At the home of Gregorio Contreras, 70, his wife cooked and he washed the dishes.
“We would go for a walk, have a coffee and when we came back we would look at what was in the fridge to eat.
He would get into it and in a moment he had it.
I didn't think about it then, but now I see the difference between her and me: she was very fast and I was very slow in the kitchen”, explains the neighbor from Altea (Alicante).
He talks about her in the past tense because her wife passed away and, since then, both cooking and washing up are chores that fall to him.
But the first one was not as easy as his wife said, so when one day he ran into the Councilor for Equality, Vicenta Pérez, on the avenue, he asked her about the cooking classes for men over 45 that the city council organizes. and signed up.
"I'm doing much better now,
although I have to write down the recipes in a notebook because, if not, I don't remember the seasonings well”, admits the widower, who now also cooks for his daughter, who visits him daily.
In winter he prepares spoon dishes, such as beans, lentils and chickpeas.
Thanks to the courses, he has discovered that those same ingredients go very well in summer in salads: "I add onion, gherkin, avocado and boiled egg and it's very good because you don't stop eating legumes, but without getting hot."
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Contreras is just one of many.
73.7% of women are the only ones in charge of preparing food at home, compared to 36.8% of men, according to the report on
Food in the 21st century post-pandemic society
,
Prepared by the Mapfre Foundation with data from 2022. And used to delegating the responsibility of cooking in the hands of others, there are many who reach retirement age without knowing how to fry an egg.
This is the case of Juan Solana, 68 years old and from Arnedo (La Rioja).
“I have dedicated my whole life to making fardelejos, a dessert of Arab origin that is made only here, but I had no idea of cooking anything else.
My lady does it wonderfully and I have survived thanks to her, ”he admits.
Juan is one of the students of the cooking course for over 60s that the Arnedo City Council launched last year.
"It is a generation where men usually did not deal with housework and we wanted to raise awareness that it is a good time to take responsibility together with women," explains the Councilor for Equality, Rosa Herce.
To make the group more organized, Carlos Sáez, a teacher at the Academia Mayorchef de Leganés municipal courses, divides them into two teams that are in charge of preparing the same two dishes.Samuel Sánchez
Since this is the last class for this group, Sáez has let them choose the dishes they want to cook.
The students (three of them from Avila by birth) have chosen scrambled potatoes and marmitako.Samuel Sánchez
At this time, more than thirty older men participate each year in the Mayorchef Academy, learning to cook and plan the domestic economy, but also managing to socialize, improve their mood and avoid situations of unwanted loneliness.
samuel sanchez
Sáez gives them all the recipes on paper at the beginning of the class, but her goal is for them to be able to follow the steps of any recipe book on the internet.
With this, she has already taught her sixth course for men over 65 years of age.
"Now I never want to leave him," he admits. Samuel Sánchez
This year, classes are being given in the afternoons to groups of around 10 people.
At the moment there is a waiting list, but those interested can register and obtain more information on the telephone numbers of the Delegation for the Elderly: 912489302 / 912489303 / 639152796.Samuel Sánchez
In addition to the necessary ingredients to prepare this afternoon's recipes, the participants have bought bacon to cook porridge as an appetizer.Samuel Sánchez
"My wife has never cooked, I have always cooked. Some lentils, a stew... But I come to the course to learn more. Instead of spending the whole afternoon at home watching 'Love in Troubled Times', we come here, which it's more interesting," says Ángel, 74 (left).Samuel Sánchez
The star dish this afternoon is the marmitako, whose origin is found among Asturian, Cantabrian and Basque fishermen.
It is a tuna stew with potatoes, onion, pepper and tomato.
samuel sanchez
Sáez confesses that he has become very fond of the students and the students of him.
"It's like teaching my grandfather to cook," he jokes.
At the end of the class, they toast together with wine, beer and champagne.Samuel Sánchez
In Leganés (Madrid), the sixth promotion of the Academia Mayorchef municipal program has already put on the apron, through which more than fifty men over 65 years of age have passed.
