Chafing dish

Double dishes that provide a protective water jacket are known as bains-marie and help keep delicate foods, such as fish, warm while preventing overcooking.

The Roman politician and writer Cicero described a "kind of saucepan of Corinthian brass", writing "This simple and ingenious vessel possesses a double bottom, the upper one holds the light delicacies .

[5] In 1520, Hernán Cortés reported to Charles V the manner in which Montezuma was served meals in Tenochtitlan: He was served in the following manner: Every day as soon as it was light, six hundred nobles and men of rank were in attendance at the palace, who either sat, or walked about the halls and galleries, and passed their time in conversation, but without entering the apartment where his person was.

The meals were served by three or four hundred youths, who brought on an infinite variety of dishes; indeed, whenever he dined or supped, the table was loaded with every kind of flesh, fish, fruits, and vegetables that the country produced.

As the climate is cold, they put a chafing-dish with live coals under every plate and dish, to keep them warm...[6]In England silver braziers without handles, upon which a dish would be set, are mentioned in the reign of Queen Anne; wooden balls kept the heat of the charcoal in the pierced container from being transferred to the table surface.

A book of chafing-dish recipes printed for the silversmiths, Gorham Manufacturing Co. in New York, (2nd edition, 1894), featured a brief history of chafing dishes, followed by proper instruction for use, suggesting its novelty.

[11] In institutional and catering use, chafing dishes often consist of large, covered rectangular pans, sometimes disposable, held in a rack or frame over water heated by an alcohol burner as a kind of steam table for keeping food warm at a buffet.