Were important cooks for the court always men? Were there female hear cooks in charge of royal feasts, etc? I understand there was some superstition about women on ships, so that explains male cooks in one context. But in other important roles, what was the gender breakdown on professional cooking?
The first German language cookbook was written by a woman named Sabina Welserin in 1553 (you can read it here). Not much is known about her life but she mentioned in one recipe that the cook for Count of Leuchtenberg instructed her to cook fish a certain way hinting she is a professional cook of some kind. From the recipes she wrote (many recipes ask for large quantities of spices and sugar and some recipes were clearly for fancy banquets) it suggests she cooks for a very wealthy (if not downright aristocrat) household.