Come April, the gastronomic equivalent of the Oscars comes to Melbourne when some of the world’s greatest chefs descend on the hub of food, fashion and AFL footy for the announcement of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017.

A place among the ranks of the 50 Best ensures instant recognition, adoration, and a wait list for restaurant bookings stretching into months. Over the years, those who have managed to ride the stoves to glory fueled on blood (knife slip-ups), sweat (caramel burns) and tears (spoilt truffles and scathing reviews) have consistently defied the head chef cliché: austere, aloof, heavy on the French accent and light on imagination, flexibility and patience. Recent winners have proved to be inspirational, artistic, alternative: more rock star than wok star. One attribute which has less frequently featured among the 50 Best ranks, however, has been the XX chromosome. Which begs the question: where are all the top female chefs?

Is it circumstance or a deliberate snub at members of the fairer sex helming the pass? Is the World’s 50 Best a closed boys club, its doors closed to 51% of the population?

If the 2016 list was anything to go by the answer could be a resounding “Yes!” Only the uber-talented Elena Arzak Espina received a nod, and then only at her father’s side when their best-of-Basque powerhouse Arzak took out 21st place.

Some would argue that this gender division is further emphasised by the fact that each year there is a separate award for the world’s best female chef, while there is no equivalent award for males. This year’s winner, Slovak Ana Roš, is not the product of foodie aristocracy. Once a champion skier on the path to a career in diplomacy, falling in love with a local vintner would change her life course. Tellingly, her restaurant (inherited from her in-laws) Hisa Franko in the remote Soca Valley, has not a single Michelin star, let alone earning a berth in 2017s 50 Best.

However, before we interpret this award as condescension incarnate, proffered like some sort of consolation prize for not being a ‘real’ chef, it is important that we acknowledge the traditional, cultural and social impact gender roles have had on the career pathways open to us in the past. Historically, women have been the gathers and the cooks, keeping the home fires burning while menfolk brought home the smoked and aged bacon. This stereotype is alive and well in many cultures and still in many homes. Accordingly, many women have traditionally been precluded from pursuing a life in professional kitchens, perhaps eschewing such career opportunities precisely because they were expected to ‘man’ the stoves at home as well.

But times are changing.

As the power of, and strict adherence to traditional gender roles dilutes and becomes more fluid, so doors into other career pathways open and opportunities once closed off to many are becoming quietly available.

Thankfully, a visit to any modern-day restaurant, the hallowed halls of the 50 Best included, reveals that behind the front men of these premiere fine diners there strives an army of exceptionally talented female chefs: sous, de partie, pastry, all working their way up the culinary ladder. Rest assured their time will come.

A glance back at previous holders of the Best Female Chef mantle shows women of unquestionable drive and ability, who have gone on to forge careers which are essentially changing the face of fine dining: Dominique Crenn, Helene Darroze, Anne-Sophie Pic among them.

Perhaps this year’s winner, Ana Roš, rebutted the notion of a gastronomic war between the sexes best when she explained that “the difference between a male and female chef is related to the traditional roles in our society, not…the quality of the food or technical skills. We all share the same love and passion for the industry”.

Yes, Chef!