The first classes were held during the pandemic, at the neighbors' own homes, after the council for the elderly detected that many were in a vulnerable situation because they did not know how to cook or organize the daily purchases.
Most had lost their partners or were ill.
"My wife has broken her hip and now it's my turn to cook," says Alfonso Corrochano, 79, smiling, as he chops onions at an enviable speed.
The classes, finally in groups, are now taught in the kitchens of the 1º de Mayo municipal center.
This afternoon,
Corrochano and eight other colleagues have divided into two teams to prepare revolcona potatoes and marmitako under the orders of chef Carlos Sáez, head chef of the Café Central restaurant in Madrid.
"The change that they have achieved is brutal," the professor confirms with satisfaction.
"The course helps them to get rid of their fear of cooking and to learn the terminology: poaching, julienne cuts... Thus, with the Internet they are now capable of making any recipe," explains Sáez, while continuing to answer all of their questions. curious student body
The other great benefit of the classes, according to the chef, is the friendship that emerges in them: "The first few days are very sad due to personal circumstances that lead some to sign up, but right away they form a group and it's very nice."
His student Paco Martínez, 72, considers that they have "hit it off very well."
Every day there is someone in charge of buying the ingredients, but some take advantage of the occasion to get together outside the kitchens.
"Today there were three of us to go shopping and then we had a beer and we were so comfortable," says Martínez.
His cell phone saves photos of all the dishes he has learned to prepare.
There are cheeks, paella, Russian salad... “I had no idea of cooking and now I like it because here we do experiments that you later develop at home and you feel proud to be able to do it.
My wife likes me to learn," he says.
Rufino Mosqueda's, 67, passed away a year and a half ago, and these classes (but above all their participants) have been his great support in overcoming the loss.
“I spent 10 months without leaving home, but thanks to these courses and to these people I am getting ahead”, he confesses, between jokes, of his classmates.
At the end of the class, which lasts from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., everyone takes out their 'tupperware' and divides up the food to take home.
Julio (black and white stripes) prepares Russian steaks with his classmates from the Bilbao Laratz cooking school.
At the Bilbao Laratz cooking school in the Biscayan capital, on the other hand, there is not a trace left of what the 10 men and two women who participate in their Thursday courses have cooked.
The director of the school, Ana Olga Cachorro, has been teaching these classes for over 60s for seven years, which are partly subsidized by the Kutxa Foundation, from Kutxabank.
“There are people who have never eaten certain things and they eat them here for the first time because they have cooked them,” she says.
This morning she's playing quiche, Russian steaks, and angel food cake, a cake native to North America.
Julio Collado, 67, has opted for the group of those who prepare the second course.
“When he worked, he ate every day in a restaurant.
But I retired and continuing to go to the bar was very expensive.
Before, my wife cooked, but I'm separated ”,
explains concentrating on shaping the meat of the fillets.
Now, his “star dish” is the fish and shellfish stew.
“My son says that learning to cook has been the best thing he's ever done.
It is a matter of time, patience and affection, ”he guarantees.
The students of one of Bilbao Laratz's cooking courses for adults eat together the quiché and the Russian steaks that they have cooked during the class.
At 1 pm on the dot, they bring out glasses, wine (Coca-Cola for those who prefer
kalimotxo
), olives and cheese, and take a short break to have an aperitif without losing sight of the stove.
"Cooking is the excuse to get together," someone exclaims.
When the food is ready, they collect everything and prepare the table to enjoy the result of their work together.
While they eat, and when Cachorro explains the recipes at the beginning of the class, these are the only two moments in which there is momentary silence.
Then they talk again about food and restaurants, their children and grandchildren, Athletic and Bilbao Basket.
"You have sold this to Loli so well, that she has said that she wants to come," says Begoña Moreno, 61, about a former co-worker.
“I have already told her that she should talk to Ana, that there are a lot of people here and that she will have to tell her if she can come or not”.
For your part, no problem.