Your kitchen may appear clean and safe. But is it so in
reality? Here are a few tips to ensure this.
Your kitchen. The holiday destination that’s been voted No.
1 - 12 years in a row by all neighbourhood cockroaches, ants, rodents, and most
household cat species. Your toilet exists because of your kitchen. A strange
way of looking at things, huh? A direct bond between the two. The common link: You
or rather your gastro-intestinal system, beginning at the mouth and ending at
that other discreet place where the sun never shines.
The raw ingredients (the food matter and drink) go in at one
end and it’s these foodstuffs we are directly concerned with. A change/defect
in the quality, a dash of something extra, and it could have a traumatic effect
on the gut. And where is this error bound to happen rather than the site at
which food has been prepared? The kitchen.
- Most regular measures to be taken are so simple that at times one tends to overlook them. Sure, you wipe the table, basin, gas-stove or cooking platform clean of oil, spilled liquids and food debris. But once in a while, a touch of detergent or an antiseptic solution should be diluted, and this should be applied to the same surfaces. It won’t work forever, but it keeps the vermin populace away, and with no raw material to lure them in, your purpose is doubly served.
- Commonly touched objects/surfaces (while cooking or culling operations are in progress) are often overlooked — fridge door handles, gas buttons, light or fan switches, oven handles, door knobs and laps.
- Chopping boards are among those utensils which need to be cleaned thoroughly. Apparently, there is a tendency for food matter to get driven into the grooves made by the knife. Bacteria could collect here, if the board is not scrubbed well. It will then mix with ingredients subsequently sliced.
- Washed cutlery should be properly dried before being tucked into the drawer. Excess water (draining from washed items) should be wiped away or pushed into the basin. Mosquitoes can be attracted to such collections.
- As far as possible, try not to leave unwashed dishes overnight. If it’s unavoidable, immerse the utensils in water so that night-life cannot get at it. Do not leave a knife in the basin. In the clutter of unwashed dishes, it’s so easy for the person washing to reach for a plate — not seeing the knife underneath — and slice a thumb open.
- Do not dump vegetable remnants, rice grains, crumbs etc down the drainpipe. And choked pipes need to be unblocked as soon as possible, for obvious reasons. You can either use a powder preparation available in the market, or manually open the trap and scoop out the junk.
- Do you shut the gas valve every night before retiring? It’ is supposedly a good habit, and one should also keep the kitchen ventilators open, just in case.
- Just as you (defrost and) clean your fridge, do not ignore your microwave. If on heating the chicken-rolls, your kitchen suddenly fills with the warm aroma of home-cooked and roasted cockroaches, you know it is time.
- Keep kettle spouts covered, when not in use. No telling what climbs into such openings, especially at night. Ditto with all pans and pots and water filters.
- Wear an apron. Not just to keep ingredients from splashing/spattering/staining your apparel, not just so you can dry your hands at significant moments, but more importantly so that you will have something to explode into if you suddenly sneeze while frying the mackerel.
- Fruits (in a bowl) should be kept covered with a lid/basket. And keep no flammable material (curtains/gloves) near the cooking range.
But why take chances? It is like the case of a woman who on
serving her family one lunchtime, found a boiled lizard in the rice.
Apparently, she’d left the kitchen while cooking and the lid had been left
open. Down dropped a lizard, right off the ceiling, and into her brew.
On the bright side, she did find it before it was too late;
which might not have happened if, instead of the rice, it had fallen into her
curry chicken, one gas-ring away!
