Fork

From Free net encyclopedia

For other uses, see Fork (disambiguation).

Image:Assorted forks.jpg A fork is a tool consisting of a handle with several narrow tines (usually two to four) on one end. Forks are used mainly in cooking and eating, to move or hold objects (typically, pieces of food) in place. The fork is sometimes referred to as the "king of utensils." Originally, the fork was used as an eating utensil primarily in the West, whereas in East Asia chopsticks were more prevalent. Today, however, forks are increasingly available throughout East Asia as well.

The remainder of this article is about the meaning of fork as a piece of cutlery or kitchenware. Other types of forks (yet still in the literal sense of the tool) include

tools like a pitchfork, spading fork, hayfork.
weapons like a military fork.
More might be found on the Fork (disambiguation) page.

The utensil (usually metal) is used to lift food to the mouth or to hold food in place while cooking or cutting it. Food can be lifted either by spearing it on the tines, or by moving it underneath the food, and holding it atop the tines horizontally. To allow for this spoon-like use the tines are often curved slightly upward.

1 History
2 See also
3 Types of fork
4 References
5 External links

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History

It is a myth that the fork was introduced in the West during the Middle Ages, as the Romans used forks for serving.

Before the fork was introduced, many Westerners were reliant on the spoon and knife as the only eating utensils. Thus, people would largely eat food with their hands. Members of the aristocracy would sometimes be accustomed to manners considered more proper and hold two knives at meals and use them to both cut and transfer food to the mouth.

The fork was introduced in the Middle East before the year 1000. The earliest forks usually had only two tines, but those with numerous tines caught on quickly. The tines on these implements were straight, meaning the fork could only be used for spearing food and not for scooping it. The fork was a great development in that it allowed meat to be easily held in place while being cut. The fork also allowed one to spike a piece of meat and shake off any undesired excess of sauce or liquid before consuming it. By the 11th century the table fork had made its way to Italy by way of the Byzantine Empire. In Italy it became quite popular by the 14th century, being commonly used for eating by merchant and upper classes by 1600.

The fork's arrival in northern Europe was more difficult. Its use was first described in English by Thomas Coryat in a volume of writings on his Italian travels (1611), but for many years it was viewed as an unmanly Italian affectation. Some writers of the Catholic Church expressly disapproved of its use, seeing it as "excessive delicacy": "God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks — his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to Him to substitute artificial metallic forks for them when eating."<ref>A History of the Table Fork</ref><ref>The Irrational Exhuberance of American Dining Etiquette</ref> It was not until the 18th century that the fork became commonly used in Great Britain. It was around this time that the curved fork used today was developed in Germany. The standard four-tine design also became current at this time (the three-pronged variety is known as a trident or more whimsically, a "threek").

The 20th century also saw the emergence of the runcible spoon (popularly referred to as spork), a utensil that is half fork and half spoon. With this new fork-spoon, only one piece of cutlery is needed when eating (so long as no knife is required). The back of the spork is shaped like a spoon and can scoop food while the front has a few tines like a fork to poke at food substance, making it convenient and easy to use.

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