A desire for good food flips gender roles in the only nation where men cook more than women

Around the world, women cook more meals per week than men — but Italy, already globally recognized for its cuisine, men are bucking that trend. It’s the only nation in the world where men outcook the women. 

Cooking is a huge part of culture and family life in the European nation. Dinner rarely comes from a drive-thru or a box, with residents of the nation preferring freshly-made meals. 

“I started cooking when I was a kid,” said electrical engineer Ilario Tito.”I learned from my grandmother, from my grandfather, to cook, also to shop (for) good food. And I like to eat.” 

Sociologist Emiliana De Blasio, of Rome’s LUISS University, told CBS Saturday Morning that for Italians, time spent cooking is akin to “religion.” It also provides a way for families and loved ones to gather. With more and more women joining the workforce and a the desire for good, home-cooked meals lingering, male identity in the nation is “changing,” according to De Blasio. 

“So is tradition, is culture, is love, is also the potential to create a group and a family,” De Blasio said. “And so probably also men want all this power to create a group and family and to persist the heritage from the past to now.” 

Eataly, a high-end food emporium in Rome, offers cooking classes that cover a variety of topics. When “CBS Saturday Morning” attended a class, most of the other students were men. One student, Roberto, said he came after his wife enrolled him in the class as a present. 

“It’s just to say ‘Why don’t you cook also during the night?’” he said. “Because we have a lot of fights.” 

Meanwhile, another student, Riccardo, does the bulk of the cooking at the home he shares with his fiancée, Chiara. She works late, so he cooks. He likes the time spent preparing a meal — and the look on his fiancée’s face when she comes home to a prepared table. 

“I enjoy that moment. I’m very happy to do (for her),” Riccardo said. 

But gender roles haven’t changed everywhere. De Blasio joked that when it comes to doing the dishes, women usually pick up the slack. 

“Usually the men don’t clean the kitchen,” she said. “But this is an issue on which we can work. We can fix it.”