1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND
DESIGN
THE DESIGN SCHOOL
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD
ENVIRONMENT
NAME: MOY CHIN HOONG
STUDENT ID NO: 0314014
TOOL SELECTED: FRYING PAN
WORD COUNT: 676
ENGLISH 2 (ENGL 0205)
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: NARRATIVE ESSAY
LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSION DATE: 15TH NOVEMBER 2013
1

2. Frying pan is a utensil and it is used in the kitchen forcooking such as searing,
frying and heating food. An English Scholastic philosopher who named John
Wycliffe first noted the word “frying pan” to be used in English language around
1382.It started its “life” in ancient Mesopotamia as a copper pan. Through thousands
years of evolution, it is now became the pan which in variety forms such as
aluminum, stainless steel and even electric pan. Pans are also being used in the
ancient Rome and the ancient Greece. The Romans called the pans as “patella”
whereasthe Greeks called the pans as “teganon”.
So, how does it look like? And, what is its shape? It has a different shape for
different types of pan. The regular frying pan has a shallow, flat-bottomed base and it
is usually not with a lid. It has a diameter of around 20 to 30 centimeters and low
sides that are flared outwards. A standard pan comes with only a long handle but a
larger pan will have a smaller grab handle opposite the main handle in order to allow
the users hold it more comfortable and tight. However, the electric frying pans usually
come with the lid.
Pan with different sizes will have different weights. When the size increases,
the weight of the pan will increase as well. But for some circumstances, the materials
that used to make the pan are also one of the factors that affects the weight of the pan.
For instance, an 11 inches frying pan which made by aluminum will have the weight
around 1 kilograms.
The texture of the pan has a direct relationship with the temperature. For
example, when the pan is not being heated up, the texture of the pan is nice to touch
because it is smooth and cold. On the other hand, the texture is totally different when
heated pan compared to the non-heated pan. This is because when the pan is heated
2

3. up, it will hurt you by “burning” your skin when you touch it. And, it will be in a
solid form no matter when it is heated up or not.
Furthermore, frying pans come with various colors like yellow, orange, purple
and so on and so forth. But, a standard aluminum or stainless steel made frying pan
will usually silvery-grey in color. Nevertheless, it is odorless but some smell will be
retained in the pan after cooking. For example, the smell of onion will linger in the
pan and it may spoil the taste of next meal. Frying pan does not produce sounds by
itself. It can only create sounds if other objects such as spoon; wooden-made
chopsticks hit it or when it is heating with oil inside.
Due to the advancement of technology, DuPont has initiated the non-stick
pans, which the pans have the non-stick surfaces on it in 1956. It was a big step
forward for cooking utensil because the food cooked by a standard frying pan is not as
healthy as a non-stick pan. People will normally use a lot of oil while cooking in order
to avoid the food stick on the pan. This is absolutely unhealthy if we eat oily food
everyday. But, a non-stick pan will only require a small amount of oil while cooking
due to the non-stick surface and thus the food cooked by it will be healthier and
people nowadays would not want to put their health in hazard. In addition, this
situation will also reduce the use of oil and so called kill two birds with one stone.
People today are busy with their working life and frying pan could be a great
partner for them. This is because they do not need to spend so much time to wash off
the stain if they using non-stick pan yet the pan nowadays can be heated up easily as
the materials used are good in heat conducted. As a conclusion, the frying pan is a
great invention and it is beneficial for the earth people.
3