HOME KITCHEN ENVIRONMENT AN INQUIRY FROM SPATIAL AND CULINARY CULTURAL LENSES A CASE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

Abstract

This thesis aims to study the domestic kitchens of Andhra Pradesh in Southern India. The cultural makeup of the region is diverse and given the rise in opportunities people from all parts of the country are now reaching and residing in here making their homes here. Due to the increased exposure and globalisation, everyone nowadays relies on ‘modular kitchens’ within their household if the space permits; they stack multiple kitchen appliances if the space doesn’t permit it. While this approach is feasible for all the global cuisines reaching onto our kitchen countertops and then our plates, it seems to bring in an extensive burden on to the primary user of the kitchen. While they are very well working for Indian Kitchens, many of the present kitchen layouts or designs have been tested and retested in developed Western countries. So, this thesis is also attempting to analyse the feasibility of the existing models and modularity within the case of Andhra Pradesh, South India and probably find the nooks within the kitchen space that demand more attention and make the kitchen user of this space much more comfortable. This thesis, currently, follows a qualitative study by engaging in ethnographic observations, surveys, conversations, and case studies to observe the culinary cultures, cooking routes and thereby the respective kitchens, the interrelation and co-dependency and everything in between.