The Kitchen
The Kitchen was the busiest room in the house as this was the service region and the one in which many servants worked under pressure. In larger homes there was much more sub-division of the area: plans that survive for a house which was to be built about 1745 at 45 Kildare Street, show not only a kitchen and scullery on this floor but also a larder, Butler’s pantry, Store room Wine cellar, “places for a bottle drain”, beer cellar and coal vaults. Later inventories show how the growing importance of the Housekeepers room (and her control of stores).
The main dishes were primarily roasted, boiled or stewed or baked in the oven. The principal emphasis for main meals was on meat dishes. From the end of the 18th Century saw raw fruit was widely accepted as being safe to eat.
