Alongside Polka Pants, Maxine is a chef herself and has also been at the tail end of 'boys club' kitchen behaviour. "A chef de partie once threw a plate at me, so I caught it and threw it back at him. Needless to say he never tried anything like that again."

Her resilient attitude is indicative of the modern generation of female chefs that has come to the forefront. Disciplined and passionate, they're determined to use their gender as an advantage, either to shatter stereotypes or fill a previous gender gap in the industry.

It's encouraging a culture of female support. A newly launched monthly night, Women of Restaurants, offers a chance to meet other industry girls and discuss topics from juggling family life to working nights. Founded by Grace Welch, senior manager at Spring restaurant (who proudly sport an all-female kitchen team), the night is hosted in various dining rooms across London, and in Grace's words, "Is a great opportunity to share experiences with sympathetic ears."

It's just one of many positive developments in the industry that's reflected by the number of women who are interested in pursuing a food career; despite the crushingly low percentage of female chefs, surprisingly more women are studying cooking than men in catering schools.

Jenny Stringer is principle of Leith's School of Cooking and says 60% of her diploma students are female, however she blames the lack of women pursuing a cooking career in traditional kitchens on the new opportunities the industry offers.

"People now know a bit more about the fact there are different jobs" says Jenny. "So a lot of our students will go onto have a mixed freelance life. They'll do some cooking, a farmer's market, a pop-up, food writing, styling and just have different projects."

Jenny's point is an important one. The lack of female chefs can't be blamed solely on the proportion of men in the industry. The issue runs far deeper and ultimately comes down to the fact that more flexible, enticing food jobs now exist and offer women the opportunity to work, whilst being able to bring up a family and be home before bedtime.