April 2026

Apr 6

Traveling with Tasting History & the Chafing-dish Craze

Hello Tastorians,

As many of you know, I’ve recently led groups of your fellow Tastorians on two river cruises—one down the Danube and another along the Nile. They were such a fantastic experience that I’m excited to announce not one, but three new Tasting History river cruises with AmaWaterways:

Paris & the Seine — November 2026
Wonders of Colombia — March 2027
Vietnam & Cambodia on the Mekong — November 2027

You can find booking information for all three here:
https://www.journeygoaltravel.com/tastinghistory

I’ve had an incredible time leading these trips—it’s a week of trying new foods, making new friends, and diving into history together. If you’re interested in joining, I encourage you to sign up soon, as these tend to sell out quickly.

Moving on!

While researching an upcoming video on Welsh rarebit, I stumbled upon something unexpected: the late 19th-century obsession with chafing dishes.

You’ve definitely seen them: those metal containers set over a flame at buffets to keep food warm. I’d never given them much thought beyond that. But it turns out they were more than just warmers as entire dishes could be prepared in them, Welsh rarebit among them.

According to one 1894 cookbook:

“The chafing-dish began its career in the hands of the bachelors. With them it was a substitute for a hearthstone, and, supplemented by cosy bachelor apartments and a good club, measurably consoled them for the domestic joys most of them neither missed nor desired.”
— The Chafing-Dish Supper (1894)

Before long, the trend spread throughout the middle class, partly as a fad, and partly out of necessity. As industrialization created better-paying jobs in cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, fewer young people entered domestic service. That meant the lady of the house might actually have to cook. Heaven forbid!

Enter the chafing dish.

In 1890, it was declared:

“Chafing dish cookery is the latest fad among the amateur and professional gourmets of Gotham.” — Cookery with a Chafing Dish (1890)

As for why the chafing dish fell out of favor outside of the buffet setting… that’s a mystery—for now. But I’ll keep digging down this particular rarebit hole to see if there’s enough for a full episode. So watch this space.

Until then, here are last month’s episodes to catch up on.