[Sca-cooks] Hampton Court copper kettle

[Sue Clemenger]

Imagine, if you will, a large alcove into which the kettle was placed (and
it WAS huge...it's been more than 4 years, by I recall it as being taller
than I am...not difficult for people, I know, since I'm only 5'5", but
pretty big for a kettle!).  To the right, as you're looking at it, was
another, small alcove containing the stairs, about a half-flight.  One went
up the stairs (which were only, maybe, a half-dozen or so), to gain access
to the open mouth of the kettle.  ISTR being told that it was used to boil
meats and such (it's vaguely tied in mr brain with a blurb about
flesh-hooks), which would make some sense if you had to cook really large
quantities.
My memories about this may be just a little suspect, given the time
difference.  I'm bummed that I don't have a picture of it to share--at this
point, I'm not sure if I took one and it didn't turn out, or if I didn't get
une.
--Maire
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 4:25 AM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Hampton Court copper kettle


>
> On Dec 5, 2006, at 2:25 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
>
> > Maire mentioned:
> > <<< The most memorable piece I recall was this absolutely massive,
> > huge copper
> > boiling kettle that was quite a bit taller than I am, and which people
> > needed to use these little built-in stairs to access the top of. >>>
> >
> > The stairs were built into the copper kettle? Or do you mean the site
> > had some extra stairs built so the tourists could look into the
> > kettle?
>
> Or maybe the design of the manor included stairs next to the kettle
> so the original cooks/brewers/generic fire users could access it?
>
> > Why would they need that large of a kettle? What would they have used
> > it for? Although it sounds like it would make a nifty hot tub.
>
> If it were essentially the hot water heater for a large house (in
> some ways not unlike the gas or oil-heated hot water heater you might
> find in the basement of a large house today), I'd expect it to be
> huge, especially in a house without central heating and at least
> sometimes housing, possibly, over a hundred residents and staffers.
> It's conceivable that this hot water was used for bathing and laundry
> as well as cooking, isn't it?
>
> Adamantius
>
>
>
>
> "S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la
> brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them
> eat cake!"
>      -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,
> "Confessions", 1782
>
> "Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
>      -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry
> Holt, 07/29/04
>
>
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