The main cutlery includes. Cutlery. Family silverware: what is it
AT Everyday life we get by with a couple of spoons - for soup and tea, one fork for everything and sometimes a knife.
However, when we go to visit, or host guests or go to a restaurant, we have to use cutlery, which sometimes baffles us.
Of course, it is very difficult to teach how to use cutlery via the Internet, but to give an idea of how what and what are knives, forks, or spoons we can.
First, we will get acquainted with cutlery, which are most common.
Let's take a look at them, in the photo of course.
Now let's get to know them better.
meat knife, large knife
The knife has dimensions of 20-24 cm. It is served with meat or main courses along with a meat fork.
Served with large plates.
meat fork, large fork
The fork has a size of 19-21 cm. Served for hot appetizers, spaghetti served in a soup bowl. Serves as an addition to the soup spoon for dishes served in soup pots.
Knife for meat-steak
It differs from a regular meat knife in a sharp sharpened edge.
Large soup spoon
It has a size of 19-21 cm. Served with a meat fork. It is used for first courses or as a sauce spoon.
broth spoon
It has a size of 16-17 cm. It is served for soup in special broth cups.
Spoon for pouring sauces, 18-19 cm
Usually for fish dishes with sauce
Consomme spoon, size 14-15 cm
For soup served in consommé bowls.
fish fork
It has a size of approximately 18 cm, three cloves. Served with a fish knife. Used for easy-to-cut fish dishes, fish in scales and in-shell seafood.
Fish knife, size 19-21 cm
Served with a fish fork for the same dishes listed above.
It is not used for salmon, herring, eel dishes.
oyster knife
Used to open oyster shells. As you know, oysters have shells, and you can open them only with a knife, which has a short blade and a pointed end.
The guard on the knife protects the hands from damage by the edges of the shell. Opening oysters is done with or without gloves.
The knife can be used to open shellfish.
Used with a knife oyster fork.
It has short three short cloves, a wide base and a size of about 15 cm. Served with a coffee spoon.
The spoon is used for a seafood cocktail served in cups.
Lobster fork or spatula, has a size of about 23 cm.
It is used for cutting and eating lobsters, crabs, lobsters.
The two sides of the fork have different purposes. With a sharp end, for extracting meat from claws, and with a recessed, in the form of a spoon, for scooping juice.
Lobster tongs, size about 20 cm.
Serve for removing, splitting the shell, butchering the limbs.
For splitting the shells and butchering the limbs of lobsters, lobsters, crayfish and crabs; size about 20 cm.
In general, there are several types of knives. There are more difficult, tongs + scissors, they cut along and unfold the edges. Simply put, they just break.
In any case, a lobster fork is used for eating.
Crab fork, approx. 18 cm
Complete with a crab knife, used for cutting and eating crabs
Crab knife, approx. 18 cm
Complete with crab fork, used for cutting and eating crabs
Snail tongs
When snails are served without a shell, special utensils, which is called the "Snail", tongs are not required. If you brought hot snails in the wings, you need to eat them with tongs that you need to hold in your left hand and a snail fork (photo below). With the right hand, in which we have a fork, we pick up the snail and send it into the mouth as a whole. Do it carefully! There is a risk of splashing!
Fork for snails
Mussels are eaten in the same way.
caviar spoon, size approx. 20 cm, made of mother-of-pearl or horn, approx. 20 cm
For caviar placed in small vases
caviar knife, just like the spoon is made of horn or mother-of-pearl in order not to change the taste of caviar.
Serve to smear caviar on a sandwich or pancakes.
At long fork or fondue fork
Served with all types of fondue, meat, cheese, chocolate and fondue bowls
Small or dessert knife, dimensions 19-21 cm.
Used for butter and most cold cuts along with a dessert fork, as well as for cheese and fruit.
Can be used for caviar if there is no special knife for it.
Dessert or small fork, size 18-19 cm.
It is used for all of the above, as well as for baking and sweets along with a dessert spoon.
