Culinary history shows us that kitchens are the hub of domestic life. The kitchen has provided warmth and cheer to all who pause there, and, in more informal modern times, has even become an entertaining center too. In the past it was the sole domain of servants and trained cooks, but today's kitchen can easily be manned and mastered by every man, woman, and child. Surely, historians would agree that, whatever the era, a man's home may be his private castle but a man's kitchen, and the food prepared there, mark his place in society.
Primitive kitchens--consisting of probably nothing more than a dirt floor, an open wood fire, and a few rawhide or clay pots--may have also been the house. And cave meals may not have amounted to much more than wild grains and freshly slaughtered animals boiled together for hours.
As man and technology advanced, so did kitchenware and cuisine. By Greek and Roman times, flourishing trade routes had introduced novel foodstuffs and cooking techniques, kitchens in remote areas, replacing austere diets, and clay or iron cauldrons. Prosperous European merchants of the Renaissance could indulge themselves not only with the finest from their own lands, but also with the luxury foods--chocolate, spices, sugars, exotic fruits--imported from the strange New World. In many baronial or middle class homes, the kitchen became a veritable factory, serving as dairy, brewery, bakery, and slaughterhouse, as well as cook place. In the New World itself, often kitchens were all-purpose areas: living room, dining room, and workroom. Middle and upper-class kitchens were staffed with a small army of servants who could be counted on the keep the fires burning and the pots scoured.
Undoubtedly, for Europeans and Americans alike, the greatest culinary, and kitchen, transformation came with nineteenth and twentieth century technology which introduced food processing and preservation, and the development of major kitchen appliances: ranges, refrigerators, and freezers. Sophisticated kitchen devices were introduced, including blenders, beaters, toasters, juicers, and, eventually, food processors, all of which have simplified and speeded up food preparation.
Today, of course, with the near-demise of household staffs and roomy work-in kitchens, this battery of tools, carefully stashed in compact spaces, has virtually eliminated kitchen drudgery. In addition, the modern cook, with the aid of ingenuity, planning, and possibly the help of a kitchen designer, can structure and personalize his or her cooking space to make it both functional and elegant. Obviously, neither implement nor design can guarantee epicurean delights, but both are prerequisites for serious cooks.
Creating a kitchen is a highly personal act. Just where to begin may puzzle even the most experienced. Most importantly, if you are a serious cook, or intend to be one, plan your first kitchen sensibly, gradually refining your equipment as your skills develop. Whether creating a new room, or face-lifting or rearranging an existing kitchen for the utmost efficiency, always consider the space available, kitchen use, and the basic equipment you will need to function properly. Ask yourself, the following: What do you want in your kitchen? What is your storage space? What family needs will it fill--a playspace for children or hobby space for you? How many people tend to congregate in the kitchen at any one time? Where are the windows and the best light?
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