Neil Rankin brands Marco Pierre White comments 'clickbait nonsense from a rambling dinosaur'

Chef Neil Rankin has responded to comments made by Marco Pierre White about the  differences between men and womens' ability to fare in a professional kitchen - namely, that women are less able to handle pressure in the kitchen because they are more emotional than men. 

Smokehouse founder and chef proprietor of Temper, Neil Rankin posted his reaction on Instagram, stating that "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." 

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He added that not only do women have to do "the same exact job in every area of hospitality" but are forced to content "with every oppressive jibe in the book  from colleagues and "industry leaders" like Marco Pierre White. 

"Frankly I don’t think men could handle this bullshit every day. I think they’d crumble under the pressure," he said. 

The chef said that even though the conclusion of the article was that women are better in the kitchen - it came packaged as "clickbait nonsense from a rambling dinosaur."

The interview in which Marco Pierre White said that men are more able to handle pressure in the kitchen, while women tend to be more focused, punctual and consistent was published in the Irish Independent - but has since been covered by national and specialised newspapers across the country. 

The famously controversial restaurateur said that if men are more able to cope with stress in the kitchen, it is because they are "not as emotional and they don't take things personally."

He said that while men have the upper hand on women in terms of physical strength - "Look at the size of some of the pans you are carrying,"  in fact, women have more qualities that lend themselves well to the job than men do, despite fewer of them working in kitchens. 

Namely, he said women have "a better palate"and "a better sense of smell"  than men, as well as being more consistent "because they respect the house more, they do their job."

He added that where men fail on assiduity and punctuality, women can be relied on not to "take things too far [when they go out on a Friday night] and then ring in sick." 

For the chef, the differences go a long way to explain why men and women hold different positions in the kitchen - with women working in the larder or on the pastry section, where, he claimed, "they haven't got the pressure." 

Neil Rankin dismissed the very premise of the comments, and said: "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."