore, but can be as relaxing a social pastime as golf."

Siobhan says that whereas men might have once balked at even lending a hand in the kitchen, now they will try that hand at a whole meal, inspired by popular culture on television cooking shows.

"Men are starting to recognise their culinary potential and going from hunter gatherers to creative chefs.

"Cooking programmes like MasterChef and My Kitchen Rules send out the message that it is not only quite cool to be able to cook but it's a way to get great tasting food - after all, the saying is true that the way to a man's heart is [through] his stomach."

Siobhan's men-only classes are held in the stunning French-style kitchen at the lodge. "I think having a kitchen that you love really encourages you to cook," says Siobhan.

Great produce to work with

Wine is served during the cooking process. "As we women know this makes the cooking process a delight," says Siobhan. Or at least seem easier. Afterwards they all sit down at the table in the Great Room to enjoy the meal, admiring the stunning views of Tauranga city lights and the Mount.

Simon says it is an amazing setting to learn in.

"We are lucky in the Bay to have great produce to work with. We learned how to make bread, and a whole meal with venison, pumpkin, red cabbage, sliced potatoes which I have since made with Natalie. But most of all we had a great laugh."

The men used skills they already had and applied them in the kitchen.

"We had the builders and architects making beer bread and chocolate tarts, the surgeon removing membrane from chicken livers for a chicken liver and brandy pate and the businessmen keeping an eye on the venison and keeping all in order," says Siobhan.

Two of the men joining Simon on the course were cosmetic physician and phlebologist Dr Geoff Olsen, owner of Fraser Clinic, and optometrist Tim Langford.

"The class was an opportunity to learn as well as having a good time with like-minded blokes," says Geoff.

"I am a very poor cook. Kiwi men do stay away from the kitchen, but this is starting to change.

Expectations are low

"Cooking shows on TV are portraying 'men in the kitchen' as a good thing.

"With more women in the workforce, men have to step up to the mark," he says.

 

"An advantage for a man when it comes to cooking is that expectations are low. The skills gained at a class may not only surprise those he is catering for, but will also be appreciated by them. There is of course the personal satisfaction that you can produce a meal that is better than the safe and boring."

Siobhan says that cooking classes are an inexpensive way of getting together with friends. She even runs them for birthday parties.

indulge columnist and chef Peter Blakeway is a cook school veteran. He is also noticing that more men are attending his classes. Peter runs the Fisher & Paykel Cook School in the vintage wine cellar at Mills Reef Winery and makes guest appearances at Bel Mondo in Tauranga and the Good Food Trading Company

in the Mount.

"Historically commercial cooking has been dominated by men and domestic cooking by women. Thankfully this is changing, with cooking being seen as a life skill for all. It is a profession that rewards imagination. Food as entertainment is probably the major driver in getting men into the kitchen. Not only is it

great fun but also a way to get out of the washing up."

Peter says that men might be better cooks than they realise.

"The barbecue is the hardest and most aggressive form of cooking so I've always found it amusing that the family member with probably the least cooking knowledge believes themselves to be king of that domain."

All sorts of blokes

Peter thinks that the hard part is attracting men to the classes but is sure that once there they will do well

"We all know how good men are at asking directions so any man that enrols in a cook school course is already well on the way to gaining the skills needed to learn."

Peter has taught all sorts of blokes from rugby players to computer geeks.

"Over the years I've done many men-only courses and am always astonished by the interest. One of the interesting ones is when I'm teaching the fishermen at the Mount Ocean Sports Club, who do the manly hunter gatherer thing and yet are increasingly interested in what to do with their catch."

Luisa Schroder at Mediterranean food store Bel Mondo says 10 per cent of its cooking classes are men.

"We get a huge range of men from professionals to farm-hands. We have some pilots who are regular customers and they are often inspired by their travels to make international dishes. We also get husbands coming with their wives, or men who are coming because their wives bought the class for them as a present.

Recently one wife bought her husband two courses in a row."

Luisa wouldn't rule out doing a men-only class though also thinks that men and women learn collaboratively together. "It is nice if they come together because they learn how to work together in the kitchen at home."

Back in the French Country House, Simon has an appetite for more.

"I really have the taste for more gourmet food rather than my mince-based offerings. Frittata? Too easy. I am keen to master flambeing. But I don't think I will do it on live TV."

Good idea. Siobhan had to use 20 times the usual amount of Deinlein Limoncello to get Simon's crepes to light. It would have been rude not to eat it afterwards so we all tucked in.

We are getting to like this idea of men in the kitchen.

Cooking courses in the Bay:

French Country House Courses with Siobhan Fitzgerald

Men's class: $90 which includes a half-day workshop, three-course meal and wine.

Other courses include bread making workshops, French country courses, chef's tours of various countries, gluten free baking, easy dinner parties to fine dining experience. "Whatever you want to learn we will teach," says Siobhan.

Peter Blakeway regularly runs cooking classes and demonstrations in the Bay www.peterblakeway.co.nz

Belmondo are running September classes with Peter Blakeway. www.belmondo.co.nz

Peter is also running lunch time and evening classes at Mills Reef in September, November and December. www.millsreef.co.nz/events