How did kitchens develop

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 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 that was 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 parts of the Near East have been found to indicate recipes. Most of these 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.