Tureens: an overview of types, popular models and selection criteria

The tureen is a dish that is not found in every kitchen. Not everyone considers it necessary to use this container, considering it a relic of the past and an excess. But those who prefer to pour a fragrant first course into a tureen and take it out on a common table, assure that such a serving has many advantages.

Today, the word "tureen" means two things: the first is a roomy dish where you should pour soup or broth in large quantities (for all diners), the second is a portioned dish for soup. Both definitions will be correct.

More often, it is the total container served on the table instead of the pan in which the first dish was cooked is called a tureen. Of course, a saucepan on the table looks out of place, disturbs the harmony of serving and, in general, negates the aesthetics of food intake. But the point is not only in the beauty of serving: in the tureens, the first course is infused and does not cool down.

In the old days, nobility used tureens, and since there was a decent distance from the kitchen to the dining room, carrying soup to the table in plates was both inconvenient and impractical. He cooled down corny. Today, utensils for serving first courses remain a companion to elegant serving. And the soup itself looks more appetizing in a beautiful dish.

General rules for serving soups.

• Clear broths and vegetable light soups served in a cup with one or two handles, less often in a soup plate. They are eaten with a dessert spoon, the cup is turned with the handle forward. These types of first courses are served less often in a tureen; mashed soups are served according to the same scheme. Sometimes a "pocket" is attached to the cup - a place for croutons.

• Refueling soups (cabbage soup, borscht, as well as pickle, hodgepodge, thick vegetable soup) is eaten from deep soup bowls with a tablespoon. These dishes are often served in a common beautiful tureen. A stand is needed for an individual soup plate.

• National soups more often served in ceramic / clay pots. The pot should also be taken out on a plate or on a wooden stand.

• Family dinners Is the best way to serve a tureen. According to etiquette, she should be on the table next to the dining table. But now this rule is rarely adhered to, because the tureen is often placed in the center of the table.

The containers for serving the first courses may look different and have specific features. A standard tureen bowl is not just a deep plate with two handles, but a spacious, beautiful container with a lid.... In terms of volume, the dishes also differ and can be from 2 to 5 liters and more. If you plan to use dishes for ordinary family meals, and your family is small, then a modest tureen tureen of 2.5 liters will be enough.

If we talk about a soup cup, they can be:

• resembling portion pots;
• trapezoidal, with handles extending upward;
• cylindrical;
• in the form of a mug;
• design.

In recent years, the tureen mug has gained particular popularity. This is partly due to a decrease in portions: people began to monitor their diet more, reduce their diet. Mugs-tureens, in contrast to deep plates, did not give an opportunity to get enough "to the limit", to regulate the amount of consumed product. And in many cases, such dishes are more suitable for serving, as they look nice and modern.

But serving tureens on a stand has gradually lost its relevance: less and less housewives use stand plates and their substitutes. And a replacement was found for the classic volumetric soup tureens with a lid - in many families their electric counterparts "took root". But they, as well as disposable tableware, lack that charm of classic serving, unhurried dinners in the company.

In shape, the "common" tureens are similar to each other - their roundness has variations, but not so significant. But the materials for the manufacture of such dishes are very different.

• Clay. Traditional "root" material, warm and very homey. Clay tureens with lids are usually small and can replace a brazier as they are suitable for oven cooking.

• Ceramics... The option is no less worthy than the one described above. Keeps warm for a long time, looks both modern and vintage (there are different models), inexpensive in price. Perhaps the most popular are tureens in the form of a pumpkin or a dish on the lid of which a hare, a duck, and a chicken “lurk”. Such dishes are suitable for serving first courses, and for roasts, for example.

• Porcelain. May be included in a set of tableware, sold separately. There are luxurious models, expensive, graceful, in the spirit of the "king's table". But you can also find models of porcelain tureens, made in minimalism. Porcelain is lighter and more delicate than ceramics, but at the same time it is durable. Such dishes are resistant to temperature extremes, not afraid of acidic and alkaline influences. But porcelain differs from porcelain: soft appearance has a creamy shade, hard porcelain is distinguished by whiteness and the greatest strength, and bone is something between these two options.

• Faience... At first glance, it is difficult to distinguish earthenware dishes from porcelain, but even the materials sound differently.The faience is deaf and low, and it is also heavier, its walls are thicker. The material is afraid of temperature contrasts and may simply crack.

• Glass. Such objects look a little simpler, more modest, but they are convenient in that they can be heated in a microwave. Such containers are made of heat-resistant glass, for convenience, ears are "attached" to them. Glass tureens are good because their contents are appetizingly peeking through the walls. For example, a bright pink cooler or thick okroshka looks picturesque in a transparent dish.

• Silver... Such dishes are akin to family treasures: luxurious, aristocratic, raising the status of lunch or dinner. They always have to shine and look perfect, otherwise the presentation itself is meaningless.

