My coworker (who shall be called Repo Boy) just mentioned (because he's in charge of food for our staff meeting today) that he doesn't cook--"if it's not steak or pop-tarts, you won't catch me touching it. If it comes in a box, I can cook it." My other coworker teased him about making us some grilled salmon, and Repo Boy said "oh, if it's grilled, I can totally cook! I'm all over that! Makes me manly."
That bugs me. Why should grilling be just for men? Why differentiate grilling and cooking? The only practical difference is the heat source. Does this take us back to the time when women were confined to the kitchen and couldn't touch anything as masculine as a barbeque grill? Spare the thought.
A few weeks ago, as I was helping get dinner ready, my dad called me to see how I was. I was standing over the grill, brushing more marinade on some chicken, checking the potatoes, and enjoying the smell of propane, flame, and cooking meat. I said, in response to his question, "I smell like a grill! I'm great!" He said "of course you are! That's a good smell!" We agreed that the only smell better than the smell of a grill is the smell of a campfire.
Now, I don't like smelling like what I'm cooking, most of the time. I have been known to hide in my room whenever someone is deep-frying something, because I don't like smelling like French fries. I don't mind smelling like whatever I'm BAKING, but cooking is a whole different matter...unless it's a grill or a campfire. Not that I'm going to wear a silk shirt while grilling, but it's a smell I really like and I'm always a little disappointed when it goes away.
I like to grill. I like playing with the different temperatures and marinades and sauces. I like knowing, almost by instinct, when a piece of meat is just about perfect. I like the grill marks. I like how a sweet marinade crusts over and sears. I like turning meat over and seeing the flames leap up. I like seeing the juice drip onto the heat source. I love the smell.
I'm also very female. And there's nothing wrong with me for liking to grill. Why should there be that kind of differentiation? Is it that men have been told for so long that women are the kitchen inhabitants and men will only break things or make a mess? Is it that women are told that grills are the specific domain of men and that we don't know what we're doing around them? Why do we put up with this? Ok, I'm not going to go off on a feminist rant, but it's a question that bothers me. Just because grills are so aggressively marketed toward men doesn't mean I should get weird looks when I want to check them out at the store. Just because kitchens are so aggressively marketed toward women doesn't mean that I'm going to give weird looks to a man who waxes profound about convection ovens. I say cooking is fun! I say EVERYONE should be invited! If I'm working the grill, so what? I'm not any worse a cook than any guy who likes to play with fire.
Now I'm hungry. Bring on the raspberry vinaigrette marinated chicken! Get out the zucchini! Unwrap the bratwurst! Let's throw some pineapple on there, too! Grilling for all! Bring your own tongs, though. I don't like to share. ;)
