SPICE IT UP WITH EASE IN SPECIAL KITCHEN
Separate extra cooking space helps to keep strong aromas at bay
In some homes, robust flavours are a dinnertime staple.
But the fragrance that comes from preparing these cuisines can linger, even wander.
This helped inspire an emerging option in some new homes around Calgary. Spice kitchens are letting domestic chefs season, fry and saute in a separate space, keeping scents behind a closed door.
Gurjinder and Harbhajan Dhillon, who have a 14-year-old daughter, are enjoying the feature in their new home by Trico Homes. They moved to the northwest community of Beacon Heights in Sherwood from Taradale earlier in July.
“Ours is all Indian cooking, so that kitchen is a really good feature because the flavours from the spices don’t go on the clothes and the rest of the house,” Gurjinder says.
On the dishes commonly cooked in their home, “they have a very similar process,” she adds. “There’s a lot frying, a lot of crushing of onions, garlic and ginger.”
And she knows how easy it was for the aroma to spread in her previous home.
“No matter how strong the fan is that you put in, the smell of spice goes all over the house,” Gurjinder says.
“I like those flavours. That’s my food. But I’m when wearing those clothes, I don’t like those flavours on them.”
The couple got their first taste for spice kitchens four years ago while visiting family in Surrey, B.C., who had one built in their home. And it didn’t take long for them to relate to how useful this feature would be.
It remained on their minds when they recently decided to buy a new home. While exploring show homes, they came across a spice kitchen displayed in Trico’s Winston model.
“I said, ‘OK, I want this,’ ” says Gurjinder.
In current new home models, the spice kitchen attaches to the conventional kitchen, which is typically part of an open-concept design with the dining area and great room.
“The most important features would probably be a very strong exhaust fan, a bit of storage, and nice, strong lighting,” Gurjinder says. “Our cooking is very complex, so dim lighting does not help.”
Spice kitchens also tend to have a sink, oven and sliding range or gas cook top. All the necessities for putting together the feast they want. Some even have a window, providing an extra option for clearing the aromas.
Roopa Sidhu and her family also bought a new home with a spice kitchen. They moved from Temple to the new northeast community of Cornerstone with a home by Truman Homes.
Similarly, strong flavours were a consideration.
“It makes a big difference,” says Sidhu. “For people who cook from scratch, it makes sense having a spice kitchen. The main reason being, you don’t have the flavour all over the house.”
“The other big thing, you do the cooking, the mess is there,” she adds.
“It’s in one little corner, and the main area is still nice and clean. You don’t need to worry if you have guests over, your spice kitchen is your little space. After cooking, it’s a big mess, you don’t want everyone to see that.”
But now with two kitchens, does the common one become obsolete? They just play different roles, says Dipali Damji, area sales manager for Truman in Cornerstone.
“In the homes we’ve sold where we have added the spice kitchen, a lot more of the families have gone with more features in their regular kitchen,” says Damji. “A little bit more fancy, so it is more of the entertaining area.
“One lady said to me, she liked the idea of having the spice kitchen separated so she could use her (open) kitchen to lay out food,” adds Damji. “She doesn’t have to worry about cleaning all of that space, she can just close the door of the spice kitchen and worry about all the dishes being in there and use her main kitchen to showcase all of the food she made (during) parties.”
In homes by Truman, spice kitchens range from $6,000 and $9,000, depending on the size of the home.
Mattamy Homes has made spice kitchens one of its floor plan options, as well.
“Knowing that ( buyers) have had that option has been a positive,” says Warren Saunders, Mattamy’s vice-president of sales and marketing. “As we’ve introduced new plans, we’ve tried to incorporate that.”
Mattamy is currently building in Cityscape in northeast Calgary and Southwinds in Airdrie.
“It creates a whole new feel to that whole kitchen area. I think it frees the kitchen up to be a little more open for entertaining,” he adds.“It’s definitely been positive feedback from our customers and knowing that they have the option.”