The history of the fork has more than a dozen years. True, they began to use it much later than a spoon and a knife. Basically, they ate food with their hands, using appliances only as improvised means. Sometimes, some aristocrats held one knife in each hand - for cutting and transferring food from a plate directly to their mouths. In those days, the nobles did not even guess that in the future it would be much easier and more convenient to eat their favorite dishes.

The first time a fork is mentioned in the records of the 9th century in the Middle East. The novelty had just two teeth so it was a bit awkward to use. The inhabitants of the East practiced only stringing pieces. Toward the end of the century, the fork was brought to Italy - the country of gourmets. There is a legend that Princess Maria Agrira was the first to use the fork. According to the version, the little noble did not touch the food with her hands, instead, she forced her servants to cut all the food into tiny pieces. Near the princess lay an instrument of extraordinary beauty with two prongs, just to match its mistress. She clung to him dishes.

Only three centuries later, the culinary accessory was already known in Europe, and after a while, neither nobles nor merchants could do without it. The northern part of the continent got acquainted with the fork much later. The first to describe the "miracle" was Thomas Coryat, after returning home from a trip to Italy. But England saw the fork only in the 18th century. True, not everyone recognized the invention. The Catholic Church was against the use of a two-pronged culinary accessory. The priests all as one insisted that this was an excess of luxury. Moreover, the device instilled fear in religious figures.

The fork came to Russia, and then to other Slavic countries, in 1606. Queen Marina Mnishek appeared at one wedding feast with a novelty in her hand, which completely shocked everyone present. Guests could not even think that in just a few decades this food attribute would become an integral part of the meal. Much later, one European who traveled all over great Russia once wrote in his essays that at every noble dinner for guests they put a spoon and bread on the table, as well as a fork, knife and plate.

Only in the 18th century did the word "fork" become firmly rooted in the Russian language. Prior to that, as soon as it was not called - both "spear" and "fork" ... All this time, the accessory had the shape of a handle and straight teeth. Of course, it was much more convenient and even more interesting to eat with him, but over the years people realized that even that was not enough. It is for this reason that in the same century, curved teeth were invented in Germany, and a little later there were more of them - as many as four things.

Modern feasts are served in such a way that up to a dozen different forks can lie on the table. All of them were "born" into the world just recently - at the beginning of the last century. Hundreds of books and manuals have been written about how to properly use one or another type of fork. So many historians and culinary specialists have devoted their activities to teaching people to understand these attributes, because sometimes there are actually a lot of them.

Today, a lemon fork is distinguished - a small accessory with two sharp teeth. For serving herring, there is a two-horned fork. An attribute with a wide base in the form of a spatula and five teeth, which are connected at the ends by a bridge, is used for sprats. There is also a special device for crabs, crayfish and shrimp, which includes a long fork with two cloves. The model for seafood and cold fish cocktails has three prongs, one of which (left) is slightly larger than the others, so that it is convenient to separate the pulp of oysters and mussels from the shells. Finally, there is a chill fork, which is used for hot fish snacks (with three prongs). The squid needle is also classified as a fork.

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A fork is a cutlery consisting of a handle and several narrow prongs (usually two to four). It is widely used for cooking, as well as during meals to hold or carry individual parts of food. The fork is sometimes referred to as "the king of kitchen utensils".

As a cutlery, the fork has been developed over the centuries. The National Museum of Naples houses a fork found in one of the graves of the ancient city of Paestum in southwestern Italy. It is more than two and a half thousand years old. Cardinal and Bishop of Ostia (the ancient trading harbor of Rome) Peter Damiani, who lived in the 11th century, claimed that the use of a fork at the table was introduced into fashion by a princess originally from Venice, and from there it spread further.
In France, the fork first appeared on the royal table during the reign of Charles V, or rather, in 1379. The first forks were brought to England in 1608 from Italy.

How was the fork shape created?

