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__NOTOC__[[File:Egyptian kitchen Berlin 1.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|Figure 1. Model from Egypt, found in a wealthy tomb, showing a food preparation scene. ]]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 mealsIn almost every culture, the kitchen represents serves not only as the place where we often also food is prepared, but serves as a social hub for families and friends. Humans develop deep social bonds with family and friendsin their kitchen. The kitchen does not simply provide for our daily nutrition but also helps to reinforce our social character.Whether humans are cooking around a fire or chopping vegetables on a granite countertop, they are also interacting with one another.  

In early complex societies in the Near East 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. 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. 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>

In the late Medieval period Although cooking was still mostly done in Europea basic space, by moving the cooking and food preparation space to a more isolated part of the 12-13th centurieshouse, kitchens thus reducing smoke in wealthier homes the living and palaces began to dining area, the common living area or room where food could be shared became a more commonly separatedcomfortable place to sit in. This created more class separation between areas where food was prepared versus areas where food was served. This had to do with It increasingly became a space that became the smoke and smells primary social area of the kitchenhouse, which nobles were keen to separateas no longer smoke became a major obstacle for larger gatherings. Alternatives included using sunken floor or areas to allow By the 16th century, tiled heating was used more commonly, allowing the smoke another way kitchen to escape be placed even farther away from the main buildingliving area and the kitchen was no longer always needed for also heating the home. Heating could now be transported across the house and the heating source could also be placed at different locations rather than dependent on the kitchen. In more common More homesnow even had a separate building used for the kitchen, fireplaces while poor homes still had to depend on a combined kitchen and chimneys were now more typically created, particularly around dining area with ovens or a side form of stove sometimes used for cooking. For wealthy rooms, as they could afford to have another room or even building for the house kitchen, this increasingly led to social barriers where kitchens were regulated for servants' or along one particular wallslaves' work. This now made <ref>For more on the corner socialization of larger room or where chimney might be placed the living and dinning rooms as an area where indoor cooking was donekitchens changed, see: Pennell, Sara. 2016. <i>The Birth of the English Kitchen, 1600-1850.</i> Cultures of Early Modern Europe. Pots and pans were now mostly metalicLondon ; New York: Bloomsbury Academic, where they were hung above a fireplace on standsan imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.</ref>

The next Other major phase of development for kitchens changes occurred because of developments throughout major cities in stove technologiesthe late 19th century. The Rumford stovefirst was water pipes began to be incorporated with homes, initially to help remove waste, designed in Britain in 1800but this was found to be useful for bringing water to kitchens, became the first household stove that could heat multiple items using a single fire sourceas it provided clean water to help clean and prepare foods. The later Oberlin stove, from second development was the 1830screation of gas pipes in cities. These were created to help cities provide lighting for streets, were relatively small but with gas and its prevalence now provided, a new fuel that could be fit in most kitchensused for firing stoves was introduced. Fire was fueled by Gas-powered stoves became more common and replaced the wood or and coalfired stoves, where gas stoves helping cities to also become relatively cleaner by producing smoke that was less sooty. Stoves were not introduced until late also closed, forming designs that began to shape our modern ovens.<ref>For more on kitchen development in the 19th century, see: Hassan, John. 1998. As more foods now could more easily be cooked A History of Water in kitchens with developing stoves, Modern England and increased access to goods for consumers, kitchen storage space began to be a problemWales. This led to Manchester ; New York: Manchester University Press : Distributed in the development of kitchen cabinets that were now designed to hold foods and spaces for spicesUSA by St. Martin’s Press, condiments, or even dishespg. 13.</ref>

Other major changes occurred throughout major cities Kitchens also began to change in their social outlook. For wealthy classes, kitchens were still working areas that were often a good distance away from the late 19th centurydinning areas. The first was water pipes began For middle classes, kitchens were next to be incorporated with homesor near dinning areas. For the middle class, initially to help remove wastetherefore, but this was found as kitchens became cleaner due to be useful for bringing better burning stoves and availability of water to , kitchens, as it provided clean water began to help clean and prepare foods. The second development was the creation become a new type of gas pipes in citiessocial space. These People began to place tables and other furniture to use kitchens as social gathering spaces, while dinning rooms were created to help cities provide lighting used more for streets, but with gas more formal dinners and its prevalence now provided a new fuel that could be less used for firing stovesdaily meals. Gas-powered stoves became now <ref> For more common on kitchens and replaced the wood class, see: Ballantyne, Andrew, ed. 2004. <i>Architectures: Modernism and coal fired stovesafter. </i> New Interventions in Art History 3. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, helping cities to also become relatively cleaner by producing smoke that was less sootypg. Stoves were also closed, forming designs that began to shape our modern ovens13. </ref>

Kitchens also began Refrigerators became smaller throughout the mid 20th century, allowing these to change in their social outlookbe increasingly fitted into kitchen spaces. For wealthy classesDuring the early to mid 20th century, new kitchen designs began to emphasize smaller kitchens were still working areas that were often a good distance away from the dinning areasintended to be used as efficient spaces for food preparation. For middle classes, kitchens were next This led to or near dinning areas. For the middle class, therefore, as kitchens became cleaner due to better burning stoves and availability reduction in the use of water, kitchens began to become a new type of as social spaces. Some 1930s-1950s kitchens were made so that they only had enough spacefor one person at a time. People began to place tables Additionally, food and other furniture to cooking were still sometimes smelly, making the use of kitchens as social gathering spacesnot always ideal.<ref>For more on changing 20th century designs on kitchens, while dinning rooms were used more for more formal dinnerssee: Spechtenhauser, Klaus, ed. 2006. <i>The Kitchen: Life World, Usage, Perspectives.</i> Living Concepts 1. Basel : London: Birkhäuser ; Springer [distributor].</ref>

Refrigerators became smaller throughout What changed, however, was the innovation of the mid 20th centuryextractor fan, allowing these which now helped to be increasingly fitted into kitchen spacesdraw away smoke from burnt food and smelly cooking. During With the removal of smells, kitchens in the early to mid 20th century1980s once again, in both middle class and wealthy homes, new kitchen designs began to emphasize smaller kitchens that were intended to be used revert as efficient social spaces for food preparation. This led to <ref>For more on changing kitchen designs by the reduction in the use 1980s, see: Smith, Paul. 2016. <i>Structural Design of kitchens as social spacesBuildings. Food was still sometimes smelly</i> Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley Blackwell, making the use of kitchens as social spaces not always idealpg. 16.</ref>

What changed==Summary==Kitchens have been important spaces within houses since prehistoric periods. However, however, was their design remained relatively static until relatively recently in the innovation of the extractor fanlast two centuries. Few changes occurred before 1800, which now helped where major changes included moving cooking spaces away from homes for more affluent homes while other homes tried to draw away minimize the smoke that came from burnt food and smelly cooking. With Moving kitchens away from the removal home made them less of smellsa social space and more of a work space, while later technology, such as stoves that moved smoke away from the home, allowed kitchens in the 1980s to become more of a social space once again, . Additions of gas and water brought in also allowed kitchens to be both middle class functional and wealthy homessocial spaces. New demands of work and industrial change meant there was less time for workers, began to revert 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 spacesand working space.

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