[Sca-cooks] pantler knife/chaffer knife

[James Prescott]

>  They are listed as being "Three knives of the
>  Panter - chaffer, parer and trencher knives".
>
>  I have looked up chaffer in both the OED and
>  Websters, but I come up with only definitions
>  dealing with removing chaff, a person who uses
>  a chafing dish, and English slang meaning to
>  chatter, bargain, or trade.  None seem to be
>  related to bread or panters.

OED gives the verb chaff "To roll up (dough) into a
rounded form in the moulding of a round loaf."  It
mentions a chaffing table on which this is done.

It is thus tempting to suggest that a chaffer would
be a knife used for cutting the (large) round loaves.

The OED also quotes Cotgrove that chaffe bread is
"the coursest kind of bread" -- though I hardly think
that someone employing a pantler is likely to be
eating chaffe bread.


>  I have Yahood and Googled chaffer and pantler
>  and knife in various combinations, but have
>  only come up with one website which used
>  chaffer and knife in a mediaval context and it
>  apparently references "Fabulous Feasts".

Page 28, "a _chaffer_ for large loaves, a _parer_,
and a _trencher knife_ for smoothing the edges of the
specially sliced bread that served as platters".

She adds on the following page "The Panter's fourth
knife, the _mensal knife_, cut the choice "upper crust"
from rolls and breads for presentation to the master."

No citations are given.


Thorvald