16 Pictures Of Kitchens Across The Globe That Speak More Than Words

Across borders, across regions and across cultures millions of people cook everyday. Now we all know that what they cook differs from one region to another. But did you know that where they cook it is also not the same everywhere? The factors affecting the choice of food might be tradition and custom but in a series of photographs released by National Geographic, it is evident that the choice of kitchens are not a result of the same influences. From lavish kitchens, to professional ones to all-in-one kitchens that masquerade as the living room and dining area as well, the series is yet another eye opener.

1. Syria

The mere name of the country makes your heart wrench. A decent kitchen though, yes? But guess what the boy is praying for? The four-year-old prays for his father who was kidnapped by Jihadis in Iraq.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ED KASHI, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

2. China

“Move on. Go to China. Eat Chinese food. Of course there, they just call it food.”

Students in Hefei, China learning to create magic (read, Chinese food).

PHOTOGRAPH BY FRITZ HOFFMANN, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

3. Great Britain

Photographed for National Geographic in 1971, the picture shows a farmer, who also happened to be a part-time barber, cutting hair in his kitchen.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMES L. AMOS, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

4. Netherlands

The picture is of a retirement home in Amsterdam where a young girl can be seen preparing traditional Surinamese cake for her grandmother.

PHOTOGRAPH BY GERD LUDWIG, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

5. South Africa

Clicked in an Apartheid stricken Transkei – an unofficial republic of South Africa where many Xhosa-speaking blacks were forced to live – the photographer has captured a family cooking their food on a smile fire started on the floor.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMES P. BLAIR, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

6. Romania

A boy sits and muses in his modest kitchen situated in the Maramures region of Romania.

PHOTOGRAPH BY RENA EFFENDI, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

7. Pakistan

A makeshift kitchen that can also pose as a dining table at a home in the city of Aliabad, Pakistan.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

8. Iowa, US

The kitchen looks plush with plenty to eat but there is a story behind. The kid is one of four siblings whose parents are unemployed and have resorted to canning and hunting for food in the wild.

PHOTOGRAPH BY AMY TOENSING, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

9. New Mexico, US

The cowboy hat and that domineering rifle on the wall gave away the location, didn’t it? The picture featured in a 1979 NatGeo article about the Continental Divide trail.

PHOTOGRAPH BY NICHOLAS DEVORE III, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

10. Australia

A miner’s family dining in peace – the irony – in a cozy underground kitchen in Coober Pedy, Australia.

PHOTOGRAPH BY W. ROBERT MOORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

11. Virginia, US

That moment when you realize that you’ve staring at the freshly baked rolls to even notice the kitchen in the background!

PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID ALAN HARVEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

12. Pakistan

Food is important and therefore it is a strictly followed ritual by people in the Hunza region of Pakistan to religiously gather together during meal times.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

13. Greenland, US

A lady named Dina Ignatiussen prepares freshly caught game birds in Isortoq.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

14. Nebraska, US

    From scanty to abundant, a peep into the shelved of this Lincoln, Nebraska kitchen is a harsh reminder of the food inequalities around the world.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

15. Brazil

This kitchen in Rio de Janeiro is an improvised baby crib. Dangerous as it is, no one would do this to their kid intentionally.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN STANMEYER, VII/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

16. China

This ethnic Muslim community called Uygurs that resides in China’s Xinjiang region has involved the entire family in the process of not just eating but also making dinner.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CAROLYN DRAKE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC