‘a covered heat proof vessel in which food is cooked and served’ (NSOED) or, by extension, the food cooked in such a vessel. The word has a complicated history, starting with a classical Greek term for a cup (kuáthos), progressing to a Latin word (cattia), which could mean both ladle and pan, then becoming an Old French word (casse, via the Provençal casa), which then became cassole (diminutive cassolette) and casserole. Besides explaining this, Ayto (1993) draws attention to the remarkable fact that there has been a complete and sudden change in the meaning of casserole in English in the last 100 years:
When English took it over from French at the beginning of the eighteenth century it meant a dish of cooked rice moulded into the shape of a casserole cooking pot and then filled with a savoury mixture, say of chicken or sweetbreads. It was also applied by extension to a border of rice, or even of mashed potato, round some such dish as fricassee or curry: Mrs Beeton's recipe for a ‘savoury casserole of rice’ describes such a rice border. Then some time around the 1870s this sense of casserole seems to have slipped imperceptibly but swiftly into a ‘dish of meat, vegetable, and stock or other liquid, cooked slowly in the oven in a closed pot’, its current sense.
On the French side, it is of interest that when Favre (1883–92) wrote his huge culinary encyclopedia a casserole was defined as a tinned copper cooking pot, well suited to being displayed on the wall in order to impress visitors with the wealth and highly civilized lifestyle of the owners ‘who live on food prepared in these gleaming vessels’.
There are many situations in which the use of a casserole, as the term is now understood, is helpful to the cook. It is economical in the use of fuel; beneficial where long, slow cooking is desired to achieve a mingling of flavours, or tenderness; convenient when something has to be left cooking unattended; and appropriate for any household which likes to have food brought hot to the table in the vessel in which it was cooked (a point which is also of interest to whoever in the household attends to the washing up). Historically, casserole cookery has been especially popular in rural homes, where a fire is in any case burning all day and every day, and for special situations such as the requirement in Jewish cookery for one-pot dishes for the Sabbath. The 20th century saw a resurgence of casserole dishes, particularly in English-speaking countries, where the form was often seen as a means of using up leftovers, and where processed foods such as canned soups or sauces allowed the time-poor cook convenient shortcuts. It is a standby for potluck dinners.
Although casserole is a western term, the use of cooking pots which would be called casseroles in Europe or the Americas is almost universal in Asia. In China, for example, as Gerald and Anne Nicholls (1989) explain:
Sandpots are the casseroles of Chinese cooking. They are used for ‘clear simmering’ which involves the long, slow cooking of meat or fish with vegetables in water or fragrant sauces. They are also used for making soups and for cooking rice. They are thus an important part of the Chinese kitchen.
They are made of a mixture of sand and clay, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They are called sandpots because their rough unglazed exteriors have a sandy texture. There are wide pots, shallow pots, large pots and small, pots with two handles and pots with one handle. Some have rounded sides and others are straight or bowed. Some are designed to rest on a charcoal burner; a sort of chafing dish. Many come with matching lids.
See also pot-roasting, under roast.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Ayto, John (1993), The Diner's Dictionary, Oxford: OUP.
