Corby Hall Porcelain Coupe Bowl 13 Inch

A coupe bowl carries no rim at all, and at 13 inches across that is the entire point. The wall runs in one unbroken curve from the outer edge down to the base, so the full width is surface you can actually put food on.

• Full width in play Nothing is surrendered to a flat rim, unlike a rimmed bowl of the same stated diameter.
• 106 fluid ounces Over three quarts to the brim, which makes this a shared course rather than a side dish.
• No ledge for dressing A vinaigrette runs back toward the middle instead of collecting in a band around the edge.

What a Rimless Edge Changes

On a rimmed bowl the rim is dead space. A 13 inch rimmed piece might give you nine or ten inches of usable well; this one gives the full thirteen, because there is no flat band standing between the food and the edge. A coupe therefore reads larger on the table than its measurement suggests. The trade is at the edge itself, which is the thinnest part of the piece and wants the same care you would give the lip of a plate when things are stacked wet.

Three Quarts in One Piece

106 fluid ounces is a little over three quarts. Filled to about three quarters, which is where a wide bowl stops being awkward to serve out of, it holds roughly 80 ounces: six generous pasta portions, a whole dressed salad, or enough fruit that nobody has to refill it mid-meal. The capacity is what turns it into the thing the table is arranged around.

Who a Wide Bowl Suits

This belongs on a table that serves from the middle. Thirteen inches needs real estate, and the bowl earns its keep where it is set down once and stays put while people help themselves. Plate every course in the kitchen and carry finished portions out, and a piece this wide spends most of its life in a cupboard. Measure the clear space at the center of your table before committing to a thirteen inch footprint, because the number that matters is the one left over after the plates are down.

Shape, Carrying and Material

Is a coupe bowl the same thing as a pasta bowl? Coupe describes the edge, not the job. It means a piece with no rim, so a coupe can be a plate, a deep plate or a bowl depending only on how far the wall rises before it stops.

Does having no rim make it harder to carry? A little, and it is worth knowing before it arrives. There is no rim to hook a thumb over, so a full one is lifted from underneath with both hands. That grip is exactly what the coupe shape removes on purpose.

Why porcelain rather than stoneware at this size? Porcelain is fired hotter and ends up vitrified, which means the body itself does not absorb liquid. On a bowl that will hold tomato sauce and oily dressings, that is the difference between a piece that stays white and one that stains at the base.