The Guardian‘s Eva Wiseman tries to make sense of gender and food:

Why do men crave steak and Nestle Yorkie bars, while women get associated with cupcakes and Cadbury Flakes?

Interestingly she quotes Grant Achatz, who veritably “snorts” at the idea of gender-oriented eating habits:

What is a masculine presentation? Is it a giant chunk of roasted meat? What makes that manly – the caveman connotation?

Dig into periods of time or age, geographical location, ethnicity and urban versus rural areas and you will find a separation in cooking familiarity and perhaps skill. But that has more to do with society’s control over gender in general than the genetic makeup of people.

The article goes on to discuss advertising, cave men eating patterns, and gay men in the kitchen.

This issue certainly does impact restaurant eating, even if that reflects societal norms rather than real genetic predispositions towards the kind of food we choose to eat.

Super Chef wonders: what do other American chefs think –and whether gender plays into what they put on their menus…