And how do you achieve better labour and social inclusion?

The Municipality of Las Palmas shows one of the many possible steps

We often talk about the fact that the labour field between men and women is not equal, not only in terms of pay but also in terms of participation. It may seem confounding and ironic, yet one of the spheres that best exemplifies that failure is not IT but the culinary field.

How can that be? Throughout human history women have been most associated with food preparation. However, the reality is that outside of the domestic sphere, when it comes to professional gastronomy, the most distinguished establishments, the culinary awards, even the TV shows are all dominated by men.

This was the sentiment expressed by Mari Carmen Reyes, the Councillor for Equality and Diversity in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, speaking at the launching of a new initiative by her Municipality that aims to provide training courses to women so that they will get the inspiration and confidence to pursue a more serious culinary career.

Female-centred culinary workshops

The name of the project in question is ‘Woman – from the simple to the sublime’, will be developed in collaboration with the company Omnivero Gestiones y Productos, S.L., and will include six workshops that will reveal techniques and knowledge used by professional chefs. Developing skills can impart stronger self-esteem and a desire to venture further into the food preparation field.

The programme itself will be divided in 3 parts and 2 components, with 3 workshops being held in person and the other 3 online. The face-to-face classes will hold a maximum of 15 students in order to comply with the sanitary measures currently in place. The online workshops will have a maximum capacity of 50 participants each.

The first of the in-person workshops will demonstrate novel techniques for food preservation. The online course that follows it will discuss the benefits of storing food throughout the year and its benefits.

The second part will delve deeper into food preservation. The practical component will look into how to take advantage of seasonal products, whose price can vary a lot throughout the year. The online class will teach the women about eliminating processed foods from one’s diet and learning how to make natural pre-prepared dishes.

The final part will be concerned with the preparation of meats. Back in the day people were much more skilled in the knowledge of different parts of meats and cuts and this knowledge is gradually getting lost.

Students will have the chance to work on the different ways of cutting and cooking meat, including the preparation of broth, steak tartare, glace and demi-glace sauces and ribs. The online course will demonstrate how to choose the best meat cuts depending on what will be prepared.