Page:Hill - Salads, Sandwiches, and Chafing-Dish Dainties.djvu/202

 locusts of Egypt and Palestine, for these were eaten as a common food by the people of the biblical lands and age.

Mommsen, in his history of Rome, while speaking of the extravagance of the times, as shown in the table furnishings, probably refers to the chafing-dish when he says: "A well-wrought bronze cooking-machine came to cost more than an estate." The idea that this might be the utensil referred to is strengthened by the fact that many chafing-dishes have been found in the ruins of Pompeii. These were made of bronze, and highly ornamented. Evidently, olive oil was the fuel used in these dishes.

Coming down to more modern times, Madame de Stael had a dish of very unique pattern, and, when driven by the command of Napoleon from her beloved Paris, she carried her chafing-dish with her into exile as one of her most cherished household gods. At the present day among the favored few, who have full purses, are found sets of little silver chafing-dishes about four inches square. These tiny dishes rest upon a doylie-covered plate, and a bird or rarebit may be served in them as a course at dinner, one to each guest. The cooking is not done in these dishes, and they are not furnished with lamps; in them the food, while it is being eaten, is simply kept hot by means of a tiny pan filled with hot water.

In reality, the modern chafing-dish is a species of bain marie, or double boiler, with a lamp so 152