JOIN THE CLUB: Meals by males

By John Van Klaveren
BOYS will be boys, even when they’re men in the kitchen, as a SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre group can attest.
The Thursday morning men’s kitchen group is a raucous, rollicking, fun-filled four hours.
Oh, and some food gets cooked along the way.
Egg, bacon and mushroom pasta followed by chocolate self-saucing pudding was on the menu when Join the Club visited.
“If it looks disorganised, don’t worry about it – this is one of our better days,” quipped one of the 11 kitchen hands.
“We’re here for the camaraderie as well as cooking something nutritious,” another offered.
“We tend to be a little politically incorrect. It gets a bit rowdy but the food gets cooked.
“We do have recipes but we don’t always follow them. As we always say, we don’t make mistakes, we do variations.”
The cooking consisted mainly of one member mixing the pudding and another draining the pasta while the remainder offered advice and support.
“We do actually share jobs out but we tend to work it out as we go along,” said one of the “supervisors”.
“Someone has to buy the ingredients during the week then someone else takes the aprons and tea towels to wash.
“But we’re not as good at washing up after the session.”
Nothing new there.
The men’s kitchen concept has become so popular the centre now has three groups and a waiting list.
“The blokes on the waiting list have to wait for one of us to die before they can get in,” a cook joked.
The men agree they once had little time for cooking during busy working lives.
“But now we really enjoy it. It’s the boys getting together and our wives certainly don’t discourage it.
“My wife always said she was forever slaving over a hot stove, so I had to find out whether it was true.”
Ironically, proceedings pause for morning tea.
No wonder a 45-minute preparation time takes four hours but, as the men happily point out, that includes eating the fruits of their labours.
More information about the group is available by phoning the centre on 5253 1960 or visiting springdale.org.au.