Popular and not so popular plates for food and serving

From a young age, I knew only five types of plates: half-portion, half-cup, side dish, serving and saucer. The bowl stood apart in this classification - it was also a berry, as it were, from the same field, but not quite. And then came adulthood, moving, expanding vocabulary and surprise, because I did not know everything, but at the same time one of the names I understand has no analogues in Russian. But first things first.

Popular types of plates

This category includes dishes that are included in standard dining sets. There is not much variety here, and all the wealth of options can be counted on the fingers of one hand:

• soup plates - deep dishes with a diameter of 20–25 cm, intended for serving first courses;
• dining - not so roomy, but somewhat wider specimens (25–30 cm) for the “second” and side dishes;
• eateries large and small - the almost flat variety in which the slices are served;
• dessert deep and shallow for all kinds of sweets;
• saucers - classic coasters for cups and glasses.

And here you can already tell about my surprise. The half-portion and the so-called half-mouse turned out to be close "relatives", since they belong to the same subspecies - ordinary soup. It's just that their volume is different: the first holds about 200 ml of a liquid dish, and the second up to half a liter.

Polumysok is the name of large soup bowls, often used in Poland and in Ukrainian villages. This term has no analogues in Russian.

My family was not mistaken with the "side dish" variety - it was a dinner plate. But we called the handout the dishes that the majority of Russian-speaking people call a snack bar.

Lesser known types of cymbals

This includes the dishes used when setting the table, but almost never included in the services. Here, the options will have to be counted on the fingers of both hands:

• dish - a huge (up to 45 cm in diameter) flat oblong or round plate for meat, poultry and game;
• salad bowl large and small - a deep variety for serving salads "on the table" and in portions;
• pie - for bakery products;
• fish - oblong dishes with low sides;
• serving dish - an option divided into parts for serving several side dishes at the same time;
• herring - an oblong plate with high sides for the fish of the same name;
• chill mold - a porcelain imitation of a shell sash for serving seafood and oysters;
• a bowl, if on a leg - it is a socket, when without it - a bowl-shaped dish for desserts;
• showplate - a serving or substitute plate on which other varieties are already placed.

The list can also be supplemented with a round caviar plate of small diameter and its slightly larger "sister" for eggs, which has characteristic protrusions-handles.

Food bowls

The controversial category of tableware, which is used on a par with plates when serving, performs the same functions as is made of the same materials, but... In general, these representatives of the full table service are still accepted count as cups. These include:

• bowl - a deep saucer for tea or kumis, but can be used as an alternative to a gravy boat;
• broth - a bowl with handles for the first courses;
• kitty - an analogue of a round large salad bowl that stands out for its painting, intended for pilaf and similar national dishes.

The same list sometimes includes a cocotte maker (dishes for serving hot snacks). But this approach confuses me, because it is still quite difficult to call this miracle a plate. Especially those options that are made of metal.