Kitchenware

Introduction
India is the destination of people world over for its varied cultural heritage with special interests in its art & culture and architecture as well. Apart from a varied variety of things India is famous for hospitality. Our expertise in art and craft is also reflected in our kitchenware and many more. Kitchenware made of brass, iron, copper, bronze, aluminum, terra cotta and wood are the excellent piece of art and craft of India. Intricate designs, patterns, attractive colors are the features of Indian kitchenware. No country can beat the aesthetics and uniqueness of Indian art and crafts.

Types of Kitchenware
A home is never complete without a kitchen and kitchenware, and nothing is more important than a well-kept, fully equipped and strategically designed kitchen. The elaborate designs of kitchenware show us how much the kitchen environment has evolved throughout the years. In fact, modern kitchen these days do not look anything like how we used to see in our grandmothers home. All kitchenwares are given due consideration before purchasing.

Kitchenware comprises many cooking vessels which form the essential part of kitchen. In India as well worldwide, a wide range of cooking utensil is available.

• Braising Pan/Roasting Pan/Baking Pan/Frying Pan
• Bowl
• Bread Knife/Knife
• Chop Sticks
• Cooking Pot
• Dutch Oven
• Dinner Plate
• Drinking Glass
• Karahi
• Kettle
• Lemon Squeezer
• Saucepans
• Saucier
• Spoon etc.

Metals Used in Kitchenware
Most of the kitchenware are made from metal. Metal pots are a narrow range of metals because pots, pans and other kitchenware need to conduct heat well. They also need to be chemically nonreactive so that they do not alter the flavor of the cooked food. List of few metals used for the production of kitchenware.

Aluminum: It is a lightweight metal with very good thermal conductivity. It does not rust, and resistant to corrosion. Aluminum is commonly used for baking sheets, pie plate, and cake or muffin pans, pasta pots, and even skillets are also available from aluminum.

Copper/Bronze: These metals have been used for the manufacturing of kitchenware from a long time. They are now available with stainless steel rather than tin linings which last much longer. Kitchenware of copper/bronze is best for high-heat.

Cast Iron: As cast iron is a porous material that rusts easily, it typically requires seasoning before use. Seasoning creates a thin layer of fat and carbon over the iron that coats and protects the surface, and prevents sticking of the kitchenware.

Stainless Steel: Stainless steel is an iron alloy commonly used for kitchen equipment. Stainless steel's virtues are a resistance to corrosion, it does not react with either alkaline or acidic foods, and it is not easily scratched or dented.

Ceramics: Glazed ceramics, such as porcelain, provide a nonstick cooking surface is also used for kitchenware. Some unglazed ceramics, such as terra cotta, have a porous surface that may hold water or other liquids during the cooking process.

Glass-Ceramic: This is used to make variety of kitchen products like cups, plates, bowls, tea pot, pots etc.

Wood: Wood has been used for millennia for many purposes. Few kitchenware are also made from finest wood. It gives an artistic look to the kitchen.

Indian Kitchenware of a Bygone Era
India has a huge body of beliefs about the effects of various metals and minerals on the body and it was naturally felt that food cooked in various metals absorbed certain trace minerals and elements beneficial to health.

The kitchen has/had been, and still is the central part of a woman's life . Women always want vessels of various shapes to be at her reach.

Terracotta vessels were widely used for cooking as well as for storing water in homes. The simple undecorated earthen pots kept water cool through the hot summer.

Next to clay, metal was mostly used for domestic purposes. Gold was the prerogative of the richness but a number of middle class homes used silver especially for vessels meant for eating and drinking. Copper and brass metals, however, remained the more common. Emphasizing beautiful lines and shapes rather than ornamentation, these kitchenware came in varied sizes and shapes to suit varied functions.

As copper became increasingly limited to water containers and ritualistic objects, brass - an alloy of copper and zinc came into force as the most preferred form of metal in the kitchen. Mirzapore, Moradabad, Varanasi, Pune, Ahmedabad and Punjab all emerged as centers of excellent brass vessels. Brass lent itself well to the varied shapes that were needed to suit the demands of the differing methods of cooking those days.

In Bengal the design and shape of bell metal utensils formed an independent school of craft. Evolved by the loving touch of generations of master craftsmen the Kansa alloy utensils, made of seven parts of copper and one part of tin, were beautifully proportioned and shaped with a simple and stark elegance. Resistant to tarnish they made excellent cooking and serving dishes.

One can see the use of brass and bell metal has declined, the use of stoneware for cooking has definitely vanished. Stone vessels were used for those edible items that needed a bit of oil like pickles. In fact, tea served in silver tumblers, water stored in matka pots, rasam made in tin vessels, vatha kuzambu in kal chattis, all these and more have become things of a more gracious past.

Today, the multifaceted women demand a maintenance free, hassle free kitchenware and a style of cooking that takes up very little of her time. With stainless steel and not sticking cookware emerging as the preferred one, most of the vessels that were used then have either been consigned to the smelting pot or have become decorative items in aesthetically done up interiors. Those simple but attractive kitchen equipment could now become objects of art, coveted by the dealers and the affluent. One can only hope that other forms of demand would emerge that would save these designs from ending up as mere show pieces in craft museums.