Thai Celebrity Teacher Overcomes Prejudice Against Male Chefs.

Sep. 5--Yingsak Jongleartjesdawong vividly recalls the disappointment he felt back in the seventies when he watched his friends heading for cooking classes.

"My college banned men from taking the course. I remember being really upset about this informal rule discriminating against men from learning to become a chef," he said.

Now Mr Yingsak, 45, called acharn or professor by his students, is continuing to battle any lingering prejudice there might be against men becoming cooks, as he teaches 300 students a day at his Institute of Culinary Art on Silom Road.

Mr Yingsak's interest in cooking was kindled when his mother opened a small food shop. Thwarted by the education system, he had no choice but to bide his time.

After graduating from the Rajabhat Institute Thon Buri, he taught at a kindergarten and later at a vocational school for four years. He then joined a flour company and, for the first time, was taught the science of baking.

He thought about offering cooking lessons as there were few courses available at that time and some teachers were reluctant to share all their secrets with students. Cookery books were in a complicated format and most of the good ones were published in English.

Mr Yingsak wanted to make the teaching more systematic. With this in mind, he planned to open a cooking school and produce textbooks that were easy to understand. His ultimate goal was to operate an internationally famous Thai cooking school that attract foreign students.