Dessert or small spoon, size 18-19 cm
For desserts, sweets, pastries and first courses served in special bouillon bowls.
Butter knife, size 17 cm
We have already talked about using a dessert knife for butter, but there is also a special butter knife. He's a little smaller. It can also be used for caviar.
Cake fork, 15-16 cm
Put when serving pastries, cake, pastries.
Coffee spoon, size 13-15 cm
The spoon is used for serving breakfast, tea, coffee, chocolate. Can be used when serving marmalade, honey, consommé, soft-boiled eggs, condiments and garnishes, cream dessert, egg dessert, cocktails with a dessert fork, for oysters and sea cocktails in combination with an oyster fork.
Mocha spoon, size 10-11 cm
Served for mocha coffee. It can be used for soup and spices served in special cups, as well as for small shelled shells.
egg spoon, size 11 cm, mother-of-pearl, horn or plastic.
For soft-boiled eggs.
Ice cream spoon, size 18 cm
The name speaks for itself, i.e. for ice cream and ice cream dishes.
lemonade spoon
Served with narrow glasses or tulip-shaped glasses, into which soft drinks are poured - lemonade, juice or fruit drink, chilled tea.
Citrus knife
For citrus pulp
citrus spoon
Served with a citrus cutter
Asparagus tongs
Using tongs, place the asparagus off the grill onto a plate. Eat asparagus with your hands.
Corn cob knife
Corn on the cob is eaten by holding it with both hands.
Here is another photo that has cutlery that is not listed above or has a slightly different shape.
1 coffee spoon
2 tea spoons
3 dessert spoons
4 tablespoon
5 pastry tongs large
6 spoons for mixed drinks
7 asparagus tongs
8 ice tongs
9 pastry tongs small
10 cigar cutter
11 and 12 lemon fork
13 cocotte fork
14 and 15 spade-shaped blunt knife for fish second courses and a fish fork with a recess for separating the bones
16 and 17 dessert knife and fork
18 and 19 dessert knife and fork
20 and 21 snack knife and fork
22 and 23 snack knife and fork
24 pouring spoon, ladle
25 and 26 table knife and fork for second courses (except fish)
27 confectionery spatula
28 pate spatula
29 fish shoulder
30 spatula for caviar
31 ice cream scoops
How many times in the cinema have each of us seen comical (mostly) scenes in which the characters were baffled by such seemingly ordinary things as cutlery? Or rather, ignorance of their purpose and inability to use them. Many times, right? At the same time, most of us, having laughed at actors portraying clumsy ones, rarely think about how much they themselves know table etiquette and cutlery. And in vain - everything happens in life. Suddenly you find yourself at a reception, for example, with the Spanish king! Or at a business dinner with potential partners. Or you and your friends will be invited to lunch by Robert De Niro ... In general, this text will be useful for everyone to read. It contains details about cutlery.
Where else to start the story about table etiquette and cutlery, if not with a knife? At first, of course, the knife was a universal object: it was taken to war, to hunt, it was also used at the table. But time passed, needs and habits became more refined, people (at first to know) were no longer satisfied with this state of affairs - knives began to differ from each other in their purpose. A separate type of them appeared - table knives. All of them had (and have) an oval and blunt end of the blade. This is due, as you might guess, with the rather tough mores of the past: a sharp knife on the table could always become a weapon. Actually, it can be assumed that a table knife can also become a melee weapon - it all depends on the situation. But still, one must think that harming them is somewhat more difficult. Not worth checking.
The spoon
Although the spoon appeared later than the knife, it became a cutlery earlier. So, for example, in Russia it has been known since at least the 12th century. Whereas table knives entered European use not earlier than the 16th century (before that, as already mentioned, they were not singled out as a separate category). Spoons along with knives were usually worn behind the tops of boots. Those who were richer had special cases. In general, it used to be customary to carry cutlery with you - you never know where you have to eat. There are even sayings on this subject: “With your spoon at other people's dinners”, or “A thrifty guest does not go without a spoon”.