The rules of good manners prescribed not to take meat with the whole five, especially with two hands, but only with three fingers; do not wipe your fingers on clothes, but rinse in a special bowl of water.
In the rich houses of Europe, it was fashionable to eat with gloves to keep hands clean. After dinner, the greasy gloves were thrown away.
The fork is a prototype of a hand. The first forks were huge and had only one sharp prong, later - two. The ancient Romans used them to extract pieces of meat from a cauldron or brazier. These tools cannot yet be called forks in our understanding, since the noble patricians continued to eat meat with their hands, along which fat flowed down to the elbows.
Small silver, often gilded, richly decorated food forks in recognizable proportions and shapes came into use only by the middle of the 16th century, replacing two knives that were used at the table in "decent houses".
In 1860, mass production of cutlery, including modern forks, was launched in England from silver or silver-plated metals. Stainless steel cutlery began to conquer the world in 1920.
Russia kept pace with the historical process in terms of forks. Even during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, as one European wrote in travel essays, "at dinner for each guest they put spoons and bread on the table, and a plate, knife and fork - only for honored guests."
The son of Alexei Mikhailovich, Peter the Great, also contributed to the history of the fork in Russia. It was not without his help that the Russian aristocracy recognized the fork in the 18th century.

The publication "Russian Antiquity" for 1824 contains information about how the table was set for Peter I: "A wooden spoon seasoned with ivory, a knife and fork with green bone handles were always placed at the device, and the orderly orderly was charged with the duty to carry them with you and put it in front of the king, even if he happened to dine at a party. Apparently, Peter was not sure that even in the "best houses" he would be served the whole set of cutlery.

Modern tables are served with appliances, among which there can be a dozen types of forks:

• Lemon fork. Has two sharp teeth.
• Two-horned fork - for serving herring.
• Fork for sprats with a wide base in the form of a spatula and five prongs connected at the ends by a bridge.
• The device for crabs, crayfish, shrimps. Long fork with two prongs.
• Fork for oysters, mussels and cold fish cocktails - one of the three prongs (left) is larger than the others and is designed to separate the pulp of oysters and mussels from the shells.
• Lobster needle.
• Chill fork - for hot appetizers of fish. It has three teeth, shorter and wider than those of the dessert.

In addition to traditional serving forks, there are unusual specimens.

The world's largest fork is located in the American Springfield (Missouri). The sculpture, 10.7 meters high, was built by an advertising agency that considers this cutlery to be its talisman. In Kyiv, there is also a monument to the fork, and not even one, but two. The monument to Vilka is located near the Pivnaya Duma pub, which is located on Drahomanov Street. Presumably, it was the pub that initiated and, accordingly, sponsored the installation of this monument. The author of this strange monument to the fork is the sculptor Vladimir Belokon. One of the strangest monuments is a huge fork, which, thanks to the efforts of the Nestle Corporation, was stuck in the bottom of Lake Geneva. The sculpture, created in 1995 and located opposite the Alimentarium food museum and the headquarters of Nestle, was called the "Food Monument".

The fork is a cutlery that appeared a long time ago. People immediately appreciated the benefits of using it. Agree, it is convenient to use it, piercing pieces of food on it. We use a fork every day, without even thinking about how this cutlery appeared. So let's delve into history and find out how the fork was invented.

chronicle
The rules of etiquette XVI-XVIII stated that one should not take pieces of food with five fingers. This was considered a sign of bad taste. It was allowed to use only three fingers, which, after eating, had to be wiped on their clothes (well, at least not on someone else's). After that, the hands had to be washed in a special container with water.

There was a time when wealthy European families had to eat with gloves on. This was done in order not to stain the hands with grease. After every meal, people threw away their gloves. Moreover, forks had already been invented at that time, so it is not known for what reason even noble people continued to eat with their hands. Apparently, this cutlery did not want to take root in the kitchen arsenal of families and was not used during meals.

The exact date of appearance of the fork is unknown. It is unlikely that anyone will know at what time and under what circumstances it was invented. But it is known that such cutlery was used in ancient Rome. Of course, then the forks had simply incredible dimensions and one sharp prong, later - two. But they did not eat them: with their help, hot pieces of meat were taken out of the boiler. Forks for a long time had only this purpose. Despite the obvious advantage of using this cutlery, the Romans ate with their hands for several centuries. Fat from food flowed down to the elbows, but this did not bother anyone - this state of affairs was normal.

It is still believed that the first fork was seen on the table of the French king in 1379. Then the ruler of this country was Charles V. It is strange that it was the French who began to use forks, because this state is among those who later began to enjoy the benefits of civilization. The people of this country are the latest in Europe to stop pouring the contents of the pots from the balconies (often on each other's heads).

