The development of the “heart of the home” has played a major role in human evolution…not to mention untold gustatory delights. Here’s a brief synopsis of the earliest iterations of the kitchen through the 18th century.
By Dianne M. Pogoda
“Fire. Good.”
A million years ago (give or take), when early humans began to control fire, the notion of cooking became a reality. Soon after, no doubt, someone began the process of figuring out how to make the process look and function better.
Cooking in stone ovens or over open fires were the most common cooking methods as far back as Ancient Egyptian and Greek times, and throughout the days of the Roman Empire. Commoners in Roman cities usually cooked in large public kitchens, while the wealthy often had separate, often well-equipped kitchens in their homes, if not a separate building altogether — after all, most of the cooking was done by slaves, who were not welcome guests. Evidence of roasting, baking, stewing, grilling and boiling is found in ancient ruins, using clay pots, molds for baking bread and roasting on a spit, rotated by hand over the fire. It took a long time, but those early people didn’t exactly have a lot to do beyond survival — and building the occasional pyramid, temple or road.
The ancient Chinese, who farmed rice as early as 6000 BC, mainly boiled or roasted over charcoal fires to cook. During the Han dynasty, which ran from about 200 BC to 200 AD, the Chinese developed methods of food preservation including drying meat into jerky and cooking, roasting and drying grains. When cooking with hot oil — sautéing — developed, the method required the use of bronze pans, which were expensive. It wasn’t until much more affordable cast iron came into wide use that more people could avail themselves of the new cooking style — and the stir-fry was born.
Kamado stoves, usually made of clay or mortar, originated around the 3rd to 6th centuries A.D. in Japan.
Around the 3rd to 6th centuries A.D. in Japan, the first stoves emerged. Called kamado, they were usually made of clay and mortar and fueled with wood or charcoal. It was a good system and lasted for centuries.
Smoke Stacked
Fast-forward a few centuries. Cooking generally took place indoors, in a central room — the fire pit was open, and used for heat and light as well as food prep. The advent of the modern kitchen can be largely attributed to the invention of the chimney. Prior to the chimney and its efficiency in clearing hot clouds from a room, making a meal came with an unappetizing lungful of ash and smoke.
The modern kitchen can be largely attributed to the invention of the chimney, which could clear hot smokey clouds from a room, making indoor cooking much more pleasant.
Throughout the Middle Ages in Europe, open fires contained in a raised hearth structure in the center of the room remained the primary cooking convention. Once the chimney came along, the hearth moved to an exterior wall using brick-and-mortar construction. Iron, bronze or copper cooking vessels came into common use, and temperature was controlled by raising or lowering the pot from a hanging structure over the fire — or putting the pot directly in the coals.
Leave it to Leonardo
The prolific Italian inventor Leonardo Da Vinci invented an automated system for spit-roasting: a propeller in the chimney, which turned on the movement of smoky air, made the spit spin by itself. It was quickly adopted by the wealthy, and made indoor cooking a lot more pleasant.
Leonardo Da Vinci automated a system for spit-roasting: a propeller in the chimney that turned on the movement of smoky air.
In the late Middle Ages in Europe, the kitchen increasingly moved into a separate room, making the living area cleaner and better to entertain and a showcase of the owner’s status and riches.
The New World
In Colonial America, kitchens still took their cues from Europe, often housed in separate rooms or buildings. The “summer kitchen,” commonly found on farms, was used to prepare food for the field workers or for canning in warmer months to keep heat out of the main house.
Cooking was mostly done in the fireplace — meat was boiled or stewed in big kettles hung over the coals, slow-roasted on a spit, or in a tinned reflector oven. This was a curved metal vessel with a spit, open on one side that faced the roaring fire and reflected the heat in the cylinder. Brick ovens were built into the back or side wall of the fireplace creating a nook to capture heat. Some of these ovens had a wood panel door, which was lined with tin to protect the wood from the heat. That was only available on higher-end models, however.
Check nkba.org for Part 2 of The Kitchen Evolution, from the 1800s to the present day.