Wun•der•kam•mer (noun): 1. “wonder room” in German; 2. encyclopedic collections of types of objects whose categorical boundaries included natural history, geology, ethnography, archeology, religious or historical relics, works of art, and antiquities. Besides the most famous, best documented cabinets of rulers and aristocrats, members of the merchant class and early practitioners of science in Europe, formed collections that were precursors to museums.
Reinterpreting the original concept of the Wunderkammer, this new thread on World to Table is going to feature modern day (kitchen) cabinets of curiosities. It wasn’t until and I shared what we usually stock up in our respective kitchens, that I realized how different our pantries and cooking habits really were. Asparagus, couscous and ricotta are solid staples in her kitchen, while mine is almost never without an abundance of tomatoes, a loaf of Pullman bread, or a giant chunk of Parmesean. We’ll be exploring a wide range of cooking spaces — from the big to the small, from the sparse to the cluttered.
Wunderkammer is a concept derived from a section I created for Volume Magazine, a magazine prototype from Lise Friedman’s magazine workshop at NYU. Now is the time to take out your reading glasses. Or click the photo for a closer look.
For the full magazine:
