09-29-2009, 02:58 PM
From what I've read, forks go back much further than Rome. Aaron's sons used forks to improperly take meats from the pot, back in Exodus days.
I think the issue is more "for what reason and how were forks used" than "did they have forks". Forks weren't routinely used at table like we use them: that is, they were for special foods, like, say, snails in the shell. Mostly, iirc, Roman foods were made bite-sized in the kitchen, and eaten with the fingers. Liquids were drunk from small bowl/cups or with spoons.
As for their shape, well, any smith can tell you a two pronged fork is twenty times easier to make than a three pronged fork. Not to say that ease of manufacture had much to do with finished products, of course.
Thos. Beckett is sometimes credited with introducing the fork to the table as a regular feature, but that's probably just legend. A knife and spoon were standard by his day, and people had long since moved to chairs or benches instead of reclining to eat.
I think the issue is more "for what reason and how were forks used" than "did they have forks". Forks weren't routinely used at table like we use them: that is, they were for special foods, like, say, snails in the shell. Mostly, iirc, Roman foods were made bite-sized in the kitchen, and eaten with the fingers. Liquids were drunk from small bowl/cups or with spoons.
As for their shape, well, any smith can tell you a two pronged fork is twenty times easier to make than a three pronged fork. Not to say that ease of manufacture had much to do with finished products, of course.
Thos. Beckett is sometimes credited with introducing the fork to the table as a regular feature, but that's probably just legend. A knife and spoon were standard by his day, and people had long since moved to chairs or benches instead of reclining to eat.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
