In the UK Pots are generally high sided vessels with a small handle on each side, whilst pans are shallow with one long handle.,  A saucepan has both one handle and higher sides.

Both words have their roots in the Germanic language with 'pottus' coming from the Latin (vessel) and 'pfanne' from the Latin patina (shallow pan or dish) and Greek 'patane' (dish or plate).

Some people like to have matching sets of pots and pans.  I prefer a collection that has grown over the years, some passed on to me, some purchased as others wear out.  My preference is for stainless steel pots and saucepans with non-stick frying pans.  

The phrase 'pots and pans' can also refer to marijuana, someone who is poor, and sex between room mates who aren't a couple.   

No quiche here.

Ancient Mesopotamian tablets have been discovered to hold an early form of recipe, making the earliest recorded recipe book nearly 4000 years old.

The recording of recipes is an interesting glimpse into the diets of our ancestors. For example De re Culinaria, translating to 'On the Subject of Cooking' dates from 5th century Rome and includes chapters on vegetables, fish, pulses, poultry and four legged animals.  This ancient manuscript follows a logical format still used by many cook books today.

There is a huge market for cookbooks with many new ones being published each year, some of them rather unusual.  For example Salvador Dali released the Surrealist Cookbook in 1973.  With illustrations and recipes by the artist the book is still in print today and includes recipes such as spitted eggs, bunch of crayfish in Viking herb, Casanova cocktail and young turkey with Roquefort. 

Globally 2.6million households rely on biomass fuel cookstoves or open fires as their main cooking and heating method.  It's estimated that 4 million people die a year due to cookstove use.  

Traditional cookstoves burn wood, kerosene, charcoal, animal dung or other biofuels.  They tend to be unstable and often cause burns to users.  More worryingly inhaling the airborne particles of incompletely burnt fuels in the indoor smoke that is produced by inefficient stoves is a cause of lung cancer, stroke, heart disease and pneumonia. The adverse health effects disproportionately affect women and children, with their use having been likened to the equivalent of a 5 year old smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. There is also an environmental impact from their use both through air pollution and the production of the required fuels.  

Projects are in place to promote improved cooking facilities which use alternate fuels, are safer and more efficient.  However, uptake on these is variable.  In some areas it is not possible to use electricity due to lack of reliable supplies.  Gas bottles can be purchased but the upfront costs are often much higher than that of the traditionally used fuels. It has been reported that although households have improved cookstoves some still prefer to use old style fuels or revert to their old stoves due to financial constraints or preferences in cooking style.  It is hard for many to see the long term advantages of changing to a new style of stove and therefore community education programmes need to be in place alongside ensuring safer stoves are available and financially accessible. 

In kitchen design the triangle refers to the optimum layout in which the lines between the cooker, sink and fridge form a triangular shape.

Some contemporary kitchen designers eschew the traditional triangle design in favour of 'work zones' stating these allow for more creativity and individuality in modern times.  

Does it matter? Outside the safety of our ergonomically designed kitchens wars rage, the climate changes and the cost of fuel and food rises.