What Is A Tureen
To serve soups, stews, and other warm, wet dishes in an elegant yet old-fashioned style, some cooks like to use a tureen. This serving dish is especially designed for hot dishes. Usually shaped like an oval bowl with handles and a lid, tureens have broad mouths and deep interiors to allow for easy ladling and serving.
Old-fashioned tureens are normally made from porcelain or another ceramic base. Some are also crafted from silver. Modern varieties may be made from stainless steel or other similar materials. Many tureens are footed, which may help people and items such as tablecloths from being burned.
The domed lid or cover of a tureen typically features a handle or knob at its tallest point. This ensures that the diner may remove the lid without burning his or her fingers. The lid itself helps to keep the tureen’s contents fresh and hot, ready to serve in both family as well as restaurant atmospheres.
In addition to a cover, most tureens come with a platter or under tray and a serving spoon. The under tray protects the server’s hands from touching the hot tureen. It also helps create a sophisticated display when serving the dish. Serving spoons are normally wide and deep, similar to ladles.
An Overview On Tureens
Whether youre serving your immediate family members or a group of friends, a tureen is a must-have kitchen item. It not only provides a decorative touch to your table, but its also well-known for being able to keep your soups and stews nice and hot.
The first thing you want to consider is whether youre interested in just buying a tureen that matches your existing dishes or a set that is part of a collection. The Lenox Opal Innocence Carved Covered Soup Tureen actually offers both options. While it has a decorative floral design, the entire tureen, including the flowers, are white. It can be purchased on its own or with coordinating plates, bowls, mugs and serving dishes.
Next, look at the tureens capacity and whether it comes with any extras. For example, some models are able to hold 3 1/2 quarts and come with a matching dome-shaped lid and a serving ladle. If you have a large family or you tend to entertain big groups, you may want to go with a tureen that can hold as much as 5 quarts.
Determine your preferred style and how decorative you are comfortable with the tureen being. You can purchase a simple solid-color tureen in a high gloss finish or go with one that has more of a country vibe. The Royal Albert Old Country Roses Soup Tureen features decorative roses on both the body and the lid. If that wasnt stunning enough on its own, the tureen is also decorated with a 22-carat gold trim.
Antique Ceramic And Porcelain Tureens
Named after the French earthenware dish called a “terrine,” tureens are large serving dishes to hold soup, gravy, sauce, or stew. Tureens can be elegantly simple or give the potter an excuse to add plenty of design elements. Dont be surprised to see a soup tureen mimicking a bunch of asparagus, a head of cabbage, or a brooding hen.
What kind of tureens are there?
Styles include the following and more:
Tureens also come as figurines that look like plants or animals.
What types of materials are tureens made of?
These dishes can be made from any of the following types of materials and more.
- Pearlware: This type of earthenware has a glaze of white with a bit of blue in it that imitates some Chinese porcelain.
- Creamware: As the name suggests, this refers to cream-colored dishes with a lead glaze.
- Ironstone: This ceramic contains no iron. The name is because of its toughness. It has a glossy look similar to porcelain but is less expensive and easier to mass produce.
- Porcelain: This is a vitreous ceramic fired at high temperatures to make it glossy and nonporous.
- Transferware: This is an inexpensive and simple technique to decorate tureens. The image is first impressed on paper from an engraved metal plate that has been coated with the desired colors. The image is then transferred from the paper to the pottery. The images on the tureens are often of pastoral scenes.
- Silver: Tureen collections made of silver or other metals are somewhat rare and highly prized.
Also Check: Campbell Soup Chicken And Rice Casserole
Antique And Vintage Soup Tureens
When youve spent hours working on a soup or stew in the kitchen, it deserves nothing less than to be served in an antique or vintage soup tureen.
A large tureen is traditionally used to serve soup or chowder, while smaller tureens can be used to serve sauces. This serving dish is going to be an alluring and practical addition to your collection of serveware. Rather than serving from the hot pot directly from your stovetop, why not elevate the presentation with a tureen on the dinner table?
The word tureen comes from the Latin word terra, which means earth. This is because potters created the first tureens from ceramics and earthenware. Today, an antique ceramic tureen is going to bring a pop of color to your dining room, as youll find that ceramicists traditionally hand-painted their tureens, adorning the sides and lids with natural-world motifs and other decorative embellishments.
Silver tureens, on the other hand, are timelessly understated and will pair with all of your other serving bowls and tableware. We associate certain authentic period furniture with extravagance, and 18th-century serveware, such as Georgian tureens, will likely feature lobing and gadrooning around the body and rim.
Setting the table should be as important as the meal itself. On 1stDibs, an extensive collection of sophisticated antique and vintage tureens features Victorian tureens, mid-century modern tureens, porcelain tureens and more.
