In my personal opinion, I feel that most men make better chefs than women. Before you galz hantam me, please refer to the bolded words and let me emphasize that I wrote MOST men…not ALL men. I would also like to emphasize on the word CHEF and not cooks. It might mean the same thing to you, but not to me. Example: My mom is a GREAT cook, and I on the other hand, is a pretty good chef (tooting my own horn here).

Let me tell you the differences between a cook and a chef. Please note that this is how I see it, so if you feel it’s wrong or incorrect, just post a comment. I’ll just decide if it’s worth publishing. MUAHAHAHAHAHA~!

Well, here goes. First up…the cook. A cook is usually a woman and most likely a housewife. For a cook, recipes are passed down from generation to generation, from mother to daughter in most cases. Recipes are simple yet supremely delicious and one of a kind, it is very hard to duplicate a cook’s recipe. The reason behind this is because most cook’s recipes frequently use the agak-agak method of measurement. A cook doesn’t always make new recipes and usually concentrates on perfecting a few existing ones (which is why they are supremely delicious). A cook usually makes food with a special ingredient -love. While we’re on the topic of cooking with love, it might also be noted that the quality of a cook’s food varies with the mood of the cook at the time it was made. Usually, when wives cook for their hubby on Valentine’s Day or Christmas or his birthday, the food just tastes extra good. However, during certain times of the month…the food quality drops a little but guys will and should NEVER say anything~! Presentation is not of utmost importance for a cook. As long as it tastes good, they can serve it in a basin and people will still eat it. Take for example your mom, do you see her serving you chicken curry on a 1ft X 1ft square plate with a dollop of santan in the corner and a few fresh sprigs of daun kari as a garnish?

Next up…the chef. A chef is usually a guy and mostly quite good looking as well (with the exception of Chef Wan and that Chef Skuter guy). Most of the time, it takes some formal education to be a chef. Recipes are often learned from duplicating a senior chef’s recipe until the time is right to get creative and create a totally new recipe. A chef’s recipe usually includes very precise measurements and procedures. This is so the learning chefs don’t screw up their masterpieces. Their recipes are also very creative and expensive to make. Chefs usually cook food as a profession and make money out of it. There is rarely any love gone into making a dish for you. Presentation is EVERYTHING to a chef. They will go all out to impress you with the look of their dish. Until today I still don’t understand why soup is served in a rather flat bowl that is placed on top of a soup saucer of sorts and is put on the plate that is already on the table which would be removed later for no apparent reason??? Lastly, a chef rarely cleans up his own dirty pots and pans. Why I say I’m a chef is because of that last statement.

With all that being said, there are occurrences of cooks that cook like chefs and chefs that cook like cooks. But who cares? All that just complicates matters…

Now, back to the subject of who is your favourite chef? I have the Asian Food Channel’s chef list to help us along: http://www.asianfoodchannel.com/chefs.php. I vote for Robert Rainford~! License to Grill is my favourite AFC program. It’s all about meat. Me like meat. Me eat meat with fingers. Yum yum ooga ooga ooga. Me go back to cave now to eat meat…