Historically, the kitchen in the house was managed by the woman. But when that kitchen is industrial and it is in a restaurant, the equation changes. As if feeding was a female act indoors, but masculine when we talk about a profession or a business. Even today, and despite the gigantic advancement of women, in all areas of gastronomy, from a luxury restaurant to a neighborhood ice cream parlor, most decision-making places are still occupied by men.
From the list of the influential 50 Best Latam ranking, in just over 20% of restaurants the head chef or owner is a woman. One of them is Narda Lepes, who in a recent interview in Clarion – precisely with regard to the award for the best female chef in Latin America than that organization – pointed to “socio-cultural, economic, gender factors, personal prejudices of the person who is going to hire you” to analyze why kitchens are not couples.
All those consulted by this note coincide. Prejudice and what it’s been like this for decades appear as the main factors of this imbalance in the conduction that Lepes marked. They also agree that changes are taking place, but that the road ahead is still very long.
“Gastronomy is super behind other items”Raquel Tejerina says bluntly, who together with her sister Mariana run the Catalino restaurant in Colegiales. “In other areas there are things that have already been resolved. Today in any office it is normal for there to be women and men. In restaurants, there are male owners who still have to think ‘Oh, I have to have a female quota,’ “he says.
Raquel (left) and Mariana (right) Tejerina, the owners of the Catalino de Colegiales restaurant. Photo Fernando of the Order
Many are changing an ingrained look from years, others are doing it “because it is what to do, such as separating the garbage”, others to get on a trend. Tejerina believes that you have to take advantage of it because in the end “there will be more women and they will earn their place, as we have always done ”.
The one who talks about winning a place is Julieta Oriolo, chef and owner of the Italian cuisine restaurant La Alacena. “I started at 20 and always had good cooking and co-ed teams. But I saw that it was like ‘The woman is a pastry chef, she makes sweets’, and I was against that. I had to work hard to show within the teams that could do the same job as a man. And there I demanded myself much more physically, “she says.
It is that from the kitchen we see the glamor of a dish and the chefs on TV, but in a restaurant there are no MasterChef cameras or assistants. You have to literally put your body on: load weight, burn yourself, cut yourself, work long hours, day and night, weekends and holidays.
A subheading within the category where women are even fewer is that of the pizzerias. “I’ve never heard of a pizza teacher,” says Lorena Fernández, president of the Association of Pizzeria and Empanada House Owners (APPYCE) about the locations affiliated with the chamber of pizzerias. Yes, there are more empanaderas and also some smaller enterprises led by women, but none of them kneading and rolling out 200 buns a day, for example, in one of the famous pizzerias on Corrientes Street.
But recently, women’s interest in the professional courses taught by the chamber has skyrocketed. “Leaving a resume of a woman in a pizzeria, or in gastronomy in general, was previously unthinkable. Gradually the changes are taking place”, Remarks Fernández, who is about to incorporate a pasta cook and a salon employee in his pizzeria.
Irene Granara, in her ice cream parlor. In the field, there are very few ice cream masters. Photo AFADHYA
In ice cream parlors, there are also few teachers of ice cream. Irene Granara, member of the Association of Artisanal Ice Cream and Related Manufacturers (AFADHYA), says that of her associated ice cream parlors in only two women are in the making because this work also involves a lot of physical effort, “but there are many behind in the management of formulas. I don’t elaborate, but I’m there all the time improving things ”. The participation of both Fernández and Granara in the executive committees of these two entities historically managed by men is a sign of the times that are beginning to change.
Prejudices and realities
With these changes, a common reality appears: that many men do not like having a woman as their boss. “Here there were 40 men used to seeing a male manager. When they went to sign their receipt and I received them, it was shocking for everyone. But the adaptation was excellent. They got used to it ”, says Fernández. “The ego does not allow many men to bank a female boss. Maybe yes now the younger generations”Adds Tejerina.
And a common prejudice that also continues to appear is that women create problems in the work team. “I’ve heard bosses say that. Let’s see, have you ever had a problem with male employees? And in that case, did you attribute it to gender? Not really. They are personnel selection problems that are attributed to gender”, Says the bartender Pipi Yalour, who points out that although there are bar owners and bar bosses, these cases are still“ exceptional ”. “We started by asking that there be women in gastronomy and the next request is that they be in decision-making or exhibition positions if we talk about brands.”
Julieta Oriolo, in the kitchen of La Alacena.
She warns that gastronomy “is super hierarchical. You report to your boss, and during the service it is like that, very top-down. It is difficult to reconcile that in a macho society with safe environments”, she expresses to bring up another issue that cannot be avoided: that of sexual harassment situations.
“Very few women can tell you, working in a bar, that they did not have an uncomfortable situation. ‘Well, I went through the back’ … for them it is a joke, it is funny; for us it is going to work”, He remarks. What did she do in those situations? “There were times when I didn’t say anything because I needed the job, and I was so young that I didn’t even know what feminism was. In others, you elbow him down the ribs and tell him not to do it again. But it’s horrible, ”he admits.
The problem of harassment was recently made visible with the complaint of the cook and pastry chef Trinidad Benedetti to chef Pablo Massey, but according to a survey carried out by the Barmaids Map –a platform for the visibility and empowerment of women in gastronomy– 30% of the gastronomic workers suffered physical abuse in their work, of which 25% came from their bosses or colleagues.
Making visible these and other problems that women have to develop professionally in gastronomy is one of the objectives of MIGA (for the acronym of Women Driving of Argentine Gastronomy), a group of cooks, producers, sommeliers, journalists and other gastronomy professionals that make up Tejerina. “We invite all gastronomic women to join in to raise problems and seek solutions together, not alone”, He summons.
Julieta Caruso is another renowned chef, today at the helm of Casa Cavia. Also mother, broke the myth that motherhood prevents a woman from making a career in gastronomy. “I found a way for it to work. It is more what society imposed than what women should be. It is time for this generation to get rid of that taboo and look for systems, and for each one to raise their child differently, while you and he are happy, “he says.
That of the new generations is a concept that all the interviewees bring. A generation of young cooks to those that the canon is not what matters, but to work in teams and make their way in an environment where they are respected and valued beyond gender. Tejerina points out that many of these young cooks and pastry chefs opened gastronomic ventures in the last year, despite the pandemic. Caruso states that “we would have to ask ourselves what are we doing today so that women continue to grow in a kitchen”. And Oriolo adds that “it would be ideal to start showing that there are female chefs, as in my case, that They did not need a gastronomic entrepreneur to open their restaurant and fulfill his dream ”.
“Magazine covers have always featured successful male chefs, here and around the world. Making women visible would also help the new generations and surely their salary arrangements … so that employers take into account that we are here, that we can do it, and that we can do it very well”, Concludes the owner of La Alacena.
ACE
source https://pledgetimes.com/yes-at-home-no-in-the-restaurant-why-are-there-still-few-women-in-charge-of-the-kitchens/
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