Met Padma & she signed my copy of her cookbook!

I was fortunate enough to attend a panel discussion on “Gender in the Kitchen” at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. The focus of the event was to hear Padma Lakshmi (best known as one of the hosts of Top Chef) & Amanda Hesser (former New York Times Magazine food editor and founder of food52.com), give their opinions on gender roles in the kitchen and their general thoughts on home cooking.

Here are my 3 fave points/quotes raised by the panel:

1. “Men are chefs, but women are cooks.”
How often do we see a woman’s name as the head chef in a restaurant (except for here)? But if you look behind the scenes to the sous-chefs and other cooks, women abound! This is obviously changing, but I was shocked to learn that in the restaurant world, there is a huge gender gap. Women need to continue to challenge these glass ceilings!

2. “When I cook, I’m the vainest b*tch on the block”.
Padma said this and I totally agree! When I slave away at a new recipe in the kitchen I’m super proud of it and very vain when eating it. And guests eating better come ready with their compliments! Can you relate?

3. “It’s easy to make something taste good by using fat.”
Don’t take the easy way out! Butter, salt, sugar- these are all “amateur” ways of making food taste good. Learning to use other ingredients to add flavor -like herbs, spices and even citrus- will take your cooking game into the big leagues.

***Are you vain about your cooking? What ingredients do you use for flavor? How do these quotes resonate with you?***

-CFC