It’s an illusion, of course. In the most highly designed modern kitchen, we are still drawing on the tools and techniques of the past. As you grasp your shiny tongs to whip up a modern dish of wok-fired squid and greens or linguini with butternut squash and red chili, you are still doing an old, old thing: using the transformative power of fire to make something taste better. Our kitchens are filled with ghosts. You may not see them, but you could not cook as you do without their ingenuity: the potters who first enabled us to boil and stew; the knife forgers; the resourceful engineers who
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