separate kitchens
Posted by P.Bingham on November 20, 1997 at 19:18:16:
In response to Kitchens, written by Ann on November 19, 1997 at 21:58:19
I know that some of the old American estates actually have the kitchen in a seperate building from the rest of the house, because of the fire hazard involved. I can imagine the servants rushing back and forth with the dishes.
It was often the same in England, especially in Medieval houses. The kitchen was usually attached to the home by way of a cooridor (to protect coming food from the elements rather than to protect the servants from the rain!) or it was the last building of several buildings attached to the main house, such as the dairy and the laundry, which made it effectively apart from the house for the same reasons you mentioned... fire. Later (though I'm sure the older folks were concerned about smells too, not just fire) it was the smells that prompted the family to keep the kitchen as far away from the rest of the house as possible even if it meant cold food... which it did, of course. That left many a family weighing the consequences of the placement of the kitchen... cold food...? Nose-wrenching smells? Cold food usually won out.
It was much the same in most parts of Europe.
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