The Vital Nature Of Kitchens In The Home

By Matthew Kerridge

Though, we may not think of them as often as we might if we were aware of their history, kitchens and their importance in the home can certainly make for some interesting historical study. These vital and completely ubiquitous rooms in the modern-day home have existed in various iterations throughout human history, even down to the basic campfire over which early human tribes cooked their food.

Those looking at the improvement in technologies in the home over the millennia say that kitchens tended to develop in sophistication as the cook stoves or ranges that were used in them also developed in sophistication. Along with improvement in stoves, kitchens also owe much of their development to plumbing improvements. They were still mostly basic in function until the'th century, though.

Throughout the'th and the'th century, the issue of an open fire being the only reasonable source over which to heat food was looked at and a number of solutions were created. Once the cook stove and range was improve sufficiently enough to be brought into the home, the current basic design of the kitchen finally came into being along with plumbing that could bring water into the home.

When we think of kitchens at all as more than just the place where food is made we soon find that even the ancients had versions of kitchens, including the Greeks. Wealthier individuals in that civilization often had separate rooms in their homes where food was heated and prepared. Many times, these rooms were situated next to the bathroom so that both could share the heat from a common fire.

The Romans, who were big fans of borrowing technologies from the Greeks and then improving them, came up with the idea to provide large public-area kitchens for the use of their common citizens. The upper class of Roman society also had highly equipped versions of kitchens in their homes and villas. These kitchens kept a fire burning all throughout the day to prepare food for consumption.

Pioneer Americans in the colonial days tended to look at their cabins with an eye towards marking off an area where food could be prepared and then eaten. These areas were often located next to a fireplace and an open fire. Not only was the fire used to cook but it was also used to heat the cabin. This was much the way of things for quite a while until real kitchens begin to emerge.

The development of kitchens in the West can probably be tied to the advent of the Industrial Revolution, which powered the inventions and solutions in cook stoves and ranges that allowed for the simultaneous development of the kitchen as we think of it today. Separate rooms were soon built where a stove and its heating elements, along with water from plumbing, could be located.

In the modern day that we live in, there seems to be a limitless variation in the ways and methods that kitchens can be built. Nowadays, they range in size from very small and equipped with a basic stove, refrigerator and sink all the way up to rooms in the home that often are larger than the total living area of a colonial American cabin or home itself. - 32406

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