Fork
The fork came into use in Europe around the 15th century. Although “came into use” is a strong word: this device appeared in very limited quantities and was the privilege of the nobility. The distribution of the fork "from top to bottom" occurred gradually. As for Russia, it was brought to our state by Peter I. Separate attempts to introduce a fork into Russian life were, however, earlier, but unsuccessful. Thanks to the first Russian emperor nevertheless, its slow, but ultimately victorious march across the domestic expanses began. Here is what is written in the edition of the century before last "Russian Antiquity": "At the device of Peter I, they always put wooden spoon, seasoned with ivory, a knife and a fork with green bone handles, and the attendant on duty was charged with the duty to carry them with him and put them in front of the king, even if he happened to dine at a party. At first, the forks were flat, with two prongs. But gradually their shape became more convenient, the number of teeth increased to three, and then four. The common people in Russia recognized the fork and began to use it only in the 19th century.
Starring
Everyone cutlery separately, you see, we rarely use. With a knife, for example, it is generally impossible to eat - you need a fork. Unless a spoon is, in general, a self-sufficient thing, but it has long been perceived as one of the rather numerous representatives of the cutlery family.
The meal usually starts with appetizers. In this case, there are snack cutlery. Usually it is a knife and fork. The length of the snack knife, as a rule, is equal to the diameter of the snack plate (it is also special). However, it is assumed that it (the knife) will be slightly longer (a centimeter or two). The fork may be slightly smaller. Appetizers are served with cold appetizers of all kinds, as well as some hot ones: pancakes, scrambled eggs, fried ham and others.
Further on the table, most likely, there will be main dishes: first, second. Cutlery should be changed. Actually, a spoon, a fork and a knife for the main hot dishes are called “canteens”. Here, as in the first case, the table knife should be equal in length to the diameter of the dinner plate. Spoon and fork can be a little shorter. In the absence of special devices on the table (which will be discussed below), a tablespoon, fork and knife are also used to transfer portions of food from a common plate to the mealer's plate.
If lunch or dinner includes a fish dish or even dishes, then in order to taste them, it would be good to use special fish utensils. This is a knife and fork. The first one is dumb and appearance resembles a spatula. Fish fork - with four prongs, but shorter than those of the "classic" fork. By the way, they use fish appliances for eating mainly hot fish dishes. There is also (though rare) a separate auxiliary fish device - a fork for sprats. She has a wide base with a shovel, five teeth. The teeth at the end are interconnected by a bridge: to make it easier to pick up fragile fish with a fork, so that it does not deform. Please note that the sprat fork is intended only for shifting fish (not only sprats, but also, for example, sardines) into your plate.
Now dessert. It also requires special devices. Desserts are a knife, a fork and a spoon. The length of the knife, as many have probably guessed, should roughly correspond to the diameter of the dessert plate. A dessert knife is narrower than a snack knife, with a pointed tip (which means not all table knives are blunt!). The spoon and fork can be slightly shorter than the knife. The latter should have three teeth.
Dessert knife and fork are used if cheese, some types of cakes, sweet pies (including the famous "charlotte"), watermelon, melon are served. A dessert spoon is useful for sweet dishes that do not need to be cut. These can be berry mousses, berries with cream or milk, fruit and berry compotes, ice cream, sweet cereals and other types of desserts. It happens that a dessert spoon is also served with broths in cups. This is a common mistake. If the broth or light soup is served in a cup, it should be drunk. Eating from a cup with a spoon, even a dessert one, is simply inconvenient.
Fruit is also a dessert, but there is a separate type of device for them. Fruit knife and fork are smaller than dessert ones. The fork has only two tines.
For tea and coffee, separate types of spoons are used: tea and coffee. However, not only for tea and coffee. So, for example, a teaspoon is also useful for coffee with milk, cocoa, fruit cocktails, grapefruits, soft-boiled eggs or “in a bag”. But a small coffee spoon is served, basically, only with coffee: espresso or brewed in an oriental way. There are also special spoons with a long handle - for example, they are served with tea or coffee with ice, other drinks in tall glasses.