In England, the fork was seen on the tables of noblemen in 1608. It was then that it was imported from Italy. But even at that time, the forks did not have the shape that they have now. Only centuries later, this cutlery became convenient to use.

The forks we eat every day appeared in the 16th century. In the dining room, people used two knives. It was inconvenient, which is why other convenient products were created. Such forks were silver, less often - gold and gilded, decorated with various precious stones. Despite this, people were still in no hurry to use such cutlery. Still, people did not want to get rid of the habit of eating with their hands, developed over the centuries - it was in the literal sense of the word in their blood.

Only in 1860 did the mass production of cutlery, including forks, begin. They were made of silver and silver-plated metal. Stainless steel forks have only been produced since the 1920s. So the cutlery that we are used to seeing on our tables made of ordinary metal appeared relatively recently. I would like to note that it is better to use silver forks. The fact is that the ions of this precious metal have a beneficial effect on the human body.

Finally
It is not known what forks will be in centuries to come. Perhaps people who will live in the future will not understand how we used the current devices. Maybe the design of cutlery will be different, their functional purpose will change. This is unknown. One thing is known: today the fork is one of the most necessary cutlery that we use every day.

The fork is perhaps the most mysterious of all cutlery. Some say that this is the youngest cutlery, others argue that forks were used in ancient times.

It is hard to imagine, but the Neapolitan National Museum is kept, found in one of the ancient graves. She is over two and a half thousand years old.

The exact time of the invention of the fork is not known. In some countries, it was known even in ancient times, although at that time it had only one prong (and whether it was a fork is still worth arguing). But the ancient Romans added another one to her. The only pity is that they used the fork only to pull out the meat that was being cooked in the cauldron. Then this meat was eaten without the help of appliances.

The ancient Romans and Greeks, talking about beauty, ate with their hands. The Roman poet Ovid taught them how to eat fingertips and wipe them on bread after eating. Later in Greece, special gloves with hard tips were put on the hands.

Something similar to a modern fork, only with five, and sometimes more cloves, appeared in Asia in the 10th century. A hundred years later, this invention came to Europe, but the fork became widespread only by the 16th century: a sharp awl, with which they pricked food and ate, was replaced by a fork with two cloves.

There is evidence that the fork in Europe appeared and finally formed as a cutlery in enlightened times - at the end of the 11th century, and even has a completely exact date and place of birth. There is evidence that the fork was born in 1072 year in Byzantium in the city of Constantinople in the imperial palace. It was made in one copy of gold, and its handle was decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay on ivory. This fork was intended for the Byzantine princess Maria of Iberia, the widow of Emperor Michael Doukas. She can be safely considered the inventor of the fork - she herself invented it and ordered it as an item of imperial dignity, considering it humiliating to eat with her hands.

After 100 years, the fork came from Byzantium to Italy, where it was first made in two copies - for the Venetian Doge and the Pope. A fork was made at that time with two prongs and was rather a kind of indicator of the prestige of the monarch, and not a cutlery at all. It was considered more convenient eat with hands or .

French kings began to eat with a fork for the first time, and not with their hands, only at the end of the 14th century. All attempts to introduce the fork into use ran into stubborn opposition from the Church. Several pamphlets were written against the fork, in which the fork was denounced as a vivid example of the corruption of morals, and its use in the courts of monarchs was considered as godlessness or even a connection with the devil.

In the pamphlet "The Island of Hermaphrodites", published at the end of the 16th century and directed against the minions of the French king Henry III, who adhered to non-traditional sexual orientation, it is said as something extraordinary that they never touched the meat with their hands, but they used forks, "no matter how hard it costs them."

Nevertheless, the fork is beginning to win back its right to be a cutlery. The first mention of forks in Europe dates back to the 14th century: for example, there were several forks in the treasury of the Duke of Breton, John II. True, they ate not meat, but fruits or fried cheese.

Peter Galveston, a favorite of the English King Edward II, had 69 silver spoons and three forks with which he ate a pear.

In the inventory of the wealth of the Hungarian Queen Clementia for 1328, thirty spoons and one fork of gold are mentioned. Charles V had a number of gold forks with gem-encrusted handles from 1379, which were used for rare desserts served at the most exquisite courtyards of the time.

