Do you know that there are over 50 different types of spoons around the world? They include baby spoons, dessert spoons, tablespoons, teaspoons, and soup spoons.
After cutlery has been shaped, it goes through a buffing process. While economy-level cutlery undergoes about 4 levels of buffing, the finest cutlery can go through a staggering 27 levels of buffing.
Where is the world’s largest spoon collection? Well, this vast collection of over 5,400 spoons can be found at the Passaic County Historical Society’s Lambert Castle Museum in Paterson, New Jersey.
The word fork comes from the Latin term furca, which means “pitchfork.” In their earliest form, forks were used as carving tools and to lift heavy meats rather than for actual dining.
Do you know that spoons are also sold as souvenirs and as a collector’s item all over the world? Some antique spoons can be really costly. They can be priced up to $2500.
The word “cutler” is derived from the Middle English word 'cuteler', which in turn comes from Old French word 'coutelier' which comes from 'coutel'; meaning knife. Thus, the word “cutlery” originated.
Archaeologists have found primitive bone forks that date back to 2400 BC, which is nearly 4500 years old. The forks were found at sites that were home to the Bronze Age Qijia culture.
The set of silver cutlery owned by Hitler and Ava Braun sold at an auction for nearly $17,000. A Christofle, another silverware set of 142 cutlery pieces usually owned by historical royal families, can go for more than $24,000.
Did you know during Medieval Europe, spoons were made from wood, cow horns, brass, and pewter? Wooden spoons were replaced by durable metal spoons around the 15th century.
Did you know the modern appearance of spoons was only adopted in the 1700s? They became a dining staple and a popular household item soon after.
In the Middle Ages, silver spoons were extremely elaborate utensils that were specifically designed for the nobility and the very wealthy. The families’ crest or symbol was often worked into the handle during that time.
It is believed that the first forks were used as a serving utensil. They slowly became popular as a personal eating piece by the 4th century. Did you know North Americans resisted using the fork until the 19th century?
During King Louis XIV’s reign, Cardinal Richelieu was annoyed by guests using pointed knife blades to pick their teeth. To discourage the bad behavior, he ordered for knife edges to be made dull and rounded.
In March 2000, a Mexican woman performed a C-section on herself successfully despite having no medical training. After three glasses of hard liquor, she found the courage to pick a kitchen knife and operate on herself. Obviously, we do not recommend this.
The Shang dynasty in ancient China used a very early form of a fork around 1300 BC. It was often made of metal, decorated, and had only two prongs.
Have you heard about the world’s largest fork? Well, it can be found in front of an office building in the town of Springfield, Missouri, in the USA. The colossal fork is 35 feet tall and weighs 11 tons.
Both the Latin and Greek words for spoon come from the word “cochlea” which is a spiral-shaped snail shell. The Anglo-Saxon meaning for the word “spoon” means a “splinter of wood or chip”.
There is a spoon specifically designed for eating caviar. A Caviar spoon is usually made from gold, mother of pearls, wood or animal horn because silver tends to change the taste of caviar.
Back in the day, it was common in Asia to use silverware to detect poison in food. They were so valued by the royalty that it was considered a crime for a poor person to use silver utensils, not that they can afford them!
How do you identify a dessert spoon? It’s often placed above the bowl or plate apart from the rest of the cutlery. In other table settings, it is brought in together with the dessert.
Also called “spork”, a runcible spoon is a curved fork that has three broad tines with a sharp edge. The word runcible was a nonsense term coined by Edward Lear, which appeared in his most famous poem – the Owl and the Pussycat.
Using chopsticks is excellent training for coordination, as it involves more than 50 muscles and 30 joints in the arms, wrists, and fingers. It is most beneficial for children who are still developing fine motor skills.
Aside from eating sweets, dessert spoons can also be used in scooping cereals or soup. Able to hold about 10 cc of liquid, a dessert spoon is larger than a teaspoon and smaller than a tablespoon.
Buffing refers to the process that cutleries go through to achieve that desirable smooth finish. While simple cutleries usually go through four levels, the finest ones undergo up to 27 buffing levels.
