The Evolution of Kitchens

By definition, kitchens are areas of a residence or any building made for the purpose of cooking food. During prehistoric times, a bonfire outside a tent was considered as a kitchen. Over time, this simple bonfire turned into a room fully equipped with other appliances made for cooking.
The evolution of the kitchen goes hand-in-hand with the modernization of the kitchen stove. The invention of the kitchen stove lead to the need to provide a room intended for cooking. After all, who would put an open fire inside a house anyway? Stoves were invented to produce heat needed to cook food. This was a big innovation since it helped house and control the fire to cook food in a better way.
However, way before the stove was made and after the open fire, the fireplace was utilized for cooking food. A fireplace is an architectural structure used for heating purposes and no, it does not serve as a passageway for Santa Claus. Historically, a fireplace is also used for cooking since it can contain the fire, and can be considered as one of these old school kitchens, although there are some countries that still use this method of making food.
During the time of the Roman Empire, common people in Rome seldom had a kitchen in their house and instead, these people did their cooking in so-called public kitchens. Some had small mobile-type stoves that could be lit for cooking. The wealthy Romans were the only ones who had a fully equipped kitchen in their homes. This kitchen was a separate room, segregated from the other areas since these houses do not have chimneys to be used as an exit for the smoke.
The Chinese were known to be the first ones to use stove-like equipment in cooking their food. The Romans also used stoves made of clay, but these stoves were not used in Europe until the 1700s. They are credited for inventing a new means of preparing food. In today’s world, electricity powered stoves replaced open fires and fireplaces. Modern cooking stoves even came with an oven, which can be used for baking.
Whether we cook in a fireplace or stove, and hopefully not in an open fire, kitchens have proven their importance over and over again. A typical kitchen today would have high-end appliances, but the real essence of having a kitchen should never be forgotten. A kitchen might have all of these but it should and always be a place for cooking food.