Evening star., 1952-02-12
Revival Of the Tinne-Honored Chofinq Dish
By Violet FouIkner

A reader writes, ! imagine Cnere
are others who, like myself, received
O chafing dish for Christmas.
Won't you include some good chat
ing dish recipes in your column
from time to time?" AS 1t happens.
q chatting dish showed UP in my
Christmas loot. too. and sent me
out on q search Of my own for
recipes best suited to this style Of
cooking. When 7 started looking
I found several magazine articles
devoted to the subject >. more
proof that the chatting dish had
come back into its own.
The history of the chatting dish
dates back to the time people
used braziers as portable hearths
for warming rooms. In time the
brazier came to be used for warm
ing or cooking food. Still later
they were used as small portable
stoves. BY the time the 18th
century rolled around it had be-
come a table stove and acquired
the name chatting dish.
Credit for the improvement Of
the crude table stove goes to Oil
talented young Frenchman namedl
Alexis Soyer. Early in the 19thl
century he went from Paris tol
London to manage an exclusive
gourmetS' club. There he in
vented a model containing a Sec
ond pan for hot water and below
it an alcohol lamp so he could
prepare certain sauces in front Of
his guests. The name chafingI
dish stems from the French chauf-
fer, to make warm. The rechaud,
or the little portable furnace" as
MIR. Soyer described his handy
device, proved to be very popular
in continental restaurants and in
the fashionable homes Of London
and American society.
While the use of the chafingl
dish has continued wherever
French restaurant cookery is
practiced. its popularity in the
American home dwindled and died
during the early part OF the 20th
century. It was banished to the
attic or tarnished on the top
shelf Of the pantry. Fashion,
changed in the roaring '20s" and
girls expected their beaux to take
them out to dine in the evening.
Maybe it was the influence Of the
on our way of life or
the advent of talking movies that
drew people out of the home.
Now the pendulum is swinging
the other way. Television is keep
ing people at home. The old sill
yer and copper chatting dishes are
coming out of hiding. being
cleaned and polished and put
back into use. Those Of us who
were foolish enough to discard the
old chatting dish are now buying
new ones so popular have they
become for informal entertaining.
Many recipes can be adapted to
this type Of cooking rabbits,
curries and oyster
Stews. The chatting dish is ideal,
too. for keeping food hot on the
buffet table. Or you might like
3 cheese fondue served the way
they do it in Switzerland. It is
never put into separate plates.
Every one eats from the same
by dipping small pieces
Of bread impaled on a fork into
The Savory concoction. According
10 an old tradition, the first per-
son who drops the bread from his
fork must treat with a bottle of
vine. Your table companions are
invariably your family or friends.
and the spirit goes up and up as
the fondue goes down and down.
SWISS CHEESE FONDUE
u pound well-aged Swiss cheese.
2 tablespoons flour.
| cup white wine.
3 tablespoons kirsch or brandy.
Shred cheese find and dredge
with flour. Pour wine into shallow
heat-proof casserole or chatting q
dish pan, and heat but do not
allow to boil. Add 1s of the cheese Is
and stir over low heat until melt 3
I'd. Add remaining cheese in two !
nstallments. Continue stirring
until mixture begins to bubble. IL
Then stir in kirsch or brandy.
Keep hot by serving over candle 4
)r alcohol flame. Serve with
French bread cut into 1-inch +
squares. Spear the cubes of n
oread with a fork and dip into s
cheese, one at a time. If mix O
;ure becomes too thick, add a t
little more heated wine. Salt, v
pepper and nutmeg may be added, v
f desired, but the flavor of the 4
Swiss cheese is so good this is Il
lot essential. S,
nII