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Few places in a home today in many countries are as important or symbolic for our social bonds than the kitchen. More than just a place to prepare meals, the kitchen represents the place where we often also develop deep social bonds with family and friends. The kitchen does not simply provide for our daily nutrition but also helps to reinforce our social character.

==Early History==

In early complex societies in the Near East, Egypt, and in the eastern Mediterranean, including Crete and Cyprus, many homes had open fire places or covered stoves with a fire burning inside (similar to modern clay ovens often used for bread baking). Stoves ranged from simple clay-made pieces to brick-made cooking places. The stoves for cooking were often in open places so that the smoke can escape. Most cooking, therefore, would be outside, although food preparation could take place nearby or in the same space. Some homes may not have had a specific place for cooking, such as smaller homes, where a shared communal space may have been used for making meals (Figure 1). Wealthy people generally had more elaborate rooms that had facilities for storage of foods, what were essentially pantries, that were often next to an open space for cooking. In very wealthy residences, or even palaces, food storage may have been more elaborate, where types of ice houses and large storage rooms would have been present. Some kitchens could also be enclosed, where a possible chimney could have carried the smoke for cooking fires (Figure 2).<ref>For more on kitchens in antiquity in the Mediterranean region, see: Klarich, Elizabeth, ed. 2010. <i>Inside Ancient Kitchens: New Directions in the Study of Daily Meals and Feasts.</i> Boulder: University Press of Colorado.

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One interesting find is cuneiform tablets in Mesopotamia and other writings from parts of the Near East, including Egypt, have been found to sometimes indicate recipes. Although recipes on tablets have not generally been found in kitchens, it is likely chefs at more wealthy residences and palaces would have had access to these recipes as a way to prepare elaborate feasts for guests. The keeping of information on preparing favorite foods was now part of some households written records, making the kitchen an important component for entertaining guests. However, the kitchen itself was seen as a workplace and rarely as the main dinning area for guests.<ref>For more on ancient recipes, see: Kaufman, Cathy K. 2006. <i>Cooking in Ancient Civilizations.</i> The Greenwood Press “Daily Life through History” series. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.</ref>

By the early Medieval period, kitchens had not evolved significantly. In fact, in the early Medieval period sometimes kitchens were more simple than those found in antiquity, where houses often simply had open pits or spaces where fires would be used to cook and warm the home. Spaces between the fireplace and any additional room or spaces were used as food storage and food preparation areas, although they were not always in the same place. More wealthy homes often had several rooms for food preparation and cooking, as different foods required different preparation methods and storage, such as cooler or more dry rooms for storage.<ref>For more on kitchen design and space in the Medieval period, see: Day, Ivan, ed. 2009. <i>Over a Red-Hot Stove: Essays in Early Cooking Technology.</i> Food and Society 14. Totnes, Devon [England]: Prospect Books.</ref>

==Later Periods==

In the late Medieval period in Europe, by the 12-13th centuries, kitchens in wealthier homes and palaces began to be more commonly separated. This created more class separation between areas where food was prepared versus areas where food was served. This had to do with the smoke and smells of the kitchen, which nobles were keen to separate. Alternatives included using sunken floor or areas to allow the smoke to escape using another way from the main building. In more common homes, fireplaces and chimneys were now more typically created, particularly around a side of the house or along one particular wall. This now made the corner or side wall of a larger room, or where chimney might be placed, as an area where indoor cooking was done. Pots and pans were now mostly metallic, where they were hung above a fireplace on stands. Stands or hung cooking wares could be lowered or raised to control heating.<ref>For more on changes in kitchens in the late Medieval period, see: Freedman, Paul, ed. 2007. <i>Food: The History of Taste.</i> California Studies in Food and Culture 21. Berkeley: University of California Press.

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==Technology Evolution==

The next major phase of development for kitchens occurred because of developments in stove technologies. The Rumford stove, designed in Britain in 1800, became the first household stove that could heat multiple items using a single fire source. The later Oberlin stove, from the 1830s, were relatively small and could be fit in most kitchens. Fire was fueled by wood or coal, where gas stoves were not introduced until late in the 19th century. As more foods now could more easily be cooked in kitchens with developing stoves, and increased access to goods for consumers, kitchen storage space began to be a problem. This led to the development of kitchen cabinets that were now designed to hold foods and spaces for spices, condiments, or even dishes.<ref>For more on early and more modern stoves, see: Greeley, Horace. 2000. <i>The Great Industries of the United States.</i> Bristol; Tokyo: Thoemmes ; Kyokuto Shoten.</ref>

==Summary==

Kitchens have been important spaces within houses since prehistoric periods. However, their design remained relatively static until relatively recently in the last two centuries. Few changes occurred before 1800, where major changes included moving cooking spaces away from homes for more affluent homes while other homes tried to minimize the smoke that came from cooking. Moving kitchens away from the home made them less of a social space and more of a work space, while later technology, such as stoves that moved smoke away from the home, allowed kitchens to become more of a social space once again. Additions of gas and water brought in also allowed kitchens to be both functional and social spaces. New demands of work and industrial change meant there was less time for workers, leading to kitchens becoming more work spaces in the mid-20th century. It was the development of even cleaner kitchens, such as the use of extractor fans, that opened the kitchen back up as a social and working space.

==References==