The warmest room in the house : how the kitchen became the heart of the twentieth-century American home
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-222) and index.

Examines the relationship between trends and innovations in the kitchen and American cultural attitudes.

Examining the relationship between trends and innovations in the kitchen and the cultural attitudes beyond its four walls, writer Gdula creates a lively portrait of over 350 years of American domestic life. He explores major historic themes, including the challenges of procurement in the seventeenth century, preservation in the eighteenth century, industrialization and enlightenment in the nineteenth century, and modernization in the twentieth. Gdula traces the evolution of American foods, recipes, trends, and styles of cooking, beginning with the exchanges that took place between the Powhatan Indians and the Jamestown settlers about nutrition through today's polyglot international cuisine.--From publisher description.