From the origin story of the fork: How the cutlery came to be the center of attention at three royal weddings. Fork. The history of this cutlery

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Fork history January 31st, 2014
No trick against the fork

one hit - four holes! Word fork (English fork) comes from the Latin “fulka”, which means garden fork. The fork, as a cutlery, was familiar to the ancient Greeks. At that time, forks were relatively large, had only two massive straight tines and were used to distribute large chunks of meat among dishes. Another early mention of a fork can be found in Old Testament

, Book of Samuel 2:13 (“When someone offered a sacrifice, a priestly boy, while boiling the meat, came with a fork in his hand.”).

When you admire ancient portraits of noble beauties in an art gallery, it never occurs to you that these refined creatures at banquet tables ate meat and fish with their hands. Back in the 16th-18th centuries, rules of good manners prescribed not to take meat with all your fingers, much less with two hands, but only with three fingers; Do not wipe your fingers on your clothes, but rinse them in a special bowl of water...

At one time, in wealthy European homes, it was fashionable to eat with gloves to keep your hands clean. After lunch, the grease-stained gloves were thrown away. But forks already existed then...

The first forks were huge and had only one sharp tine, later - two. The ancient Romans used them to remove pieces of meat from a cauldron or roasting pan. These tools cannot yet be called forks in our understanding, since the noble patricians ate meat with their hands, along which fat flowed down to the elbows... By the 7th century AD, in Asia Minor the fork had become a symbol of wealth and power and was used royal families

during feasts. From the 10th century, forks spread to the territory of the Byzantine Empire, where similar cutlery was also used only by aristocrats. From there, in the 11th century, the fork was brought to Venice by a Byzantine princess who became the wife of the Doge.

However, in Italy the fork did not find use for a long time (more on this later) and only gained popularity by the 16th century. It is not difficult to guess that in the rest of Europe this necessary cutlery appeared only at the end of the 16th century. And it spread only by the 18th.

It was made in one copy from gold, and its handle was decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay Ivory. This fork was intended for the Byzantine princess Maria of Iveron, who can be considered the inventor of the fork. Considering it humiliating to eat with her hands, she came up with it herself. At that time, a fork was made with two straight teeth, with the help of which it was possible only to string, and not scoop up food. Initially, it was rather a kind of indicator of the monarch’s prestige, and not at all a cutlery. It was considered more convenient to eat with your hands or a spoon. In the 14th century, the French queen Jeanne d'Herve had only one fork. She kept it in a case.

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

Today we take the fork for granted. In addition, no one has yet canceled the ease of use of it. Why then did the fork so slowly make its way to our table?

The fact is that, despite the fact that, as we remember, in Greece, meat was laid out on dishes with a fork, it was customary to eat with your hands. They also ate Ancient Rome. This habit was so firmly rooted in the hearts of people that it was very difficult to dislodge it. With the beginning of the spread of Christianity, the position of the fork only weakened: the fact is that by preaching monotheism, Christians naturally waged a “war” against the pantheons of gods of Rome, Greece, Egypt... It was decided that since only God and the Devil exist, then all the old gods were recorded as demons - minions of the Devil, who have power over individual elements of nature, and thus confuse the minds of people with their imaginary power. Accordingly, much of what had to do with the ancient gods was declared prohibited - including the fork: the trident of Poseidon. In addition, the pitchfork was also assigned an unseemly role: the persistent expression “Devil's Pitchfork” is still preserved.

Thus, unlike the “eastern barbarians,” all “enlightened Europeans” until the 16th century ate mainly with their hands, or at worst with a knife. When the fork appeared in England, it was simply ridiculed. “Why do we need a fork, if the Lord himself gave us hands,” approximately the same sentiment reigned throughout Europe at that time. So the path to recognition of the fork was very thorny.

Now let's talk about why it is customary to place the fork with the tines down when setting the table. There are several theories on this subject: according to the first of them, one day during a feast, King George 5th was upset about something and, in a fit of anger, slammed his fist hard on the table... As a result, the monarch’s hand fell on the teeth of the fork, and his mood deteriorated even more .

According to another version, since the fork for a long time was a luxury item, the nobility often boasted of the fame of the craftsman who made this or that piece of utensils. Since the mark and engraving were applied to the reverse side, the fork was placed so that its origin could be seen from afar.

According to the third version, which is again associated with the English royal court, there was a tradition of cutting off all the corners of the sandwich served with tea. And so that God forbid the monarch should suspect hostility towards himself, the fork was held only with the teeth down. For the same reason, the knife was placed with the blade inward towards the plate, so that the presence of such a dangerous object on the table would not look like a threat.

Another interesting point: modern European tradition involves holding the fork with the tines down during the meal. Americans, on the contrary, prefer to use it with the teeth facing up. This feature was played out in several films, where American spies were exposed only because they ate with a fork, as is customary in their homeland. So, if you are an enemy agent, take the trouble to learn the traditions of the local population.

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

Traditionally, misfortune was associated with signs of a fork - dropping a fork was considered the eve of misfortune, bad omen. They spoke disapprovingly of the fork, as evidenced by the proverb: “A spoon is like a net, but a fork is like a fish,” that is, you cannot scoop up anything.

