Were there ever a stereotype as pernicious as that which emerges each Father’s Day, courtesy of the gift card shops? There, amidst the fluffy avocados and unicorn balloons, the default assumption is that all dads love beer, balls, bad jokes and gardening, with the odd sports car and bicycle thrown in.
Like all stereotypes, this comes from a place of some truth. Many people will recognise their dad in such tropes. But even if one’s dad is beer-swilling, football-loving, golf-playing, gardening MAMIL (middle-aged man in lycra), it doesn’t mean his palate is as pigeonholed; that his culinary horizons can’t extend beyond burgers and steak. This list is designed for those dads who might speak to these stereotypes, but might also have cultivated their own personality; that is to say, it’s for real dads, unlike those cards.
