Welcome

Gathering the Jewels features over 30,000 images of objects, books, letters, aerial photographs and other items from museums, archives and libraries throughout Wales.

Search the map

Thumbnail image of Wales,

New to Gathering the Jewels is G.I.S. A geographical search facility that will enable searching by location and place name.

Topics

Home » The Domestic Sphere » Cookery and food » Cooking utensils

Displaying results 1 to 6 out of 36

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Next >

  • Carved oak mantelpiece from Tudor Street, Abergavenny. Within it is hung a 17th century tripod cooking pot, and in front of it is an 18th century pot hanger.
17th century fireplace, Abergavenny
  • Turnspit dogs were in use until the middle of the 19th century as a tool to save cooks in large households the effort of turning meat on a spit by hand. The dog would be placed in a small wheel connected to the spit and as he ran the spit would be turned.

In order not to overexert a dog with this hot and unpleasant work they were often kept in pairs, so that they could be worked in shifts. It is believed that this is the origin of the proverb 'every dog has his day.'

'Whiskey' is the last surviving specimen of a turnspit dog, albeit stuffed. The breed appears to have died out with the advent of mechanisation in the kitchen.

Source:
Cunliffe, J (1991) 'The Turnspit'. Kennel Gazette, pp. 20-22.
"Whiskey" the turnspit dog, 19th century
  • This late 18th century turnspit would originally have been powered by a small dog running within it. The energy the dog generated was then used to power a mechanism that turned the meat cooking on a spit.

Abergavenny Museum houses the last known example of a turnspit dog, a breed bred for this purpose.
Dog wheel turnspit, 18th century, Coed Cernyw, Monmouthshire
  • These two pots (small inside large), excavated from a house site in Monnow Street, Monmouth, represent the first example found in northern Europe of a cooking process using un-slaked lime and water.

Food sealed in the inner pot was cooked by the heat generated from the reaction between water and un-slaked lime in the space between the inner and outer pots.

Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster and Lord of Monmouth described this method of cooking in his devotional book 'Le Livre de Seyntz Medecines' of 1354, noting that the slow cooking time gave a man time to walk between 'five and seven leagues'.

Source:
Display boards, Nelson Museum & Local History Centre.
Medieval lime-powered cooking pot [image 1 of 2]
  • This inventory of china and utensils relates to items kept in a chest at Plas Boduan, near Nefyn, Caernarfonshire, c. 1824.
List of plate in chest at Plas Boduan, c.1824
  • These copper jelly moulds are part of the Batterie de Cuisine from Dynevor Castle, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire.
Copper jelly moulds, Newton House, mid-19th century