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

Alexei Mikhailovich's son Peter the Great also contributed to the history of the fork in Rus'. Not without his help, the Russian aristocracy recognized the fork in the 18th century. In the publication “Russian Antiquity” for 1824 there is information about how the table was set for Peter I: “A wooden spoon, seasoned with spices, was always placed at his cutlery.” ivory, a knife and fork with green bone handles, and the orderly on duty was required to carry them with him and place them in front of the king, even if he happened to be dining at a party.” Apparently, Peter was not sure that even in “ best houses“He will be given the entire set of cutlery.

Modern tables are served with utensils, among which there may be a dozen types of forks: regular and snack forks, 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 centuries. Books have been written on how to distinguish them and how to use them. And this is a separate conversation...

In the 19th century was invented new way gilding and silvering of metals - galvanoplasty. The Christofle company (France) bought a patent for his invention from the author of the method, Count de Ruolz, and began using electroplating in the production of cutlery. And from that time on it began to develop and produce great amount various forks, knives, spoons, spatulas and other beautiful, and most importantly functional tableware items.
Today, in the production of cutlery, the main material is 18/10 steel. This is the most durable and durable material, used even in medicine. 18/10 steel serves as the basis for products with silver or gold plating.

Good spoons and forks should have a thickness of at least 2.5 mm (measured at the end of the handle). There shouldn't be any sharp corners, for example, between the tines of 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 manufactured, there are certain types, the purpose and method of use of which are defined:

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

Double-horned fork - for serving herring.

A fork for sprat 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 transferring canned fish.

Crab, crayfish, shrimp cutlery (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 fish appetizers. It has three teeth, shorter and wider than the dessert one.

The word fork comes from the Latin “fulka”, which means garden fork. Currently, the fork is 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. Catholic Church, called the fork “an unnecessary luxury,” and did not welcome its use - its use in the courts of monarchs was considered as godlessness or even a connection with the devil.

The fork took root slowly. It was borrowed from the Venetians, who used it when eating fruit to prevent the juice from staining their fingers. In France, a five-fingered fork was used for a long time. This is what Montaigne meant when he said: “Sometimes I eat so hastily that I bite my fingers.”

But let's go back a few centuries. The fork, as a cutlery, was familiar to the ancient Greeks. At that time, forks were relatively large, had only two massive straight tines and were used to distribute large chunks of meat among dishes. By the 7th century AD, in Asia Minor, the fork had become a symbol of wealth and power and was used by royal families during feasts. From the 10th century, forks spread to the territory of the Byzantine Empire, where similar cutlery was also used only by aristocrats. From there, in the 11th century, the fork was brought to Venice by a Byzantine princess. However, in Italy the fork did not find use for a long time and only gained popularity in the 16th century. It is not difficult to guess that in the rest of Europe this necessary cutlery appeared only at the end of the 16th century. And it spread only by the 18th.

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

Traditionally, misfortune was associated with signs of a fork - dropping a fork was considered the eve of misfortune, a bad omen. They spoke disapprovingly of the fork, as evidenced by the proverb: “A spoon is like a net, but a fork is like a fish,” that is, you cannot scoop up anything.

Russia has kept pace with the historical process when it comes to forks. Even under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, as one European wrote in travel essays, “at dinner, spoons and bread were placed on the table for each guest, and a plate, knife and fork were only for honored guests.”

Alexei Mikhailovich's son Peter the Great also contributed to the history of the fork in Rus'. Not without his help, the Russian aristocracy recognized the fork in the 18th century. In the publication “Russian Antiquity” for 1824 there is 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 his cutlery, and the orderly on duty was required 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 given the entire set of cutlery.

Modern tables are set with utensils, among which there may be a dozen types of forks: regular and snack forks, 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 combined with spatulas - for asparagus. All of them are of recent origin: XIX - early XX centuries. Books have been written on how to distinguish them and how to use them.

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

Good spoons and forks should have a thickness of at least 2.5 mm (measured at the end of the handle). There should be no sharp corners, for example between the tines of 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 manufactured, there are certain types, the purpose and method of use of which are defined:

A 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 by pinning pieces of food on it. We use a fork every day without even thinking about how this cutlery came to be. So let's delve into history and find out how the fork was invented.

Chronicle
Rules of good manners XVI-XVIII stated that you 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 one’s own clothes (at least not on someone else’s). After this, hands had to be washed in a special container with water.

There was a time when wealthy European families had to eat with gloves. This was done so as not to stain your hands with grease. After every meal, people threw away their gloves. Moreover, at that time forks had already been invented, so it is unknown why 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 sizes and one sharp tine, later - two. But they didn’t eat with them: they were used to get hot pieces of meat out of the cauldron. For a long time, forks had only this purpose. Despite the obvious advantage of using this cutlery, the Romans continued to eat with their hands for several centuries. The fat from the 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 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 pots from their 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, forks did not have the same shape as they do now. Only centuries later did this cutlery become convenient to use.

The forks we eat with every day appeared in the 16th century. In table life, people used two knives. It was inconvenient, so other comfortable 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 centuries, - it was literally in their blood.

