Pantry

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In a late medieval hall, there were separate rooms for the various service functions and food storage. A pantry was where bread was kept and food preparation associated with it done. There were similar rooms for storage of bacon and other meats (larder), alcoholic drinks (buttery) and cooking (kitchen). In more modern usage, a pantry is a room in a domestic house used for food storage.

The derivation of the word is from the same source as the Old French term paneterie; that is from pain the French form of the Latin panis. (see Folk etymology).

A pantry may contain a thrawl, which is a term used in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and is a stone slab or shelf used to keep food cool in the days before refrigeration was domestically available. In the late medieval hall, a thrawl would have been appropriate to a larder. In a large or moderately large nineteenth century house, all these rooms will have been placed as low in the building as possible and convenient, in order to use the mass of the ground to retain a low summer temperature. For this reason, a buttery was usually called the cellar by this stage.

See also

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