The Old Kitchen

Old kitchens are a traditional element of the countryside lifestyle; let’s see how this is present around Shanghai…

In the old days of China, we emphasize very much that the whole family should live together, so each family should have a big kitchen to serve all the family members.

That’s why to cook well by making good food and to please the kitchen god is very important.


First it is to set up a place for the kitchen god to live and paint the kitchen with beautiful colors.  Then, after the dishes are ready, a full bowl of food is offered to serve the god.
 
Normally, there are always two big pots that are made of iron with the round shape of a deep wok (sometimes of more than 80 cm diameter). For functionality, depending on the family size, different kitchen have different number of them and with different size.
How to cook? It’s heated by wood fire, so the whole kitchen is very hot when you are cooking and the heat transfer to the rest of the house, often you sleep just on above it. For make good use of the fire, people also build some small holes with the shape of a cylinder inside the kitchen structure to store and boil water that is used to drink, wash dishes and clean the woks. When the meals are ready, water is also ready.

It’s amazing that a kitchen is not only used to cook, but also that there is “a kitchen god” that lives with the big family. Especially the old people believe that apart from working in the farm, eating is the second important thing in daily life. For sure, if a family is not doing well, the “god in the kitchen” will send a bad report to the god who lives in the heaven at the end of a year.

Beside the kitchen, there is always a room to store the wood, it should be convenient to access fast. As sometimes only one person is in charge of having the fire ready and cook the dishes at the same time.
Inside the kitchen room, you can also find some interesting things inside. Sometimes, people use a basket to hang the food on the roof, this keeps the animals away and with the heat and wood fire helps to preserve very dry.

A kitchen is the reflection of a family’s life, their attitude, personality and status; you will find more information once you walk into it!