Only in 1860 did it begin mass release cutlery, including forks. They were made of silver and silver-plated metal. Stainless steel forks were only produced in 1920. 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 unknown what forks will be like in centuries. Perhaps people who will live in the future will not understand how we used our current devices. Maybe the design of the 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.

one hit - four holes! Word(English fork) comes from the Latin “fulka”, which means garden fork. The fork, as a cutlery, was familiar to the ancient Greeks. At that time, forks were relatively large, had only two massive straight tines and were used to distribute large chunks of meat among dishes. Another early mention of a fork can be found in the Old Testament, Samuel 2:13 (“When someone offered a sacrifice, a priestly boy, while the meat was boiling, came with a fork in his hand.”).

By the 7th century AD, in Asia Minor, the fork had become a symbol of wealth and power and was used by royal families during feasts. From the 10th century, forks spread to the territory of the Byzantine Empire, where similar cutlery was also used only by aristocrats. From there, in the 11th century, the fork was brought to Venice by a Byzantine princess who became the wife of the Doge. However, in Italy the fork did not find use for a long time (more on this later) and only gained popularity by the 16th century. It is not difficult to guess that in the rest of Europe this necessary cutlery appeared only at the end of the 16th century. And it spread only by the 18th.

Today we take the fork for granted. In addition, no one has yet canceled the ease of use of it. Why then did the fork so slowly make its way to our table?

The fact is that, despite the fact that, as we remember, in Greece, meat was laid out on dishes with a fork, it was customary to eat with your hands. They also ate it in Ancient Rome. This habit was so firmly rooted in the hearts of people that it was very difficult to dislodge it. With the beginning of the spread of Christianity, the position of the fork only weakened: the fact is that by preaching monotheism, Christians naturally waged a “war” against the pantheons of gods of Rome, Greece, Egypt... It was decided that since only God and the Devil exist, then all the old gods were recorded as demons - minions of the Devil, who have power over individual elements of nature, and thus confuse the minds of people with their imaginary power. Accordingly, much of what had to do with the ancient gods was declared prohibited - including the fork: the trident of Poseidon. In addition, the pitchfork was also assigned an unseemly role: the persistent expression “Devil's Pitchfork” is still preserved.

Thus, unlike the “eastern barbarians,” all “enlightened Europeans” until the 16th century ate mainly with their hands, or at worst with a knife. When the fork appeared in England, it was simply ridiculed. “Why do we need a fork, if the Lord himself gave us hands,” approximately the same sentiment reigned throughout Europe at that time. So the path to recognition of the fork was very thorny.

Now let's talk about why it is customary to place the fork with the tines down when setting the table. There are several theories on this subject: according to the first of them, one day during a feast, King George 5th was upset about something and, in a fit of anger, slammed his fist hard on the table... As a result, the monarch’s hand fell on the teeth of the fork, and his mood deteriorated even more .

According to another version, since the fork was a luxury item for a long time, the nobility often boasted of the fame of the master who made this or that piece of utensils. Since the mark and engraving were applied to the reverse side, the fork was placed so that its origin could be seen from afar.

According to the third version, which is again associated with the English royal court, there was a tradition of cutting off all the corners of the sandwich served with tea. And so that God forbid the monarch should suspect hostility towards himself, the fork was held only with the teeth down. For the same reason, the knife was placed with the blade inward towards the plate, so that the presence of such a dangerous object on the table would not look like a threat.

Another interesting point: modern European tradition involves holding the fork with the tines down during the meal. Americans, on the contrary, prefer to use it with the teeth facing up. This feature was played out in several films, where American spies were exposed only because they ate with a fork, as is customary in their homeland. So, if you are an enemy agent, take the trouble to learn the traditions of the local population.

It is impossible to say exactly when and by whom the first fork was created. Researchers who have devoted themselves to this issue each have their own opinion. According to one of the proposed versions, the history of the creation of the fork begins in the Middle East. This was in the 9th century. When eating fruits, they were pricked with a fork, trying not to stain their hands with juice.

If we adhere to another version, then the history of the fork begins in 1072 in Byzantium. This device was invented by the Byzantine princess Maria Iveron, who believed that eating with your hands was humiliating. The first fork made to her order was made of gold. Mother-of-pearl inlay was used to decorate the handle, made of ivory.

The history of forks in Europe can be traced back to the 17th century, when Italian merchants and nobility began to use them. Much later, these cutlery appeared in Northern Europe. The news of forks reached England thanks to the writer Thomas Coryatt. He mentioned them in his book, describing his 1611 trip to Italy. However, the population of England and Germany began to use these devices only in the 18th century. The fork of that time was a cutlery with four prongs. By the way, bending teeth was invented in Germany. The Catholic Church has shown its negative attitude to forks, considering them an unnecessary luxury.

The appearance of the fork in Russia dates back to 1606. Marina Mnishek brought her to the wedding feast in the Kremlin, which greatly shocked the boyars and clergy.

The new name “fork” for cutlery took root only in the 18th century; previously they were “wilts” or “rohatina”. Forks in Russia were considered a luxury that only the rich could use. These utensils were served at the table only for especially respected guests.