Colette: What are you doing?

Linguini: (Stammering) Uh, I’m cutting vegetables. I’m cutting the… vegetables?

Colette: No! You waste energy and time! You think cooking is a cute job, eh? Like Mommy in the kitchen? Well… you CANNOT be MOMMY!

Wrong. Just like Alfredo Linguini, the garbage boy in Ratatouille, who “learns” to cook with the help of Remy the masterchef rat, boys today are breaking the stereotype that the kitchen is the girl’s domain. All you need is to don the apron and have a little passion for the pudding.

PROOF OF THE PUDDING

Is in the number of boys who are making the pudding. At The Heritage School, the ratio of boys to girls in the cookery class of XII is — wait for it — 23:2. “Over the last couple of years, the trend is that more number of boys in classes XI and XII are opting for cookery than girls,” admits Smita Maitra, the home science teacher at the school.

In all-boys St. James’ School, the passion starts young. The school in Entally has had “more number of applicants compared with the number of seats” for non-fire cooking classes. “Cooking is an activity in classes III and IV and this year we had 40 boys who wanted to join, but we couldn’t accommodate all,” says Angela Ghose, the headmistress of the junior section.

Other schools like Birla High for Boys are cooking up a storm by way of occasional culinary contests. At an inter-house culinary contest held in April, boys came up with innovative breakfast recipes — from Cucumber Canoe (cucumber with a filling of grated paneer) to cakes made of digestive biscuits and dry fruits.

“When the competition was announced, we had so many participants that we had to go through a selection test. And since it was about nutrition, the boys were careful not just about the garnishing but also what kind of olive oil they were using and its advantages,” said Ruma Chatterjee, the biology teacher in charge of the health and wellness club at the Moira Street school.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The same boys who would till the other day shy away from playing with cooking utensils are now jumping happily from the frying pan into the fire. There has been a marked increase in the number of boys joining the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM), where Plus-2 students join to take up F&B as a career. The Sector V institute is currently running the Young Chef India Schools 2013, in association with t2, a national cooking competition, where the best teen cooks will be taken to London.

“Yes, more boys are wanting to be chefs now. From the first year of the contest to the third, the number of boys participating in the cookery contest has increased by at least 20 per cent. I think the reason behind this is what children are seeing on TV and reading in the newspapers today,” says Suborno Bose, director, Indismart Group, the parent company of IIHM. “Films like Cheeni Kum in 2007 had a role model like Amitabh Bachchan as chef. And today, cookery shows like MasterChef and Foodistan have male participants at the forefront.”

In the Delhi leg of the Young Chef contest, of the 150 students participating, “around 90 per cent” were boys.

Teachers say the change is more need-based than career-driven. “Students go to study abroad or far from home and learning to cook becomes mandatory because they need to take care of themselves,” feels Meena Kak, principal of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy.

Agrees Aayush Jindal of The Heritage School, who chose cooking over martial arts. “In a year’s time, I will be studying away from home. Who would cook for me? Cooking is not a woman’s job, it’s just the stereotype created,” says the Class XII student, one of the many to realise early that there is no point staying on in Calcutta after school.

In South City International School, cooking is part of Socially Useful Productive Work (SUPW) in classes VI to IX. “Boys are usually more enthusiastic in bringing to us to taste what they make,” says principal John Bagul.

For students like Shresth Murarka of DPS Ruby Park, it’s about wanting a share of the pie! “Girls are entering every field, we also want to get in!” laughs the Class XII student who recently enrolled for the prelims of the IIHM Young Chef India Schools 2013. The fun food he served up? Maggi Spring Roll and Amul Kool Badam Shake.

MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA EFFECT

Mother-son duo Leona and Keyon Alley would sit down every evening for their daily dose of MasterChef Australia and Season II of Junior Masterchef. Nine-year-old Keyon’s first reaction would be, “Hey mom, let’s make the Drunken Chicken we just saw”. So when the St. James’ student chose to join cookery classes instead of the quiz club a year ago, Leona was not surprised.

“Yes, I was caught unawares but not surprised because he is interested in cooking. He is so adept that he can tell the difference between basil and parsley leaf,” she says. Plus, she encourages him because “home-cooked is better than junk food from outside” in today’s fast-food world of calorie-laden burgers and fries. So Keyon continues to spend time in the kitchen, stirring the soup or rolling out chapatis while sister Malaika, 13, steps in only for a bite.

The MasterChef Australia phenomenon is of course another story. By the time t2 caught up with judges Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris on the Melbourne sets of the reality TV show, they had clearly been rocked by the India experience.

“Yeah, we were mobbed. We raced away from a book signing in different cars and people were following us on mopeds!” smiled Gary, adding, “I reckon 25 per cent of my Twitter base is from India. So, MasterChef Australia is quite a big thing there...”

And, with a fair share of fanboys. One of the challenges on MasterChef Australia Season 4 was, in fact, a “dude food” invention test. Basically stuff that boys like to stuff their faces with — burgers, hotdogs, onion rings, potato wedges, French fries, sloppy joes, pork chops, spare ribs — calorie count be damned! And it sure helped that the season was won by a total dude: the 23-year-old Andy Allen.

Masterchef apart, Nigella Lawson’s looks, Gordon Ramsay’s persona and Sanjeev Kapoor’s easy-to-follow recipes have all added to the “cool” quotient of cooking. “I got interested in cooking after watching Sanjeev Kapoor on TV, first in Khana Khazana and now in MasterChef India. The world’s best chefs are men and many of my friends are as interested as me in cooking,” says 17-year-old Qamar Negar of Rose Bud School, Liluah, who occasionally “stirs up Chinese food and non-veg dishes” at home.

“The other day, I didn’t know what to get for my brother’s birthday so I cooked him Baked Chicken Fillet instead,” smiles Aditya Kumar, Class XII student of DPS, New Town, who tunes into Nigella’s Nigellissima, which airs on TLC on weekdays at 10pm, to learn how to garnish a dish “because that you don’t find online”.

NOT AS EASY AS APPLE PIE

Turning chef may look all hunky-dory but persuading parents — in particular the father — is often the hardest nut to crack.

“My father had some issues with me cooking and wanted me to take up marketing instead. But after seeing my potential and then my picture in t2 at the prelims of the Young Chef contest, he is okay with me pursuing my dream. If they feel otherwise in the future, at first I’ll hear their reasons out and put mine forward. I’m sure they’ll see light,” says Trinish Bhattacharya of St. Paul’s Mission School.

The second hurdle is dealing with criticism from the peer group. “Sometimes my friends tease me, ‘You’re a guy, tu cooking karega?’ but a career counsellor told me that I should not feel shy. I should always do what makes me happy now and what would make me happy 10 years from now,” says wise old Aditya Kumar of DPS, New Town.

Counselling is emerging as a key confidence-builder for boys who can cook when parents turn on the heat. “During counselling for Class XI, we try to encourage boys to take up home science. Fathers often object despite us trying to convince them that it might ensure the boy a job,” says Sonali Sen, the principal of DPS.

Parents need not get broiled by boys choosing kitchen over karate kick. Cooking is not just the pie in the sky, it can bring home the bacon too. At IIHM, the boy-girl student ratio is 60:40, while at the adjoining hotel Indismart, the staff ratio is 90:10. “This goes to show that women usually drop out (because of the working hours and timings) or go the family way but men stick on to be the bread-earners,” says IIHM director Bose.

So the next time your son says, “Dad, I want to be a chef when I grow up”, don’t compare apples and oranges. Give him a chance to be the Remy in Ratatouille.