Wooden chopsticks are also cutlery. They came to us from East Asia along with dishes of Chinese, Korean, Japanese and other cuisines, which are now very popular in Russia and in the world in general. In fact, chopsticks are not only wooden, but also metal, bone, plastic. If it happens outside of countries where chopsticks are traditional cutlery, then European cutlery is usually served along with them - in case someone does not know how to use chopsticks. However, in the same China, if you eat not quite in a cheap eatery (anything happens), you will also be served a fork and knife if you ask, not to mention good restaurants.
Corps de ballet
In addition to the main cutlery, there are also auxiliary cutlery. One of them (sprat fork) has already been mentioned above. Now a few words about other table helpers.
Knives. In addition to those already described, there are at least three more types of knives. First of all, a butter knife. It is needed to cut off and transfer pieces of butter to your plate (if it is served in a piece). Characteristic such a knife - a curved semi-arc blade.
In addition to the butter knife, there is also a special knife for serving a piece of cheese. It is called a knife-fork and has a crescent shape with teeth at the end. With it, the cheese is cut off from big piece and placed on a separate plate. For cutting lemons there is a knife-saw. After the lemon is cut, you can take a slice of it special fork for a lemon with two teeth.
Other “auxiliary” forks: for serving herring (two-horned), in a set of cutlery for crabs, crayfish, shrimp - long, with two prongs, for oysters, mussels, cold fish cocktails - three prongs, one of them (left) is more powerful than the others, to make it easier to separate the pulp of mollusks from shells. The chill fork has three prongs, they are short and wide - needed for hot fish snacks.
Spoons. They are also different. In addition to the above, there is, for example, a salad spoon. It is usually larger than the dining room. There are salad spoons with three small teeth at the end. The purpose of such a spoon is to transfer salad from a common dish to a serving plate. A ladle familiar to everyone is also a spoon (bottling). Need it, of course, for pouring soups, as well as milk, jelly, compotes. The sizes of ladles vary depending on their specific purpose. A very small spoon (about a centimeter in diameter) is for salt. She puts herself in the salt shaker.
Forceps. Do not worry and do not remember dentistry: we remain within the framework of cooking. Tongs are also auxiliary cutlery. So, large confectionery tongs serve to transfer (again from a common dish to an individual plate) flour confectionery. Small confectionery tongs are used for shifting sugar, marmalade, chocolates (assorted, unwrapped), marshmallows. Nut tongs are two V-shaped handles with serrated recesses for nuts. Ice also requires tongs - they are made in the form of a long U-shaped bracket, at the ends of which there are serrated blades on both sides. If you love asparagus, then you probably know that there are special tongs for it. They are needed in order to shift the asparagus from the grill, on which it is often cooked. Actually, asparagus tongs are always sold complete with a grill.
Next, let's move on to the blades. To table blades. There are many of them: caviar is similar to a flat scoop; it is used to transfer granular or chum salmon caviar to a caviar plate. The so-called "rectangular" blade is used for shifting meat and vegetable dishes. In general, for hot and cold dishes there is also a figured spatula with slots. And without a small figured spatula, you and I, of course, will not be able to cope with the pate. Cakes with cakes (those that you can’t take with tongs) must be shifted with a large figured spatula, these are quadrangular in shape.
Of course, hardly anyone can find a complete collection of cutlery at home. Even restaurants don't always have everything. Nowadays, the culture of food consumption has become somewhat simplified, fast foods and other eateries reign: time is saved on everything, even on food - we are in a hurry to live and feel in a hurry.
Terms of use
In conclusion, just a few words about how to properly use cutlery. Actually, no one doubts that the readers of "Culinary Eden" are well aware of this. Still, it doesn't hurt to consolidate knowledge.
