The Chafing-Dish Supper

The Chafing-Dish Supper was written by Christine Terhune Herrick and first published around 1894 by Scribner’s. She was a writer and journalist who wrote prolifically about homemaking.

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What’s your favorite tool in the kitchen? This is a weird question that I had not given much thought to before I read The Chafing-Dish Supper. I think it is a fair assumption that most people do not ponder the origins of their kitchen machinery or utensils when preparing a meal. I surely don’t.

But a few pages into the first chapter, I soon began to feel I had been taking my silicone spatulas and my food processor for granted. I have never looked at my colander and asked it, what’s your story, despite all of the noodles it has saved from falling into my sink.

While Herrick and I may share a love of cooking, she bests me when it comes to examining the cultural significance and societal implications of crockery. And I love her for that.

Herrick was not just here to serve recipes in her cookbook. She was here to serve history.

The Chafing Dish

When I think of chafing dishes, I think of silver platters with tiny flickering flames beneath. They appear at affairs both modest and elegant, proffering buffets of scrumptious delicacies… or hot dogs.

Based on the testimony of Mrs. Herrick, chafing dishes in the 19th-century seemed to provide a similar convenience to those of us who use Crock Pots or Instant Pots, especially for the singles out there.

An Old-Fashioned Bachelor Party

“The chafing-dish began its career in the hands of the bachelors.

With them it was a substitute for a hearthstone, and supplemented by cosey bachelor apartments and a good club, measurably consoled them for the domestic joys most of them neither missed nor desired.

Assisted by the chafing-dish, they could – and often did – not only ‘welcome cheerful evening in,’ but also see it out in a blaze of glory.”

From Chapter One, When to Use the Chafing-Dish, of The Chafing-Dish Supper

Sounds like my typical Friday night, except I welcome the cheerful evening in with a salad and end up seeing it out in a blaze of glory a la the pizza delivery person.

Cauldrons vs. Chafing Dishes

As Herrick traces the history of chafing dishes from the hands of bachelors to the tents of Bohemia, she draws an interesting image that I would actually like to see more of in fantasy epics.

Whereas we fierce she-witches had cauldrons full of bubbles and troubles, the wizards had… chafing dishes.

“For a long time the man or woman – it was usually a man – who achieved a successful product in the chafing-dish was regarded by the uninitiated as hardly second to a magician of the Middle Ages.”

From Chapter One, When to Use the Chafing-Dish, of The Chafing-Dish Supper

Write About Me Like One Of Your Chafing Dishes

Mrs. Herrick loved the chafing dish, and I don’t blame her. She heralded it as a convenient tool that was accessible to all genders and classes, among other compliments.

“The chafing-dish deserves all that is said in its praise. It is simple, clean, easily managed, less expensive and cumbrous than a gas stove, less odorous and dirt-compelling than an oil stove. It gives practically no lateral heat, so that it may be used with comfort on even the hottest days.”

From Chapter One, When to Use the Chafing-Dish, of The Chafing-Dish Supper

With praise such as this, it makes you wonder how chafing dishes could even fall out of fashion. At the writing of this article, I have never cooked with a chafing dish, but it is now on my to-do list.

Shine Bright Like a Chafing Dish

Not only are chafing dishes clean and convenient, but they can make any hostess shine bright.

“Nearly everyone feels a keen interest in watching the preparation of the dish that is soon to gratify his palate, and the hostess who presides over a chafing-dish is usually flattered or fluttered by finding herself the centre of attention.”

From Chapter One, When to Use the Chafing-Dish, of The Chafing-Dish Supper

So, what it sounds like to me is that 19th-century hostesses were soaking in the attention we reserve in modern times for the tricks of the hibachi chefs. Before my next house party, I guess I am going to have to either work on my onion volcano or my chafing-dish flair. Hmm…

via GIPHY

Let’s Hear From You

What are your thoughts on chafing dishes? Do you want to see some 19th-century chafing-dish recipes? Guess what, you will! Stay tuned…