Ladles bring an elegant flourish to entertaining. Whether serving a rich bernaise sauce over fillet mignon or a raspberry vinaigrette over tender grilled asparagus, why not do it in style by using a beautiful antique ladle?
On the left, a silverplate ladle with a mother-of-pearl handle and fluted bowl from the 20s. It’s one of my favorites I found years ago at a thrift shop in Greenwich. To its right, a little piece of New York history: a Gorham silver soup ladle from the Commodore Hotel, 1917. I found it at a tag sale in upstate New York, then had it replated. At center, the smallest ladle is sterling silver with an R engraved on the handle. I picked it up at a flea market in New Milford, Conn. Second from the right, a Chistofle silver soup ladle with a pierced and fluted bowl I found online. And finally, on the right, an old hook-end restaurant ladle I picked up antiquing in Orlando.
Though every one of these ladles was made to serve a specific food (soup, punch, gravy or sauce), who’s to say you can’t use a hot sauce ladle to serve a chilled soup? Unless you’re serving the Queen of England, does it matter? And don’t just bring them out on special occasions either! I love using special silver on an otherwise un-special day. Just find something you love and have fun!
Eddie, I just discovered how to navigate to your old posts and came across this one. What is the proper use of a pierced ladle?