Definition: bain-marie

A cooking method that involves placing the container holding the food in another larger container filled with water and kept at boiling point. This method can also be used to keep delicate dishes warm.
Historically, the term "bain-marie" belonged to alchemical vocabulary and was referred to as "bain de Marie" in reference to Mary the Jewess (4th century BC), who is also credited with the origin of certain laboratory utensils such as the kerotakis and the tribikos or three-spouted alembic.