California Coolers

18th August 2008

posted by Thy Tran | posted in bay area |

california cooler If you live anywhere near the Northern California coastline in a house that was built during the first two decades of the 20th century and if you haven't had a chance or don't have the heart to remodel your home completely, then you probably still have a strange, little cabinet in a corner of your kitchen. Unlike the other cabinets in the room, it has open shelves of wire or slats or perforated wood. It also feels very cold and breezy, and you might even be able to glimpse sunlight through the back of it if you stand at a certain angle and tilt your head a certain way. It may have a lock or, at the least, a secure latch.

This, my friend, is a California cooler.

In the days before easy electricity and Freon™ there was cold air from the ocean to keep your root vegetables crisp and your ham succulent. In San Francisco, a city built on sand, California coolers replaced the Midwestern cellar as a family's depository of food. An ingenious architect came up with the idea of a louvered box attached to an outside wall of the building. With some open shelving and an easy-access door right from the kitchen, busy housewives could stay close to their pantry staples.

Currently sitting in my California cooler are some onions and garlic, some potatoes, lots of vinegar and oils, a few heavily brandied fig and almond cakes from last Christmas, and a cloth-wrapped hunk of what will, I hope, become duck prosciutto by the end of next week.

Many modern designers remove these cabinets entirely, but I love when homeowners retain the cooler in their modern kitchen. There really is no better way to keep ingredients for weeks and months at a time in precisely the cool, dark, well-ventilated, and off-the-grid way that is best for the food that sustains us.

What are you keeping right now in your California cooler?

This entry was posted by Thy Tran on Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 11:09 am and is filed under bay area. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
tags: california cooler

1 On August 18th, 2008, Jess L. said:

Wow, we totally had one of those in the house in Santa Rosa where my family lived when I was in high school. I wish I could remember what we kept in it - nothing so exciting as what you have in yours, I'm sure, given my status as the only foodie in the family!

2 On August 19th, 2008, Erika said:

My first apartmentin the Haight didn't have the California Cooler, but it did still have its original icebox; I kept all my spices in its top ice block compartment.

3 On August 19th, 2008, Stephanie said:

How, um, cool! (Sorry, couldn't resist) I've never heard of a California Cooler before. Now, I really hope my next apartment has one.

4 On August 19th, 2008, Michael Procopio said:

I'm a native Californian who has lived all his adult life in quirky old apartments, and I have never heard of such a thing. It makes me feel as if there is something sorely lacking in my life.

Thanks for making me feel incomplete.

5 On August 19th, 2008, Stephanie said:

I know, Michael, right?

Meanwhile, Craigslist needs to put this in their apartment adds: "2 bd/2ba, pets: Y, W/D in unit, and CaliCooler."

Seriously.

You know what it reminds me of? The airing cupboards my Brit boyfriend had in his Yorkshire house. They're next to the heating pipes, have abundant of shelving, and Nancy Mitford used to hide in such cupboards with all her cousins (the Hons for those in the know).

Awesome.

6 On August 19th, 2008, Stephanie said:

Oops, that would be "ads."

7 On August 19th, 2008, Thy said:

Jess — If you closed your eyes and thought back to that kitchen and remembered the foods you ate–no matter what they were–I bet you'd remember what was in it. One of my friends who didn't know about California coolers kept his collection of 50s party plates in his, and another acquaintance stored pots and pans in his. I imagine there are lots of nonfood items in most of those cabinets these days.

Erika — I would love to have an old ice box!! Some of those are worth thousands of dollars now. I think California coolers were for people who were too cheap or lazy to deal with the ice man and his deliveries. They're nearly as beautiful, though.

Stephanie– I live with someone who loves puns…so that was much appreciated in my home. Actually, I was trying to think of ways to rig up a CA cooler, like in a air-well window or on a porch. Maybe hack one of those window green-boxes or something. Seems like it would be a good way to cut back on energy use if one could switch to a smaller fridge. Any DIY kitchen folks out there?

Michael — I'm sure your life does not need storage space for root vegetables to be complete — but I'll definitely take props from the native! Quirky old apartments are the best.

8 On August 19th, 2008, Thy said:

Erika — Oops…I meant to write that California coolers are NOT nearly as beautiful as ice boxes.

9 On August 20th, 2008, Thy Tran said:

Stephanie — What would we without Google or blogs? Nancy and Jessica's books are now on my reading list. Thanks for starting a very interesting thread of learning!

10 On August 20th, 2008, Stephanie said:

Thy, I think you will enjoy them. They're fairly hysterical and there's an amazingly fascinating bio on all the Mitford sisters (one was completely enamored of Hitler and tried to kill her self over him) called: "The Sisters" by Mary S. Lovell.

I recommend you read Nancy's, "Pursuit of Love" and "Love in a Cold Climate" before Jessica's, "Hons and Rebels," which has a slightly more bitter wit.

11 On August 21st, 2008, Rachel said:

I've just had an "eco food safe" installed at home, which works on a similar principle. It's a wooden box, with a door at the front and a shelf inside. The top "tray" and hollow sides are filled with soil, so you can grow herbs while you insulate/chill the foods stored inside. It's outside the front door and is working really well. Hurrah for traditional technology!

12 On August 21st, 2008, Art said:

Actually, I think California coolers were usually used in conjunction with iceboxes–it was cheaper to keep things that didn't need to be "ice cold" (so to speak!) there, while reserving the icebox for things that would spoil and needed the ice. They went out of fashion in part because refrigerators came into play and had much more space. We're lucky to still have one, though–it's home to oils, spices, root vegetables, and canned goods, and is pretty awesome at keeping those things as fresh as my parents' root cellar back east did (and way more convenient than the cellar, too).

13 On August 21st, 2008, Thy Tran said:

Rachel — thanks for telling me about the eco food safe. I hadn't heard of that before but am very glad to learn about it. Is there another term for it? I'm having trouble finding more information but would love to learn more–I have a feeling my parents would love one!

Art — I stand corrected. Of course there was an overlap in decades, so I can imagine both being well used during the turn of the century. Perhaps now again with the increasing cost of energy, we should rethink the need for bigger and bigger fridges.

14 On September 2nd, 2008, Bill Tantau said:

We had a CalCooler (just called the "cooler") in the old ranch house in Cupertino - built in the early 1900's, then found one in the old manse adjacent to the St. Helena First Pres Church. It's not just the ocean air that will provide the cooling but the air from any typical crawl space will work just fine. It only needs a drafting shaft to bring it up through the cooler. I doubt that any apartment would be so equipped unless it was on the ground floor. So COOL!!
BT
Clio, CA

15 On December 28th, 2008, Evelyn said:

I docent at a Historical House in Glendale, CA. Calif Coolers weren't for the lazy or cheap! Ice was very expensive & ice boxes were very small! You could keep everything & anything in a CC. Often they were in the center of the house, because the air is cooler there than outside in the summer. I am seriously thinking about putting one in my 1924 house, that's never had one. I'll have a root cellar attached to the house that I'm building into the side of a hill at the farm in MO.

But, CCs are just soooo cool! And, if you open them up, they'll help keep your kitchen cool as well. I use convection cooling in my house all the time. I hate airconditioners. I open the door of my basement (yes, basement in SoCal!) & run the attic fan on the 2nd floor. It cools the 3 floor whole house down in less than 1/2 hour. Much cheaper than A/C as well!!!

Culinary Rants & Raves from Bay Area Foodies and Professionals