[coolJ]

Okay, this might be a little off the wall. i got to talking about stuff with my mom, and she told me that she bought me some ramekins, and she was telling me that the clerk didn't know they were called ramekins. So I got to thinking, where does the name come from, like what I mean is why are the called ramekins instead of like sauce dishes ??, just curious.

[bandregg]

From Merriam-Webster on-line:

Etymology: French ramequin, from Low German ramken, diminutive of ram cream

[LotusCakeStudio]

This is all I got....

[kuan]

From Larousse

The word is derived from "ramken," the diminutive of the German "Rahm (fresh cream); thus it came to mean "a little dish with cream." Later on it denoted either a tartlet filled with a cream cheese or a type of gougere (choux pastry) sometimes made in a small mould.

There's a more thorough explanation in Larousse but that's all I'm willing to type

Kuan

[chefboy2160]

OK , so where did the term monkey dish come from ? People have laughed at me for years when I use this terminology outside of restraunts . I dont know where it came from ! Help . Doug.........

[coolJ]

Good point Doug, although I've never heard the term monkey dish before please enlighten me., I guess it's sort of like the term sauterne, what's that all about ??. and also at work when somebody says steam kettle, they're refering to the huge soup pot hooked up to the steam source, but at home a steam kettle is what you boil to make a cup of tea.

[kuan]

Haha! Monkey dish is a 4" dish with flared sides, like if you get a side of brocolli at a diner it'll come in a monkey dish. Can you picture it now? Anyway that's funny... monkey dish

Kuan

[KateW]

you mean a rarebit dish?

[miahoyhoy]

Three versions.

1) the dish resembles the dish used by organ grinder's monkeys to collect tips.
2) a frat house in NY had a monkey that served beer
3) just like monkeys hanging around in trees, the dish hangs around the plate.

jon

[dickvegas]

OK, what about Salamander or Buffalo chopper?