Cookery Know-how · glossary
Trivet
A trivet is a base the joint or bird sits on in the roasting tin, so it roasts rather than stews in its own juices. A metal rack does the job, but cooks often use a vegetable trivet of thickly cut onion and carrot, with the trimmed wingtips or bones, which also flavours the juices for the gravy.
Definition
A trivet is a base the joint or bird sits on in the roasting tin, so it roasts rather than stews in its own juices. A metal rack does the job, but cooks often use a vegetable trivet of thickly cut onion and carrot, with the trimmed wingtips or bones, which also flavours the juices for the gravy.
History
The word trivet comes from the Latin tripes, “three-footed”, by way of Old English trefet. The first trivets were iron stands that held pots and pans over the coals of an open hearth. Three legs sat firm on an uneven hearth, and fire stands like these go back to antiquity: metal trivets were found in the tomb of the Chinese ruler Zhao Mo, who died in the 2nd century BC. In Britain, meat was roasted in front of the fire for centuries, on a spit or a bottle jack, with a dripping pan underneath to catch the fat and juices for basting and gravy. Once the oven took over, the trivet moved into the roasting tin. A wire rack, or a bed of onion, carrot and celery, holds the joint up off the hot metal so it roasts in dry heat instead of stewing in its own fat. Hot air can get underneath, and the juices drip into the tin for the gravy. The vegetables add flavour to that gravy too.
Sources: Collins English Dictionary; Historic Deerfield; Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management; Old and Interesting.