The little ones remind me of Balti dishes which are used to cook a particular style of Indian curries.

website with Balti dishes

I had the same thought as Writersblock. Gratin dish just means individual serving in a shallow baking dish put under the broiler to melt the cheese. Like those omnipresent boat shaped dishes restaurants use for individual servings of lasagna.

Congrats on your find, Annie! And I can tell you the secret to resisting copper. Since you now own quite a bit of it, make a vow never to buy another unless it's Mauviel. Even on resale it's ridiculously expensive. :)

I inherited some copper pans from DH's parents and still haven't used one, I don't know anything about cooking in copper. They are lined with tin and I guess I'm afraid of ruining them. They look pretty hanging from the pot hanger. Do you have to be careful of the heat and which utensils to use with them??

Good morning, all! Some of these pieces look an awful lot like some Portuguese-made COPRAL pieces my parents have which, according to what I've read, is not a great thing. :/ (I remember being so excited, too, when I "found" them way in the back of the cabinets...I thought I'd found a treasure!) Are they marked anywhere, maybe on the bottom or the handle?

BTW, here's what I read:

Wow, Annie! They are beautiful! I love copper, too. And for that price, I honestly wouldn't care if I could cook with it or not! I would find some place in my kitchen to display it!

My first thoughts on the cute little pans were about the same as Writersblock and Plllog, individual casserole pans. I love them!

Congratulations on a wonderful 'find'!

Rusty

The long oval pan with the handle is a fish pan. As in sole meuniere (and this movie scene, lifted from Julia Child's auto-biography: LINK)

The ones without handles and the small ones are gratins. The long oval ones can be used for vegetables (e.g. asparagus), gratins, fish and for finishing meats in the oven.

The best copper for cooking is generally 2mm+, or generally the thickness of a nickel, or above. That's a handy way to check when you are shopping. No matter what, you had an excellent score. I too have too much cookware, include a lot of new and vintage copper.

@ritaweeda -- it's easy to be afraid of tin. just remember -- always use medium heat or less, never anything above 400F, avoid preheating a pan without at least some oil in it (easy to forget it's on the stove) and never use metal utensils.

Thank you, Sammy. Some of the pans do say "Made in Portugal" but there are no brand names. A couple say "Bongusto, Italy".

Well, it's pretty. (grin) And it WAS cheap. Elery says if nothing else we can just hang it on the wall. Actually, I was thinking more of using them as heatproof serving pieces than with cooking with them, at least those without the long handles.

Thanks for the link, Gooster, I enjoyed that movie a lot.

Annie

My mother dealt with her copper "issues" by starting collections for her grandchildren.

You probably know this, but lots of those sets have been covered in plastic coating. If they haven't a patina, or an oddly darkened one, it likely has a finish that needs to be removed before you use it (sometimes a challenge), even just for serving. I don't cook in my copper, but I do love serving in it, too.

That's a great callout by @Olychick (if you are not aware). These pieces may be lacquered. If you intend to only use them for display or serving, keep them lacquered. If they are to be cooked in, then you can remove the lacquer with mineral spirits/acetone.

@Annie -- by chance I had lunch in the original restaurant where she experienced French cuisine for the first time. They serve her "menu" still (and I think in the same way).