Who thought anyone would ever get excited about kitchen hoods? There is a time for everything, including salivating over functional appliances. In producing the Elica Collection, Italian company Elica has turned the cooker hood into an art form. You will undoubtedly imagine that I exaggerate, but the Elica Collection hoods bring modern shapes and glamorous touches to the kitchen range.

Menhir hood. Manufactured by Elica.

Before I go any further, let me share a personal anecdote. When we purchased our home, my husband and I found that its previous owner had done a lot of funny things: installed a door that opened onto a tree, for example. In the kitchen, the man had installed a range in the island/bar that opens onto the living room—without a range hood. Since we like to cook while facing our guests, who obligatorily linger around the kitchen, we could not put in a traditional ceiling-mounted range hood, which would have been too large and too low. To make a long story short, we ended up permanently disabling our smoke alarm. I was actually arguing for a raw food diet (I lost).

Gold Stream. Manufactured by Elica.

Ola. Manufactured by Elica.

Star. Manufactured by Elica.

Legend. Manufactured by Elica.

When you don’t have a range hood, you quickly realize its vital importance. Elica puts it plainly: “When kitchen planners design a new kitchen, they don’t ask their customers ‘Do you want a cooker hood?’ they ask, ‘What type of hood do you want?'” They point out what I have come to know too well—hoods extract foul air and collect grease. I don’t think Elica’s disaster scenario is far from the truth: “Strong smells created by the cooking can spread throughout the house; onions in the boudoir may clash with the talcum powder!! Cooking oils may be vaporised when frying and this oil can be deposited in all areas around the cooker. The décor suffers and redecorating is required sooner than should be necessary.”

So, what is the solution for those who inherit hoodless kitchens? Or for those with limited space? Or for those with stringent design standards? The solution is the Elica Collection, an elegant range of cooker hoods. Most of the products incorporate lighting, remote controls, and washable metal filters; most can be wall or ceiling mounted; and most are extremely quiet. Black Stream, which is made of black glass and stainless steel, hangs like a sophisticated lamp shade. Its rippled sides give it the illusion of softness. With one 40 watt halogen bulb and three 40 watt bulbs, Black Stream emits a soft light that streams both downwards and upwards. At 360 cm wide and high, Black Stream does not overpower the overhead space. Also available with shimmering gold glass, Gold Stream is the option for those with opulent tastes.

The Elica Collection features jewel-like hoods such as Legend, a circular band of graduating width, and Star, a crystal globe of glass prisms, both of which resemble chandeliers more than extraction devices. Futuristic options include Om and Space—they might be mistaken for sleek (though hard-to-read) wall clocks. For those with minimal space, the Elica Collection offers the compact Menhir, a simple stainless tube. There are selections for those who want color as well: Ola comes in stainless steel with red or blue interior, or painted pearl with violet or green inside. Given all these choices, it seems that no one need suffer a hoodless kitchen.