In the midst of meat-and-potatoes home cooking now rose a group of cookbooks that clearly connected chafing dish specialties, other dainty innovations of the time (salads, finger sandwiches, sweets and relishes), and new meal patterns (teas, luncheons, suppers). Just look at the titles and their dates, keeping in mind that no such cooking had previously existed. - 1890; [anonymous] On the Chafing Dish, A Word for Sunday Night Teas offered a selection of savory dishes that could be put together easily and served graciously at the table. The author noted that “The few receipts for the chafing Dish I have found successful in making the informal Sunday night tea a meal much to be desired. All of them are dishes simply and easily prepared by the housekeeper herself- or himself.” Its “Epilogue”added salad choices.
- 1900; [ca.]. Christine Terhune Herrick, The Chafing Dish Supper.
- 1902; Fannie Merritt Farmer, Chafing Dish Possibilities. Included some history of the utensil, and non-chafing dish preparations such as fashionable sweets, relishes, and candies.
- 1905; Frank Scholesser, The Cult of the Chafing Dish.
- 1906; Chef Louis Muckensturm, Louis’ Salads & Chafing Dishes.
- 1912; Alice L James, The Chafing Dish, Together With Directions For The Preparation of Sandwiches.
- 1912; Mrs. S. T. Rorer, How To Use a Chafing Dish.
- 1912; Gesine Lemcke, Chafing Dish Recipes: included salads, canapes, sweet desserts and chafing dish luncheon menus.
- 1913; A. C. Hoff, The Chafing Dish Specialties.
A similar series of works had been targeted specially at bachelors, the bon vivants who might be found “In Clubs, Yachting Circles, Army and Navy, and The Dreams of Fair Women—Heaven Bless Ém ” (Deshler Welch, The Bachelor and The Chafing Dish, 1896).
And so on.
Needless to say, such an audience sought the equipment necessary to make the right impression. In 1892, the Jewett Chafing Dish promotions portrayed a decorative utensil available in silver plate, nickel plate, or polished copper. It burned alcohol, and boasted that it had no “wick to get out of order.” Four years later, the Gorham Manufacturing Company used the standard cookbook format, filled with illustrations, as a catalog of enticing designs.
In 1906, Sternau’s small promotional booklet of chafing dish recipes described a more complicated set of equipment. It declared that “the Sterno-Inferno Burner, which is the most important adjunct of all, is really a part of the Chafing Dish.” The complete set included a special spoon, fork, skimmer, egg poacher, toaster, omelet or chop dish, chafing-dish tray, and covered flagon (for wine, cream, etc.).
And finally, the chafing dish made its way into popular culture, a sure sign that it was well known, in the traditional song, The Eddystone Light:
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