So, never hold a knife in your left hand. This is an unshakable rule. Even for lefties. Bring your fork (or spoon) to your mouth, not the other way around. During the meal, when you carry the fork or spoon to your mouth, keep it parallel to the table. Do not be greedy, do not fill the spoon with soup to the brim - "on the way" you can accidentally spill some, stain the tablecloth or even one of the neighbors. Do not blow on hot soup - again, there is a danger that splashes will reach other participants in the meal. And yes, it doesn't look great from the outside. If you tilt your plate to finish your leftovers delicious soup- Tilt it away from you. Some etiquette experts, however, generally do not allow the possibility of such "liberties" in polite society: a meal is almost a sacrament.
If you took the device from the table, you should not put it back on the tablecloth. Not in the sense that you should put it in your pocket, but in the fact that, firstly, you can stain the tablecloth, and secondly, dust particles with villi can stick to the device, which have no way into your mouth. During a pause in the meal, put the cutlery on a plate, next to the food. If this is a knife and a fork, then their ends should intersect a little ("draw" a full-fledged cross in a plate is not worth it). When the meal is over, put the cutlery on the plate in parallel (knife with the tip to the fork): the waiter or the owner of the feast will understand that the plate can be removed.
If at home you can afford to eat as convenient, then in a restaurant or a trendy cafe it is customary to eat food with the help of special “tools”. By what signs can they be recognized?
Fork and knife eateries, which are used to eat cold dishes, salads, as well as ham, sausage and pancakes, are slightly smaller in size than canteens.
With a fish fork (with four small cloves and a cut in the middle) and a knife (with a short wide blade), it is convenient to separate the fish fillet from the bones. But if the fish is served as a whole, so that those present can appreciate the size and admire the design, it is surrounded by additional devices. A wide knife with a rounded blade and a round flat fork, more like a spoon with an oblique cut, will help to arrange food from a common dish on plates.
Tea and coffee, in addition to spoons, will also be served with tongs for sugar, a knife with large teeth and a two-pronged fork for lemon. And there are at least a dozen coffee spoons! They differ in size and names: "cappuccino", "melange", "glace" ... The smallest is designed for Turkish coffee.
Exotic dictates its own
Oysters can be easily separated from the shell with a small trident. Snails are cut with tiny tweezers and a small fork. By the way, it depends on the type of snail and the structure of its shell, what shape of tweezers will be served to you - with rounded ends, with a ribbed surface or completely flat.
Game tongs resemble curved scissors with slightly curved blades, which are convenient for breaking bones.
A special device is served for fish caviar. It is laid out in crystal caviar bowls, covered with ice and placed next to a spoon, spatula and knife. The spatula has an elongated pointed shape so that the eggs do not deform.
One for all
The rules of etiquette require that eaters transfer salads, appetizers and cheese from common dishes to their plate using the so-called common appliances- tongs, forks, spoons and spatulas. All these "tools" are placed next to the dish for which they are intended, so it is impossible to confuse them. If you have to break your head, then just to understand which knife is addressed to butter and which one to cheese, they are usually located side by side. But a recognizable detail will help to distinguish them: the one for cheese has conspicuous cloves at the end - they pick up the cut slices.
Pastry tongs are large and small. The first to transfer pastries to their plate, the second - sweets and chocolate. If the sugar is lumpy, then tweezers with sharp blades. With the same device, ice cubes are taken out of a special bucket.
To devices common use include a fish shovel for slicing layouts, and a pastry shop for cakes.
Look for extreme
Two knives, two forks, a spoon - classic serving table. All other appliances come with the corresponding dishes.
You need to start using the appliances from the edges to the center: further from the plate is a pair for snacks, closer to it is a knife and fork for the main course.
At the end of the meal, the fork and knife are placed parallel to each other with the handles to the right. If you have not finished the meal, but for some reason want to interrupt, the cutlery should be placed on the plate in the same way as you held them: the knife is on the right, the fork is on the left.
poignant story
The fate of the device for pricking food, the fork, developed in Russia dramatically and comically at the same time.