The French Queen Jeanne d'Evreux left behind one fork, carefully packed in a chest, and 64 spoons.

The fork came to England at the beginning of the 17th century, but they began to use it constantly at court during the reign of Elizabeth, and at first it was believed that bringing food to the mouth with a fork, and not with hands - queen privilege. The rest of the subjects did it with their hands, dressed in gloves. And only in 1860 in England mass production of cutlery was established.

By the end of the 18th century, in almost all European countries, a canteen with a sharp end gave way to a knife with a rounded blade. There was no longer any need to prick pieces of food on the knife, since this function performed by a fork.

The Russian history of the fork begins in the 18th century. In the 17th century, even at the royal table, only a knife and a spoon were used. The cut off pieces were taken either by hand, or "whatever was more capable."

In Russia, the fork appeared in 1606, it is believed that Marina Mnishek brought it. At his wedding feast in Kremlin Marina with a fork shocked the Russian boyars and clergy. This fork became almost a pretext for a popular uprising against False Dmitry. The argument was devastatingly simple: since the tsar and tsarina eat not with their hands, but with some kind of horn, it means that they are not Russians and not monarchs, but the product of the devil. Even the word fork itself finally entered the Russian language only in the 18th century, and until that time this item was called "horn" and "wilts".

The prejudice of the Russian people against the fork was long and lasting. But the Russian aristocracy, not without the help of Peter I, joined this cutlery as an element luxury. The first forks had two prongs and were only owned by very wealthy people. At royal receptions, only especially distinguished guests put forks on the plates. Pyotr Alekseevich himself used the fork everywhere. His batman always carried a knife, fork and spoon with him, serving them to the king during the meal. The Russian people began to use the fork only in the 19th century.

Until the 20th century, in the broad masses of the people, the fork did not was known, remaining the property of aristocrats and educated. The Russian people considered the fork inconvenient and unnecessary, as evidenced by the saying "A spoon is like a net, a fork is like a milking". The people were accustomed to the fork, in essence, by the Soviet government with its system of mass public canteens, where every visitor relied on an aluminum fork. Until now, superstitions reflect a wary attitude towards the fork - it is believed that it cannot be given as a sign of arrogance.

The fork is currently the most popular and frequently used kitchen utensil.

The fork is currently the most popular and frequently used kitchen utensil. But few people know that all attempts to introduce the fork into use in the 17th century encountered stubborn resistance from the Church. The Catholic Church, calling the fork "excessive luxury", did not welcome its use - its use at the courts of monarchs was considered as godlessness or even a connection with the devil.

The fork rooted slowly. It was borrowed from the Venetians, who used it when eating fruit to keep the juice from staining their fingers. In France, a five-fingered fork was used for a long time. It was her that Montaigne meant when he said: "Sometimes I eat so hastily that I bite my fingers."

But let's go back a few centuries. The first mention of a fork is found in the 9th century in the Middle East. Before its invention, most Westerners used only a spoon and a knife, so they mostly ate with their hands. Aristocrats, on the other hand, used two knives - one for cutting, the other for transferring food to the mouth. However, there is evidence that the fork was born in 1072 in Byzantium in the city of Constantinople in the imperial palace.

It was made in one copy of gold, and its handle was decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay on ivory. This fork was intended for the Byzantine princess Maria of Iberia, who can be considered the inventor of the fork. Considering it humiliating to eat with her hands, she invented it herself. A fork was made at that time with two straight prongs, with the help of which it was only possible to string, and not to scoop up food. Initially, it was rather a kind of indicator of the prestige of the monarch, and not a cutlery at all. It was considered more convenient to eat with hands or a spoon.

In the 14th century, the French queen Jeanne dHervé had only one fork. She kept it in a case.

The spoon and fork were practically expelled from France until the 16th century and came into use only in the 18th century.

St. Peter Damiani tells with horror that the sister of the Roman Argilia, the wife of one of the sons of Pietro Orseleolo, Doge of Venice, instead of eating with her fingers, brought food to her mouth with gilded forks and spoons, which the saint considered as extravagant luxury, which brought upon her herself and her consort is heavenly wrath. Indeed, they both died of the plague.

