THE HISTORY OF CHINESE
COOKING
In ancienttimes stoveswere verydifferent
from now; hence cookingwascrudeand less
elaborate. Thefoodwasbroiledovercoalsor
buried in hot ashes. The portable stoves of
Pompeiiwhichweredugupduringtheuncov-
eringoftheburiedcityshowhowthesestoves
weremade. Others were the oven fireplace,
thebrick oven,andtheFranklinstoveinvented
by Benjamin Franklin. The cook-stoves
adaptedtowoodwereverydifferentfromthe
gasandelectricalappliancesofto-day.
Itwas buta step forprimitiveman, from
bakinginhotashes,orin acoveredkettleset
oncoals,toasimpleformofoven. Oftenone
served a community. Sometimes a fire was
built directly inthe oven, and when it was
burneddowntheovenwas sweptoutandthe
foodputintobecookedbytheheatedbricks.
The later brick oven, still used in some old
houses,hadaspaceunderneathfora separate