Buy an antique silver gadget for the cook or chef in your life and they will be deeply impressed. Cooks since the Georgian times in England have been using silver for cooking and serving their meals because of its special properties: it doesn’t taint the food, it heats up quickly and it cleans easily. They warmed their brandy (for pouring onto Christmas puddings) and sauces in silver pans, made toasted cheese delicacies in silver dishes, ladled the soups out of silver tureens, sifted icing or caster sugar (onto their mince pies) and strained orange juice into the mulled wine.
Here is an A-Z OF SILVER CULINARY EQUIPMENT which is both unique and useful and can be bought at the London Silver Vaults in Chancery Lane, London. Examples are on display in The Cook's Kitchen exhibition until the end of January 2012.
CHEF'S SILVER
Basting spoons – Georgian examples are very collectable. Great as serving spoons.
Brandy warmers – small pans with a lip for pouring and usually a wooden handle.
Chafing dish – a lidded dish, insulated to keep contents warm.
Dish cross – a raised silver dish holder with a central burner, for keeping food hot at the table.
Gravy strainer – to strain out any lumps from meat juice or gravy.
Meat skewer – for use with a boned and rolled joint of meat, mostly mid-Georgian.
Nutmeg grater - popular during the period 1780-1840.
Sugar caster - for refined sugar, with a removable, pierced lid. 1850s onwards.
Tea caddy spoons - from the 1770s onwards but mostly 1800s and up to the 1940s.
Tea infuser – for making tea, and infusing spices into sauces.
PRESENTATION
Asparagus - tongs and serving sets
Breakfast Dish – large scrolling lidded serving dish for serving the bacon & eggs.
Entrée dish – a fairly shallow, lidded serving dish for meat or vegetables, used on the table or buffet.
Ham Stand - for holding a cooked ham for carving. Magnificent example in the show.
Mazarine - an oval pierced plate used in serving fish (or meat). 18th century onwards.
Meat dish & cover – often with a ‘sunken well & tree’ to catch the juices.
Muffin dish – created especially to keep muffins hot, straight from the griddle.
Soup tureen – these first came into vogue in the early 18th century.
SPECIALIST CUTLERY FOR COOKING, SERVING,EATING
Carving sets – elegant set of carving knife, fork and steel.
Cold meat servers – with flat grips to pick up slices easily, and with a scissor-action.
Fish slice – for serving a whole fish at the table. later Georgian period onwards.
Knife rest – traditionally used to rest the carving knife on when not in use
Lobster picks & crackers
Pastry forks – with three tines/prongs, one of which is wider to cut through pastry. Marrow scoop or spoon – designed to scoop out the cooked marrow from a bone.
Serving sets – knife and large fork, or trowel-shaped server for cakes and tarts.
Sugar Nips or Tongs.
Toasting fork – with a long, extendable handle, used to toast bread (or marsh mallows) at the fireside.
ON THE TABLE
Argyll (Argyle) – an insulated jug to keep gravy or sauce warm.
Butter boat – a small boat-shaped serving dish for pouring melted butter at table.
Carafe or decanter – a more glamourous way to serve wine or port at table.
Condiment set – usually comprising mustard, pepper and salt pots.
Cream jug – typically small upright or boat style jug for pouring cream at table.
Cruet sets – comprising three, four or more (sometimes eight) silver stoppered glass bottles.
Egg coddler – a small, deep lidded dish containing a holder for cooking four eggs
Gravy boat – typically boat-shaped for pouring sauce or gravy.
Oil & vinegar sets – more popular from the late Victorian period.
Sugar caster – to dredge sugar on fruit or cakes or mince pies.
Salt cellars – traditionally lined in Bristol blue glass as salt tarnishes pure silver.
Spoon warmers – often in shell or cornucopia form.
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