[Sca-cooks] "All the King's Cooks"

[Sue Clemenger]

Good to know my mind hasn't completely gone to h#ll in a handbasket! <g>
Yes, chafing dishes...although I seem to recall a variety of shapes.
I think I may just have to have that book.....
--maire, remembering how hard my traveling companion had to work to get
me out of that kitchen....

jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:
> 
> > I remember seeing one of the boiling kettles--perfectly enormous thing,
> > which fit into this alcove.  To stir the contents (or to fish something
> > out, no doubt), one had to actually climb stairs next to the alcove.  My
> > memory is insisting that the kettle was copper, but I could easily be
> > wrong--or the kettle could be a later one of some kind.
> 
> Nope, it was copper, according to the book.
> 
> > There was also this interesting area like a modern built-in counter,
> > except it was a series of mini-stoves, for want of a better phrase.
> 
> Charcoal heated chafing dishes.
> 
> > There were places on top for smaller cooking vessels (like our
> > saucepans), and underneath, room for charcoal or wood fires.  I think,
> > though, that that part of the kitchen was 17th c., but I could be wrong.
> 
> I believe that Brears says that that part of the Hampton Court kitchen was
> built in the 17th c. but that there were similar fittings in earlier
> kitchens.