The first fork was brought to us from Poland at the beginning of the 17th century. During a lavish dinner in honor of his marriage False Dmitry I and Marina Mnishek used this new device, which caused a storm of anger from the boyars and the clergy. Some historians even say that the fork provoked Shuisky’s conspiracy: he couldn’t, they say, the Russian tsar eat “not in Russian”. In Russia, even two centuries after these events, holding a fork in your hand, and even more so dropping it, meant bringing trouble on yourself.
How to behave at the table
1. Broths are served in cups with one or two handles. One - a hint that the first can be drunk, two - that it should be eaten with a spoon.
2. The bread is broken over a plate and eaten in small pieces. For buns bring a special saucer. A bun from a common tray is first placed on this saucer, and only then eaten.
3. Meatballs, meatballs, cabbage rolls, scrambled eggs are broken with a fork, a knife is optional.
4. A spoon and a fork are needed at the same time when eating spaghetti. On the fork, which is held in right hand, wind pasta, and then "cut off" them with a spoon.
5. Tobacco chickens (pieces after preliminary cutting of the carcass) can be eaten with your hands. It is assumed that the waiter will bring a bowl of warm water and a cloth to rinse your fingers.
6. Grapes are eaten one at a time, and the seeds are discreetly laid out on a plate. But no matter how hard you try, it looks unaesthetic. Therefore, at magnificent social events, either raisins are served at the table, or grapes are not brought at all.
7. Compotes are not drunk, but eaten with a spoon. First, drinking liquid, and then eating dry fruits is considered not comme il faut. The bones are placed on a saucer, which is served specially.
Anetta Orlova:-Etiquette is some kind of fulcrum that forms a certain style of behavior. When a lot of people gather at the table, everyone brings their own habits - from eating to talking. Here, etiquette is the bridge that can connect different people.It is impossible to imagine how to do without cutlery at the table. Cutlery, snack bars, dessert - how do they differ? A variety of materials: silverware, cupronickel, stainless steel, how to decide?
This article is intended for persons over 18 years of age.
Are you over 18 already?
Family silverware: what is it?
Before the advent of modern stainless steel, silver cutlery was in use, so these sets were called that - silverware. The phrase “family silverware” has also been heard, but what does it mean? When a girl got married, she received a set of cutlery as a dowry from her mother and grandmother. Each of the items had an engraving - the initials of the name and maiden name along the female line, which is why silver was called "family". This set of cutlery was of great value, was the personal property of the wife and did not participate in the division of property in the event of a divorce.
Despite the fact that new, more practical and corrosion-resistant materials have appeared, the name "silverware" has survived, and when we talk about it, we mean any set of cutlery, no matter what metal it is made of.
Cutlery: what is what?
Forks, knives, spoons, spatulas, tongs (and this is not the whole list) — what tools for eating you will not find on the table! Let's figure out what's what.
The entire range of cutlery can be conditionally divided into two groups:
- Individual table set (those devices that are served personally for each guest at his seat).
- General/auxiliary cutlery (they are used for serving dishes).
Having taken our place at the table, we can see several cutlery near the plate at once: a spoon in the company of a fork and a knife (or even more than one pair). What to do with them? What device to start with and what to eat? Let's go in order.
spoons
Tablespoon
Each housewife has more than one soup recipe on the menu list. And if she lived during the Victorian era, she would also have to have in her arsenal several types of spoons for each of the dishes, from the usual soup to soup puree or broth.
Long oval tablespoons were meant for "something in them" soups, more specifically soups with vegetables, diced or julienned vegetables, rice, or meat. For mashed soups and broths there was a large round spoon (for broth a little less), and the soup should be sipped from it from the side edge. Nowadays, for all kinds of soups, we use one oval-shaped tablespoon - this is the main cutlery for first courses.