But since the 17th century, the fork has become a necessary attribute at the meals of the Italian nobility and merchants. However, in Northern Europe, the fork appeared much later. For the first time in English, it was mentioned in 1611, but the fork was widely used in England only in the 18th century. It was introduced by Thomas Koryat thanks to his book about traveling through Europe. But even then, he was ridiculed about the possibility of spreading forks everywhere, and was called "Furcifer", which means "fork carrier".

The upper classes in Spain used forks in the 16th century, as can be seen from the vast assortment of forks found in the remains of La Girona, which sank off the coast of Ireland in 1588. In 1630, Massachusetts Governor Winthrop had the first and only fork in colonial America.

Forks with curved tines first appeared in Germany in the 18th century. Around the same time, forks with four prongs were mainly used.

The fork was brought to Russia from Poland in 1606 by False Dmitry I in the luggage of Marina Mnishek and was defiantly used during a feast in the Faceted Chamber of the Kremlin on the occasion of the marriage of False Dmitry with Marina. This caused an outburst of indignation among the boyars and the clergy, and served as one of the reasons for the preparation of Shuisky's conspiracy. As they say, the fork failed. She became a weighty argument proving to the common people the non-Russian origin of False Dmitry.

Traditionally, misfortune was attached to signs with a fork among the people - dropping the fork was considered the eve of misfortune, a bad omen. They spoke disapprovingly about the fork, as evidenced by the proverb: “With a spoon that is a net, and with a fork - like a milking”, that is, do not scoop anything.

Russia kept pace with the historical process in terms of forks. Even under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, as one European wrote in travel essays, “at dinner for each guest they put spoons and bread on the table, and a plate, knife and fork - only for honored guests.”

The son of Alexei Mikhailovich, Peter the Great, also contributed to the history of the fork in Russia. It was not without his help that the Russian aristocracy recognized the fork in the 18th century. The publication “Russian Starina” for 1824 contains information about how the table was set for Peter I: “A wooden spoon seasoned with ivory, a knife and fork with green bone handles were always placed at the device, and the orderly orderly was charged with the duty to carry them with you and put it in front of the king, even if he happened to dine at a party. Apparently, Peter was not sure that even in the “best houses” he would be served the entire set of cutlery.

Modern tables are served with appliances, among which there can be a dozen types of forks: ordinary and snack, for meat, fish, side dishes, two-pronged - large and smaller, used for cutting meat fibers, special for cutting lobsters, a fork complete with a knife for oysters, forks in combination with spatulas - for asparagus ... All of them are of recent origin: XIX - early XX century. Books have been written about how to distinguish them and how to use them. And this is a separate conversation ...

In the 19th century A new method of gilding and silvering metals was invented - electroplating. Christofle (France) bought a patent for his invention from the author of the method, Count de Ruolz, and began to use electroforming in the production of cutlery. And since that time, a huge number of different forks, knives, spoons, spatulas and other beautiful, and most importantly functional table setting items have been developed and produced.
Today, in the production of cutlery, 18/10 steel is the main material. This is the most durable and durable material used even in medicine. Steel 18/10 serves as the basis for products with silver or gold plating.

Good spoons and forks should be at least 2.5 mm thick (measured at the end of the handle). There should be no sharp corners, such as between the tines of the forks. Everything should be smooth and fluid. In addition, an expensive fork can be immediately recognized by the presence of grooves at the base of the teeth, so that food is washed out more easily.

Despite all the variety of forks currently being manufactured, there are certain types, the purpose and method of use of which are determined:

Lemon fork - for shifting lemon slices. Has two sharp teeth.

Two-horned fork - for serving herring.

Fork for sprats with a wide base in the form of a spatula and five teeth, to prevent deformation of the fish connected at the ends by a bridge. Designed for shifting canned fish.

The device for crabs, crayfish, shrimp (knife, fork) is used when consuming crabs, crayfish and shrimp. The fork is long with two prongs at the end.

Fork for oysters, mussels and cold fish cocktails - one of the three prongs (left) is more powerful for easily separating the pulp of oysters and mussels from the shells.

Lobster needle - for eating lobster.

Chill fork - for hot appetizers of fish. It has three teeth, shorter and wider than those of the dessert.