Brown Windsor soup beans (broad beans), perhaps the origin of the name. Quinion adds that fictional barrister Rumpole of the Bailey mentioned eating it on the Great Western Railway in a book of short stories dated 1978 although Quinion questions whether this is an endorsement of the soup, "the extract confirms that the soup was at one time a staple of the restaurant menus of British Railways." Dr Malcolm Timperley, a researcher in the National Railway Museum's library and archives, reports that their team has specifically researched the existence of brown Windsor soup in British dining cars. After checking scores of menus dating
Chafing dish Chafing dish A chafing dish (from the French "chauffer", "to make warm") is a kind of portable grate raised on a tripod, originally heated with charcoal in a brazier, and used for foods that require gentle cooking, away from the "fierce" heat of direct flames. The chafing dish could be used at table or provided with a cover for keeping food warm on a buffet. Double dishes that provide a protective water jacket are known as "bains-marie" and help keep delicate foods, such as fish, warm while preventing overcooking. The Roman politician and writer Cicero described a "kind of saucepan