Lavarroz. Ordinary kitchen utility as a design object

Abstract

In this article, we will look closer at the kitchen ‘backend’, which contains the tools necessary for practical food preparation. These objects are usually invisible to guests–but also, as we will prove, to the design discourse. An object that illustrates the function of cookware is a tool for washing rice before cooking: Lavarroz (Washrice) by Brazilian dentist Therezinha Beatriz Alves de Andrade Zorowich. This tool has been part of the standard equipment of a Brazilian (and not only) kitchen since 1959. We will look at the importance of Lavarroz and similar tools in a social context, including culture and history. We will show the differences in social communication using tableware and kitchenware by comparing the features of objects and the media communication accompanying them. We will consider how deep the roots of disregard for kitchen tools are in culture. There were also periods and places in history where tools from the back of the kitchen were displayed in the limelight. What conditions must be met for the kitchen utensils to appear in the museum? We will also try to answer why, in the public discourse, Lavarroz is called an ‘invention’ and not a ‘project’.