PREFERENCE IN COOKERY

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 67, 16 September 1936, Page 10

PREFERENCE IN COOKERY

Before condemning Mr. Hislop for his remarks on New Zealand cookery, writes a correspondent under the pen name of "Fried Bread," let us look into his charges and see if there is anything of substance under what he has brought to the surface. Personally, I feel he is right for the following reasons:— Why are the hospitals every year being enlarged to accommodate an everincreasing army of menfolk? Why after every meal do men complain of internal pains? Why do the majority of men have a private chemist's shop in the house for safety? Why are hundreds of men broken down in

health with worry about indigestion, appendicitis, and other maladies? >Vhere do men prefer to go when they.

are hungry? Do they go to the woman cook for something to eat? No, Sir, they go to the fried-fish restaurant for a substantial well-cooked meal. These men know what they are about. In some secret fashion they have discovered that away at the back of these eating-houses are men cooks. To see a male cook in action is a sight never to be forgotten. Calm, dignified, and swift, he^glides around like a piece oi machinery. He wields the rolling-pin like a true expert and cooks a dozen dishes at once with the greatest- ease. Unlike the woman cook, he carefully weighs all ingredients on scales. He does not take risks, for he has a responsible position and is careful that nothing happens that would injure his reputation as a super cook. Napoleon once said that an army marches on its stomach. He was right. Watch any crowded thoroughfare and soon you will see the big strong man with a firm .step and laughter in his eyes, who looks on the world as a paradise, and who has never had a pain in his life. He is the bachelor, who cooks his own meals or patronises a fish shop. Compare him with the weakly, stoopshouldered, helpless-looking wreck who holds on to his wife for support. It is easy to see that his chief diet has been weak tea and saveloys. He is to be pitied as he ambles along complaining of hunger and threatening to call an ambulance. He is the victim of some woman cook, who evidently was thinking of drapers' shops and bargain sales as she gazed into the frying-pan. In conclusion, I congratulate Mr. JHis'lop on his great courage in such outspoken remarks. Something had to be done to remedy matters. This subject is one that has been kept carefully in the background, but the day is fast approaching when all cooking will be done by men cooks. Then all talk of weaklings not being allowed to marry will cease and laughter, good health, and a feeling of well-Being will be the lot of all.