Marco Pierre White slammed as 'rambling dinosaur' after declaring 'women more emotional in the kitchen'

The formerly Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White has caused upset after telling the Irish Independent that “women are more emotional in the kitchen” than men.

In an interview with the paper, Pierre White, once a brand ambassador for Bernard Matthews and Knorr, said: “The real positive with men is that men can absorb pressure better, that’s the main difference, because they are not as emotional and they don’t take things personally.”

He added: “Look at the size of some of the pans you are carrying. Can you imagine you’re a lady in the kitchen and saying ‘will you carry that pan for me?’ You don’t want to say that, do you?... So men are physically stronger and they can absorb the pressure of the kitchen better.”

The comments from the chef, famous for outbursts in the kitchen and heated feuds with fellow chefs, have prompted a furious response from many in the industry.

Posting on Instagram, chef-owner of the Temper restaurants, Neil Rankin, described the comments as: “nauseating baseless antiquated bulls***”, adding that Pierre White was a “rambling dinosaur”.

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The only real difference between men and women in the kitchen is that men don’t have to put up with this nauseating baseless antiquated bullshit everyday. Women not only have to do the same exact job in every area of hospitality but also have had to contend with every oppressive jibe in the book from day one and not only from their colleagues but from industry leaders like this in 2019 ffs 🙄. Frankly I don’t think men could handle this bullshit every day. I think they’d crumble under the pressure. The whole article if you read it actually comes up the conclusion that women are better in the kitchen but unfortunately via all this clickbait nonsense from a rambling dinosaur . How about we just start judging people based on their individual performance and start promoting the much needed diversity within this dying industry that so desperately needs it.

A post shared by Neil Rankin (@frontlinechef) on Aug 29, 2019 at 12:50am PDT

In reply, Byron’s food and drink director Sophie Michell wrote that she was “f***** sick of this s***”.

Darjeeling Express founder Asma Khan, who oversees an all-female kitchen team, told Big Hospitality that White had shown “his staggering, almost mediaeval gender bias” adding “like a three-day-old fish, [these comments] reek of patriarchy, and there is no place in the kitchen for rotting fish or chefs with these attitudes".

Pierre White, who at one time was the youngest chef to ever hold three Michelin stars, was well known in his early career to throw out customers whose behaviour offended him.