The word kitchen can be used to refer to three different elements. In the first place, one of the most used meanings is the one that links the term with a specific area or space of the house where food is prepared and where the action of cooking is carried out. On the other hand, the kitchen can also be the appliance or machine with which food is cooked in different ways. Finally, the kitchen can be understood as the set of culinary practices that aim to prepare and cook food in order to be consumed by humans. In this sense, this last meaning is also linked to the culinary customs of a specific region or geographic space.
When the term kitchen is used to refer to the room or space of a home, it is then talking about an environment that is specially designed and equipped to allow the preparation of food to be consumed. This space must have at least cooking machinery (such as the oven), food preservation (such as the refrigerator or pantry) and instruments that allow working and preparing the ingredients (utensils, appliances, tools). Depending on the type of design, the kitchen can be more or less large, but it is important that it be a bright, comfortable and fresh space.
Secondly, the kitchen as a cooking appliance is undoubtedly one of the most important and central elements of culinary technique. This appliance, which can work with wood, gas or electricity, is in charge of cooking the ingredients in order to make them safe and healthy for human consumption. In the kitchen, inside or on it, food can be cooked in different ways and with different techniques.
Finally, cuisine is also understood as the different gastronomic practices specific to a region. In general, the most widespread cuisine is that of the French type and it is to a large extent that sets the standards for Western cuisine in terms of tools, techniques, materials and types of preparation.
