Dishing-it-up for the boys

Men and cooking are a strange mix. On the one hand you have the laddish 'Why can't women ski? Because there's no snow between the sink and the bedroom' school of thought. On the other there are the three-Michelin-star chefs like Escoffier, Marco or Ducasse. Thankfully, in between there are a few foodies, noshers and gastronomes who have a genuine appreciation of - and others who just enjoy having a good romp around - the kitchen.

Having said that - here's a whopper of a generalisation - I find cooking for blokes more rewarding than cooking for women: men just love their grub. Put a good meal in front of them and they love it, and they tend to be very vocal about their pleasure in the hope that you'll do it more often.

But the times they are a-changing. The chefs who work for me tend to be men, and among my friends, the fellas nearly always pull their weight in the kitchen. Yet millions of people (such as me) have dads who can't make scrambled eggs. Mine calls making toast 'cooking', and only this year, at the age of 70, has he learned to do frozen peas. But even New Man needs a bit of coaxing and wooing to ensure a dominant position in front of the stove.

This week's recipes are broken down into four dishes that every London man should know: there's something for the morning after (eggs); a good standard recipe (spag bol); one for when you have 'company' (cod), and an easy but impressive pud (tarte Tatin). Apart from the barbie and carving the Sunday dinner, a lot of men feel uncomfortable handling food. The upside to this is that there is still a whole world of learning and pleasure out there for you men to enjoy.