[Sca-cooks] back to kettles

[Jane Sitton]

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Thanks for the info, Bear.  Did you see the one Cindy sent, though?  It's
"from Pedro de la Vega, Flos Sanctorum, Zaragoza, G. Coci, 1544".  I thought
surely, people heated water to pour into something else, rather than dip it
out, despite not having tea.  The only other thought I had was there must
have been some sort of short ewer made to set directly on the fire.  I can't
see a brass one, but maybe ceramic?  Dunno.

Madelina




-----Original Message-----
From: Decker, Terry D. [mailto:TerryD at Health.State.OK.US]
Sent: Friday, June 08, 2001 3:36 PM
To: 'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Beer from unsafe water?


The word kettle derives from the Latin "catillus" a diminutive of "catinus"
or "large bowl."  It appears in Old English as "cetel" and in Old Norse as
"ketill."  In Middle English it is "ketel."  The definition is, a metal pot,
usually with a lid for boiling or stewing.  It is a synonym for cauldron.

The spouted pot that you are interested in is more properly a teakettle and
seems to appear in the late 17th century.  The timing coincides with the
increased use of tea, which may mean the teakettle was transplanted from
Asia.  You might check Uker's All About Tea, to see if he includes any
history on the teakettle.

The Kettlehouse, a coach house founded in 1640, uses a teakettle on its
sign, but the original sign for the establishment, a huge kettle, was that
of the village blacksmith.  The website does not state whether it was a
cauldron or a teakettle.

http://www.kettlehouse.co.uk/history.htm

A rather nice 18th Century teakettle:

http://www.p4a.com/itemsummary/15702.htm


Bear

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