Chafing dish and casserole cookery

To cook dinner on the table. CHAFING-DISH cookery is by no means a new invention, for it was practised in olden times for so-called rechauffes of game and poultry in rich and highly-flavoured wine sauces. The use of this convenient cooking apparatus has been revived in America, probably on account of the great difficulty experienced there among private families to get qualified cooks. The increasing knowledge of good cookery among all classes in this country as well as in the United States may also be responsible for the increasing popularity of the use io Chafing Dish Cookery of the chafing dish as the most handy and convenient cookery utensil for the preparation of tasty and quickly-cooked dishes. Some few years ago chafing-dish suppers became fashionable in London, and from that time the use of the chafing dish has become more and more popular. It is only right to say that if ever there was an article whose use was abused, whose object was misunderstood, and whose ability, or shall we say possibility, was undervalued, it was this very article, commonly known as the chafing dish. Chafing-dish cookery is restricted to certain dishes, and cannot be adapted for all cooking processes, but so long as those dishes are practical one could not wish for a more handy or more convenient cooking apparatus. You may boil, stew, broil, and fry in a chafing dish, provided the right kind of materials are used, but other cooking processes are practically impossible in a chafing dish. Whatever may be said for or against chafingdish cookery, there is a great deal of fascination for professional as well as amateur cooks. The chafing dish has become quite fashionable among the upper classes, who, for the sake of convenience or enjoyment, like to show their skill in matters culinary. By its means one can make the most tempting and quickly-prepared dishes that are so conveniently adapted to it. Although the chafing dish is mostly used for a late supper, it may also be utilized at luncheon, breakfast, or the time for making any kind of dish which must be served “ a la minute,” that is, immediately after it is cooked. The mere mention of chafing dish brings up the much-discussed and, I may say, disputed question of late suppers. A chafing dish generally consists of four parts : the framework in which the lamp is set, the lamp, the hot-water pan with side handles which rest on the framework, and the blazer in which the food is cooked. A flagon is a dainty adjunct for filling the Chafing Dish Cookery ii lamp without removing it from the table ; but in its absence a jug can be used. The flagon is recom mended because when corked * it prevents the alcohol from escaping. Cheap alcohol should not be used in the lamp ; the best quality is less likely to smoke. A polished wooden or bone spoon and a chafingdish fork are necessary, the former for stirring the food, the latter for serving it out. These articles have long handles with broad bowls. It is best to place the chafing dish on a tray so as to prevent any danger of a flaring flame igniting an unprotected table cloth. The tray, flagon, hot plates, fork, and spoon should be put on the side of the tray.