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Johnny Grey

Fitted and kitted - 100 years of British Kitchens. Archive on 4, BBC

In this wide ranging and at times playful BBC radio programme Ruby Tandoh and

Deborah Sugg Ryan take us on their quest to find the perfect kitchen. Easier said

than done, they found. While kitchens have come a very long way from their

primitive beginnings with soot, smoke and no running water, this growth in potential

leads to a plethora of questions and decisions for modern cooks. While covering the

evolution of the kitchen over time, I and team of interviewees take a particular look at

the success and the limitations of post-war fitted kitchens.


Tandoh explores how people felt the need to move past the ‘rational’ fitted kitchen of

the sixties to seek more of a sense of homeliness and comfort. She asks me to talk

about the obsession with hygiene in the commercial roll-out of fitted kitchens, picking

up on the significance of Formica. While practical, this material was overused in the

1960s, resulting in quite a lot of soulless white deserts although its possibilities of

colour and pattern were liberating as well.


The influence of Elizabeth David comes up and we hear two clips of her voice. She

sought simplicity along with order and cleanliness as well as a traditional ambience

centred on the table. Prue Leith talks about buying David’s very own table in the

auction that was held after her death. Jane Grigson is interviewed to explore the

relationship between breathing space in the kitchen and the ‘the poetry of everyday

life’.


I share a lot of interests with Deborah Sugg Ryan who is currently writing a book on

the twentieth century kitchen. Like me, she is fascinated with the history of the

kitchen. Making the programme involved choosing one of the kitchens I have

designed as the setting for the interview between myself and Ruby Tandoh. We went

to a lovely example in Hampstead that prompted some excellent questions, about

soft geometry among other important matters. Have a listen!

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