Perhaps you never stopped to notice, but it’s true — most of the sushi chefs in Toronto are men.
While male chefs seem to outnumber their female counterparts in most Toronto restaurants, the ratio in Japanese kitchens is likely the highest.
According to the Toronto Star, only three women make sushi in the city — two at EDO and the third at the Japanese consul-general’s official residence.
A few reasons given why the male-to-female ratio in Japanese restaurant kitchens is so lopsided:
- Women’s hands are too warm
- Their perfume, makeup, lotions interfere with the food
- During their monthly cycles, a woman’s biological state interferes with the delicate art that is Japanese cuisine
The last one’s not a joke, we swear.
Chef Mina Makimine, who works for the consul-general, told the Star that her colleagues discuss “the biological differences which cause women, during their monthly cycles, to fall into different states that affect the delicate and sophisticated form of Japanese cooking.”
Why are Toronto’s sushi chefs almost all male? (Toronto Star)