and the corresponding French word ramequin are both derived, according to Graham (1988), from the Flemish rammeken, the diminutive of ram, meaning cream. Thus the basic meaning of the term is ‘a little cream’. It seems always to have involved cheese, but Graham points out that it has:
been used over the centuries to describe almost anything from Welsh rabbit or a melted cheese sandwich to a cheese-flavoured egg custard, tartlet, soufflé, pudding or puff. It later came to be applied also, by metonymy, to the receptacle in which some types of ramekin were cooked.
This last is probably the sense most familiar to English-speaking cooks nowadays. A typical ramekin is of pottery or porcelain, round, small (about 5–8 cm/2–3″ in diameter), straight sided, and able to accommodate a small custard or mousse or soufflé or pâté.
In France likewise, ramequin generally refers to the small pot, but Larousse gastronomique (1997) mentions two surviving examples of its meaning a savoury mixture such as could be served on toast.
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.
Graham, Peter (1988), Classic Cheese Cookery, London: Penguin.
