KITCHEN- from ancient times to 21st century

A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation. In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a microwave oven, a dishwasher and other electric appliances. The main function of a kitchen is cooking or preparing food but it may also be used for dining, food storage, entertaining, dishwashing and laundry.

In 18th century, food was cooked over an open fire. Technical advances in heating food in the 18th and 19th centuries changed the architecture of the kitchen. Before the advent of modern pipes, water was brought from an outdoor source such as wells, pumps or springs.

ANCIENT TIME PERIOD

The houses in Ancient Greece were commonly of the atrium-type: the rooms were arranged around a central courtyard for women. In such houses, there was often a separate small storage room in the back of the kitchen used for storing food and kitchen utensils.

ROMAN TIME PERIOD

In the Roman Empire, common folk in cities often had no kitchen of their own; they did their cooking in large public kitchens. Some had small mobile bronze stoves, on which a fire could be lit for cooking. The fireplace was typically on the floor, placed at a wall—sometimes raised a little bit—such that one had to kneel to cook. There were no chimneys.

MEDIEVAL TIME PERIOD

Early medieval European longhouses had an open fire under the highest point of the building. The “kitchen area” was between the entrance and the fireplace. The kitchens were divided based on the types of food prepared in them. In place of a chimney, these early buildings had a hole in the roof through which some of the smoke could escape. They were fired with “wood or charcoal through a hole in the front and had a hole in the top, into which a pot could be hanged by its rim. This type of stove remained in use for centuries to come, with only minor modifications. Like in Europe, the wealthier homes had a separate building which served for cooking.
Middle Ages, kitchens in Europe lost their home-heating function even more and were increasingly moved from the living area into a separate room. The living room was now heated by tiled stoves, operated from the kitchen, which offered the huge advantage of not filling the room with smoke.

IN 21st CENTURY:

In 21st century the changes are like technological advancement like… the United States to equip the kitchen with electrified small and large kitchen appliances such as blenders, toasters, and later also microwave ovens. Western European kitchens are being designed to accommodate new appliances such as refrigerators and electric/gas cookers.

   

An open kitchen again, integrated more or less with the living room without causing the whole apartment or house to smell. Open kitchen also includes high ceilings (up to the roof) and were aired by skylights. 

The ventilation of a kitchen, in particular a large restaurant kitchen, poses certain difficulties that are not present in the ventilation of other kinds of spaces. In particular, the air in a kitchen differs from that of other rooms in that it typically contains grease, smoke and odours.

The kitchen included regular shelves on the walls, ample work space, and dedicated storage areas for various food items. Beecher even separated the functions of preparing food and cooking it altogether by moving the stove into a compartment adjacent to the kitchen.

While this “work kitchen” kitchen work triangle was formalized: the three main functions in a kitchen are storage, preparation, and cooking the places for these functions should be arranged in the kitchen in such a way that work at one place does not interfere with work at another place, the distance between these places is not unnecessarily large, and no obstacles are in the way. A natural arrangement is a triangle, with the refrigerator, the sink, and the stove at a vertex each.

You must be curious to view the elegant designs of 21st century. No more wait, you can view and get the ideas for your kitchen to be look so beautiful as they are in our next article….13 elegant designs of 21st century kitchen.