In Guatemala, during colonial times, kitchens in well-to-do houses were far larger than we are today accustomed to. Mainly, women, cooks, helpers, and children would be busy preparing and cooking the meals each day. This was commonplace in properties of the peninsulares (born in Spain) and criollos (children of Spaniards born in the Americas) as well as monasteries.
These kitchens had a traditional structure but were divided into 2 parts: the first half – known as the kitchen – and the second, the ‘antecocina’ (a type of pantry and preparation room). The first part of the kitchen contained cupboards set into the walls, and an oven with a ‘poyo’ (a brick and mud structure that ran on firewood). Due to the huge amount of smoke that was created chimneys were introduced into the kitchens. These were built above the colonial kitchen in the centre with a pyramid-like structure with either 4 or 8 straight sides. Made with stone, brick, and mortar they were sombre in appearance.
Besides ventilating the smoky kitchen, the chimney provided necessary natural light and it’s no coincidence that the highest part of the chimney featured a lantern-like structure. Although this type of chimney resembles certain Spanish structures such as the cupula, there is no direct link between the constructions of the two countries.
As an interesting side note, in a study that the architect Alejandro Flores carried out, he describes how he found the same type of chimney in the Palais des Papes in Avignon, France, and in the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey in England.
In the case of the antecocina, this space was made up of very large tables that were used to cut vegetables and arrange the dishes before moving them to the kitchen to serve the food. These spaces were also used as a kind of pantry – something that we can still see today in the Convent of Santa Clara and the Popenoe House here in Antigua.
El Convento Santa Clara
Address: 2a Avenida Norte opposite Tanque de la Unión,
Casa Popenoe
Address: 6a Calle Oriente #16, Antigua Guatemala
Written by Erick Reyes Andrade
Photos courtesy of Popenoe House and Erick Reyes Andrade
