TRUE MAN : He can cook

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, so they say. But do you know the way to your own stomach? In the world we live in today, you just cannot take anything for granted. One has to pick up as many skills as they can, because you just never know when you might need them. One of these is the ability to cook. You don’t need anyone to tell you that an African man has many skills of survival, one of them being preparing food. The current economy situation surely doesn’t encourage eating from hotels and restaurants all the time. At some point, man leaves his parent’s home and sets out to live his life; it is only logical that he can look after himself, including being able to prepare a meal for himself. I am not talking about boiling eggs, or microwaving a pizza. I mean a real meal, something with dietary value. You don’t have to be able to cook up a multi-course meal; a simple, decent edible meal will do. Leave the complicated stuff for those who need them, like the caterers. While some might want to argue that coking is a woman’s thing, claiming women are naturally equipped and designed to understand and implement the tasks of kitchen duty is untrue; it is very common knowledge that the best chefs are men. In eight out of ten hotels, the main chef is a male, and this has nothing to do with politics; men are naturally good cooks. Any man can be a good cook, but most ignore this part of them, in pursuit of “greater and more important things”. But what could be more important than feeding. Eating is one of the most basic human needs, as important as sleep. Restaurants and fast foods/takeaways aren’t exactly a solution. Everyone knows that besides being expensive, these foods are not that healthy. It is much cheaper and healthier to make your own meals whenever you can. Perhaps this is for the single men. Single men who can prepare a decent meal are a rarity, and women sure do love such a guy. It hints on a self-sufficiency that is so obviously lacking among most single men today. A married man might perhaps not see the need to go into the kitchen and prepare a meal, because that is “not his duty”. If the person who normally makes your meals cannot, because of any reason, should everyone starve? Or start ordering take away, just because you didn’t take care to learn how to peel potatoes? If your wife is indisposed, being able to make her a meal without the risk of food poisoning or burning the house down is a great relief for her. Cooking is a fun activity, a family group activity. Preparing a meal together creates a bond that comes from the feeling of doing something together and enjoying the results together. This can be something to look forward to, say on weekends, in these days when couples are so busy they rarely get time to do anything together. But however good a man becomes in the kitchen, he shouldn’t forget that the kitchen is primarily the woman’s domain. This is one of the few places a woman feels totally feminine, owing to their natural instinct to feed those they love. Your meals might be way better than hers; instead of refusing to eat her “substandard meals”, teach her, encourage her, show her how you do it. There is nothing as pitiful as a woman who feels like she is being usurped from her position. Even the best chefs we have tell you that at home, the kitchen belongs to the wife. shemmugisha@gmail.com