• Food grade plastic... In this case, we are talking about portioned plastic tureens: if the dishes are reusable, you can take them with you to work or to a picnic.

Interestingly, hostesses find alternative uses for tureens. In this dish you can store the remains of the first and second courses, it is convenient to serve pasta and dumplings in it. It is also convenient to store baked pies in tureens (they will stay warm longer).

For those who are versed in dishes, know famous brands and types of dishes that are fashionable today, the choice of a tureen turns into a search for an actual option. I would like to guess with the trend, to get an interesting model in my collection.

Such discerning buyers will find this review useful:

• "Gzhel" (Leander). Czech tableware offers many interesting options that are actively purchased by connoisseurs of porcelain in different countries. A round porcelain tureen "like Gzhel" holds 2.5 liters. Elegant, not bulky, recognizable by the print, the dishes will perfectly take root in your kitchen if the aesthetics of Gzhel are close to you, or even if you just love the combination of white and blue.

• "Tomato" (Bordallo Pinheiro)... Another recognizable model that will look good in a bright interior, perhaps in an interior with rural motives. For country lunches and dinners, this option is just perfect. Fits 4.5 liters of the first course in a tureen. It is a bit heavy, but the brightness and interesting design overrides this conditional minus.

• Blue Sky (Tunisie Porcelaine). An elegant modern tureen with a capacity of 3.2 liters, made of porcelain. Her design is classic, so she can easily "make friends" with other tableware from your collection.

• Food Warmers Line. And this is the famous heated tureen made of heat-resistant glass. It is equipped with a steel base. It is the heating that allows the contents of the tureen to not cool down for a long time. The set also includes a stainless steel ladle.

• Set of tureens Luminarc. These are portioned tureens with handles, there are 4 of them in a set. It is permissible to use dishes in a microwave oven, as well as in a dishwasher. Products of light milky color and laconic shape will be a great addition for lovers of classic serving. This company also offers black cookware.

• Loraine tureen set. These are ceramic portioned tureens, which are made on a stand. In a set of 5 items. Manufacturing material - ceramics. The original design allows the use of tureens both daily and in preparation for the festive table.

You don't have to look for branded dishes: in a modest shop or in the pottery and pottery department, you can find very interesting options. Some housewives prefer to have two tureens - one is used every day, the other is used for special occasions.

The tureen remains the main dish for serving first courses. If you honor tradition and do not want to give up this beautiful ritual, it should take pride of place in the sideboard or cupboard.

1. The size... Consider what size will work best for your family. There are miniature models in 2-2.5 liters.They look compact, are suitable for serving on a small kitchen table, it is unlikely that excess will remain in such dishes. If you expect that the table will be crowded on weekends or holidays, it is wiser to take a roomy model with a volume of 3.5 liters or more. Then the first one is enough for everyone and it will be convenient to pour the soup without a trace from the cooking pot.
2. The form. Adherents of the classics buy rounded tureens with handles (possibly twisted), a lid with a hole for a ladle. If your interior is minimalistic, you value geometry and simplicity of forms, a tureen with a shape close to a square will look better in it. Glass tureens are often triangular in shape and will go well with glass serving.
3. Decor... Today, various branches of the country style, rural motifs, unpretentious interior items are in vogue - if this is antiquity, then inexpensive, not exquisite vintage, but retro dear to the heart. In such an interior, clay tureens with floral ornaments or patterns will look great. The colors of the earth prevail - beige and brown, terracotta and others. Some craftswomen paint such dishes themselves, using flowers, twigs, birds, butterflies as decoration.

If you follow interior fashion, you probably know that the lagom direction is actively developing today. This concept is a feature of the Swedish national character. If you translate it literally, there will be something "just right, adequate." This word contains prudence, rationality. Today, this word in the aspect of interior design and housekeeping means restraint, modesty, the absence of unnecessary things.

And if this trendy direction is close to you, then stick to it in relation to the dishes. Do not buy something just for the sake of fashion, do not spend money on branded items that could be more needed in another, but take care of what you have. The silver tureen looks very impressive, but such showiness is far from always appropriate. Even a modest ceramic or clay tureen, which you inherited from older relatives, can serve you for a long time.

Tidy it up, polish it to a shine, and one day serve it for family dinner - a new life for old crockery might be the best solution.

By the way, serving soup to guests is a tradition that is slowly being forgotten. But for a dinner party or dinner, such a start is quite appropriate. If the soup is hearty, thick, the second course may be light (and vice versa). Thanks to the mere introduction of tureens into the usual set of tableware, a pleasant tradition may appear in your surroundings to gather on the occasion for "branded borscht with donuts" or "mother's hodgepodge".

For an overview of the tureen, see the video below.