Cuisine et cultures du feu. De l’âtre au “feu enveloppé” (XVIIIe-début du XIXe siècle)

Abstract

The technology of fire management, which is an essential aspect of food transformation, is still largely understudied. An analysis of eighteenth-century cookbooks, dictionaries, discussions of fuel, and of the material culture of cooking makes it possible to understand the knowledge practitioners had of the degrees of heat, the reasons for their choice of fuel, and the techniques they used to control fire. Eighteenth-century cooking practice is marked by the transition from the hearth to the fire enclosed in the metallic structure of stoves and ovens. The study of the designs of such “cooking machines” submitted to the Paris Academy of Sciences reveals some of the key steps that led to a “domestication” of fire – a process in which the innovation of heating systems and steam engines had an equally relevant place. All these efforts aimed to find a better way of using fire and of economizing on fuel, and to save time and to rationalize food preparation.