[Sca-cooks] Serving Soups

[Jane Boyko]

Brangwayna answered this question in her post.  Our tureens are white china 
2.5 quart bowls with fitted lids - similar to a glass casserole dish but not 
designed for the oven.  The sides have handles for carrying them.  Tureens in 
general can come in a variety of shapes and sizes but for the most part are 
wide and rounded in the middle and as  rule have a lid which helps keep the 
heat in therefore helping to keep the contents warm.  As far as I can tell 
tureens were designed for soups.  If you purchase good china today you can 
almost always purchase a soup tureen as part of the serving pieces.  I have 
priced some of them and they are approximately $800. - $2500. Cdn.  I have 
seen them in the shape of squash, cauliflowers, cabbages etc. to provide a 
centre piece on the table.  These are not insulated serving pieces.  Our 
tureens rely on the mass of soup keeping itself warm.  If the tureens, like 
Brangwayna's pewter ones, are warmed slightly before adding the soup the soup 
does stay warmer longer.  

My experiences with soup in the SCA is that it is one of the first things 
beside bread and butter to come to the table and since most people are quite 
hungry by this point in time the soup is eaten quickly so the lid doesn't get 
removed frequently.  It is removed, the lidless tureen passed around and then 
the lid is replaced by the diners.  Then if people desire seconds the lid 
comes off again.

What I appreciate about the tureens is that every table of 8 (we divide people 
into groups of 8 for serving purposes) gets a tureen (call it a soup serving 
bowl if you will) almost at the same moment.  Therefore our diners at one end 
of the hall don't have to wait the 15-30 minutes to eat when the trolley 
starts at the other end of the hall (I have never timed this process).  When 
using a soup cart and trolley I prefer it to be parked and the servers for a 
particular table bring the bowls up and serve their table.

As to the tureens I think the Victorians used them extensively (I have no 
documented proof here but for some reason it is an "I think" due to the 
number of antique I see in antique stores).  What I do not know is how old 
the history of the tureen is.  When did it come into use?  I haven't 
researched period serving pieces and it is a project I would like to take on 
at some date but at the moment I have too many other things happening.  I was 
hoping someone on the list might know??

Hope I answered your questions Stefan.  If not please reask or clarify if I 
didn't make my point clear enough.

Cheers
Marina


On 03/10/04 02:26 am, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Marina mentioned:
> > The Canton of Caldrithig (Ealdormere) purchased a number of small
> > white soup
> > tureens with lids and ladles a few years ago.  I really have no idea
> > if the
> > tureens are period but they do the trick of keeping the soup hot and
> > all
> > tables getting served pretty much at the same time.
>
> Okay, time for a "Stefan" question. :-) Actually a set of them.
>
> What do you mean by a "tureen"? Is this just a big pot? Or a particular
> shaped pot? Perhaps taller than wide? How big are these ones that you
> are using? Why are these better than simply a large soup or stock pot?
>
> Does having a lid actually help keep the soup hot? Or does it just end
> up being something that has to be continually opened?
>
> Are your tureens insulated? Or is it just the mass of the soup which
> helps keep the soup hot?
>
> Thanks,
>    Stefan
> --------
> THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
>     Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas
> StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
> **** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****
>
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