Made by Love: Evolution of cookware in India from 20th Century to 21st Century

The technology has emerged so much these days, from telephone to mobile, Telegram to WhatsApp, Newspaper to e-paper and now charcoal to induction. There are countless changes has been happening on this journey of 20 century to 21 century in our lifestyle. So as in our food habits and cooking style has a huge difference by times. By the passing decade, our kitchen has seen a lot of changes & innovations in terms of cookware’s and appliances. For which lots of new designing, inventions & modification have been done to attract and match to the requirement of new lifestyle and cooking pattern.

There were the times when our Grandmothers have the corner at kitchen made of mud Chulas and they were used to cook in big clay pots and copper utensils. Copper Cookware spans thousands of years, and for good reason. Copper cookery is an excellent conductor of heat, allowing for food to cook properly and evenly throughout. The look of copper cookware throughout history has both changed and stayed the same. Antique copper cookware is passed down through the generations. Even replicas and new designs can become the new family heirlooms, simply because of copper’s beauty.

Food taste also differs as per our cookware and cooking pattern. And to match the same flavor as our ancient cookware is significant. For example, earlier we love to cook vegetables on Kadai or Handi kind of vessel but in 21 century we are using non-stick pans to cook, which minimized cooking period and it takes less oil to cook vegetable without burning it and most importantly without compromising of vegetable flavor. Between this evaluations of 20th century to 21th century, the best development on the cookware would be that we have countless designs, arts, with strong built of latest cookware sets available in our country.

The size and shape of a cooking vessel are typically determined by how it will be used. Cooking vessels are typically referred to as "pots" and "pans," but there is great variation in their actual shapes. The choice of material for cookware and bakeware items has a significant effect on the item's performance (and cost), particularly in terms of thermal conductivity and how much food can occupy to the item when in use.

In my view, the 21st century has seen the modernization of kitchen in various form including Modern kitchens with hotspots, innovative appliances & utensils to name a few. This up gradation is need of hour for efficient cooking and leverage the art of cooking. Sometime we may loose on the nutrition and taste in order to pace the cooking using microwave dinners and meals, but we can't deny the fact that in order to save time & become more productive we may lose some quality. But my friend as we know technology comes with it limitations and it can't replace the aura of good chef and cooking skills. The art of cooking can be better utilized with the new generation appliance, but can't replace the value of it.