| By :
Paul Wise
A chafing dish is used to keep food warm without further cooking it and thereby altering the taste and quality. It is most commonly set over a heat source, typically a canister of wax-like fuel these days. It is a familiar fixture at parties and other social functions involving food where guests are not table-served by waitstaff and requiring cheap party supplies. Disposable varieties are often used for more informal get-togethers such as company picnics and church potluck dinners. These are almost always made out of aluminum. Durable ones can feature fancy designs. Chafing dishes were originally set on tripods and heated with charcoal in a brazier. They can serve as cookware and were once employed mainly in that capacity. They are now most often encountered in buffets serving as food warmers. A special kind of chafing dish called a bain-marie exists specifically for fish and other more delicate foods. This variety of chafing dish offers a double dish with a protective water jacket. Chafing dishes are still deployed by many restaurants to cook the food at the table. There were even specialized chafing dish cookbooks during the eighteenth century! Chafing dishes go back a long way. The Conquistador Hernan Cortez reported that the Aztec emperor Montezuma was served his meals on a chafing dish. They were present during the reign of Queen Anne, and early American colonists owned some. Then there are those chafing dish cookbooks just mentioned, with detailed instructions on their use as kitchenware, suggesting their novelty. The chafing dish is even mentioned in an old folk song, the sea shanty "The Keeper of the Eddystone Light." The lighthouse at Eddystone, England, has become famous in the maritime lore of the region. It overlooks the treacherous Eddystone Rocks, and had actually gone through three previous iterations (involving rather dramatic circumstances) before settling on its present fourth incarnation. The ditty, presented in relevant part, follows: My father was the keeper of the Eddystone light And he slept with a mermaid one fine night Out of this union there came three A porpoise and a porgy and the other was me! Yo ho ho, the wind blows free, Oh for the life on the rolling sea! "Oh, what has become of my children three?" My mother then inquired of me. One's on exhibit as a talking fish The other was served in a chafing dish. Yo ho ho, the wind blows free, Oh for the life on the rolling sea!
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