Разные подходы к готовке: как мужчины и женщины находят общий язык на кухне

By: Jill Pertler When it comes to cooking, patience is often paramount. How that patience plays out can paint a totally different picture – especially when it comes to the battle of the sexes. Men and women both enjoy and employ the art of cooking. Their brushes of choice, however, are as different as the planets of Venus and Mars. For the purposes of illustration only, let’s map out our first landing – on Mars. It is a harsh, volcanic atmosphere, requiring specialized protective gear. Picture if you will: a lone man standing at the helm of a barbecue grill, wearing an apron and fireproof oven mitts. Here, in the most masculine of ways, cooking takes place over an open flame. In this dimension, cooking is not for the faint-of-heart. It is for and about the adventure. Contrast this to another planetary realm: Venus, where a heavy canopy seals the environment, much like the lid of a slow cooker. The heat and moisture are trapped; nothing escapes except the need for constant monitoring. A slow boil ensures nothing burns with this set-it-and-forget-it mentality. In the most gentle of ways, cooking takes place gradually. In this world, planning is everything. No specialized equipment or tending to the fire is needed, because there is no fire. Picture if you will: a lone woman, doing whatever she pleases because she set her entire dinner in a pot before lunch, knowing it will embody a tender, creamy goodness by suppertime. The Martian does not understand the habits of the Venusian, and vice versa. But they both want to – desperately so. And they try. With all that is in their hearts, they try. Mars avoids lifting the lid of the Venus slow cooker, knowing it would anger the Venusian goddess who shares his home. Likewise, Venus refrains from commenting on the flames spiring from the Mars grill because she wants her backyard chef to know his efforts are appreciated. Both are doing their best to see the world through the other’s eyes. Both are driven by a hunger known only by true love and a rumbling of an empty stomach. They long to minimize differences, not maximize them. It’s a wonder when it works. More often than not, it does. Mars and Venus, while worlds apart, find a way to appreciate one another, despite their differences and often because of them. They come to understand that painting and working with different color schemes creates an interesting palette that everyone can appreciate and enjoy. Mars may be red, and Venus yellow, but when they come together in the truest sense, they create a brilliant, multi-colored masterpiece, because that is what love is capable of. When we connect because of our similarities, rather than colliding over our differences, we create a beautifully illuminated canvas – a rich spectrum of the rainbow that creates a beauty like nothing we’ve seen, much less imagined, before. Mars and Venus may not cook the same or think the same but they come to the same table to break bread together, no matter who may have been the cook on any given day. Now as for who’s going to load the dishwasher? Well, that’s another issue completely. Jill Pertler is an award-winning syndicated columnist, published playwright and author. Don’t miss a slice; follow the Slices of Life page on Facebook.