Heart of the house

The kitchen really is the heart of the house. Most people cooked and lived in the same space up to the end of the 17th century, later with cottages; in my small farmhouse the current sitting room has a huge inglenook, with hooks for smoking fish and meat, bread ovens and a salt cupboard, and would have had a spit roast All meals would have been prepared and eaten in this room, pipes would have been smoked by the fire, songs sung.

The preparation and cooking of food is one of the most joyful, important things we do, vital for our well being. It's something to celebrate, enjoy and share, which is why I create rooms for cooking and living. Living kitchens. I like to try and recreate the hearth, making a feature of the cooker or hob. I like gas too, not just because its a fast and flexible way to cook, but also because it brings a real flame into the process.

Havana

I've just got back from Havana, where I took part in a seminar about the conservation of historic buildings. Of which Havana has plenty, many derelict due to a combnation of neglect, hurricanes and the use of seawater in the production of concrete.

Cuba is a truly extraordinary place, with few mobile phones, no advertising, not much in the way of shops, all those 50's American cars. The last outpost of the cold war, but it's begining to warm up (though at night it's a rather dim, cold blue colour as they have switched over to low energy lights wholesale).

It's said that Cuba is one of the most sustainable places in the world, which I can believe as they don't throw anything away and recycle everything. The absolute antithesis of the consuenerist society we are used to. No consumer electronics or flash cars. However there isn't much in the way of food either, although the Cuban's seem relatively happy. Music, rum, sun. I hope that I have the opportunity to get involved in restoration projects there in the future