Dessert spoon
The modern set of cutlery has been so reduced that you can’t find a dessert spoon in it. As a rule, we have the so-called universal spoon, which can be used to eat soups and desserts, and a teaspoon, which is designed for both tea and coffee. Nevertheless, in many homes you can find a dessert spoon. Its length is approximately 17 cm - less than a tablespoon, but more than a teaspoon. It is this intermediate size that gives it an advantage, for example, when porridge is served at the table. Agree, eating porridge with a teaspoon is too long, and scooping up a tablespoon is too much!
Tea spoon
A teaspoon is another must-have dinnerware set. And no wonder, because it is used not only during tea drinking, but also for breakfast, desserts, coffee, or just to pour sugar. But initially this spoon was invented in order to stir cream or sugar in a cup and remove tea leaves.
coffee spoon
The purpose of a coffee spoon is obvious, and it differs from a teaspoon only in a smaller size. Indeed, it is quite difficult to fit a teaspoon in a small cup for strong espresso! By the way, you do not need to have coffee spoons in a standard dinner set, any other spoons will do. small size. But if you and your guests love this strong drink, then it will not hurt to purchase a set of coffee spoons.
tea spoon ice
You will be surprised, but this spoon is the longest on the table, from 17 to 25 cm. And it acquired such a length due to the height of the glass into which iced tea is poured. The head of this spoon is smaller than a teaspoon, but with the help of a long handle you can easily reach the bottom of the glass and stir the sugar. By the way, it is very convenient to eat desserts from tall glasses with such a spoon.
Forks
Table fork
The dinner fork is the largest fork 19-20 cm length. In the Victorian era, each type of main course had its own fork. But these days we only use one for the main hot dishes: roast, poultry or game with a side dish. Also, this fork can be present at breakfast.
The table fork is the most important of the forks and should be in the set of cutlery for every housewife.
salad fork
Salad forks have been popular for over a hundred years. And this is not surprising, because salads have become an obligatory part of the menu.
The salad fork is smaller than the dining fork, about 15 cm long. The location of this fork in the serving depends on when the salads are served. The salad fork lies to the left of the dining room, which means that salads will be served before the main course, as is customary in American etiquette. Europeans serve salad at the end of the meal, so the salad fork is placed closer to the plate. Decide for yourself which option is more convenient for you!
By the way, a salad fork can be used as a breakfast fork or as a dessert fork.
fish fork
This fork is quite easy to recognize: its outer tines are thicker than the inner ones, and there is a special notch or recess between the central tines. The shape of the fork has been adapted to make it easier to cut soft fish meat and remove bones. fish fork approx. 17-18 cm in length. If you don't have a fish fork, feel free to use the canteen.
seafood fork
small fork unusual shape in the form of a trident - this is a fork for seafood. It is very easy to remember, children's associations with the t tooth of the ruler of the seas and oceans immediately come to mind. This fork is approx. 12-14 cm long and has three teeth curved towards the center.
Trident fork - though versatile, but not the only cutlery for seafood. For example, for oysters and mussels, a three-pronged fork is also used, but with more powerful left prong (for easy separation of the mollusk from oyster place). BUT for crabs, crayfish and shrimp, an elongated fork with two teeth (usually in set with tongs).
If you decide to serve a sea cocktail to the table, but your dinner set does not have such forks, then simply replace them with salad ones.
dessert fork
Forks for baking, pie, cake, pastries are all varieties of dessert forks. Yes, yes, we remember that in the Victorian era, literally every dish had its own cutlery, but these days there is no such need. A standard dessert fork is about 15 m long and has short tines. She is very comfortable eating cake. Even if you are used to eating pastries with a teaspoon, be sure to try it with a fork, you will feel the difference! And yes, the dessert fork can easily be replaced with a salad fork.
Knives
Table-knife
This knife is compulsory subject in the dining set, not a single meal can do without it. The length of the table knife is about 23 cm, and its place is always to the right of the plate. Most convenient way is the use of a utility knife. It is a little shorter - about 22 cm, but it alone can easily replace table and salad knives.
fish knife
By by and large, this knife bears little resemblance to a knife in general: it has a rounded shape and it does not have a blade. This knife does not need to cut the fish, because the fillet is soft enough, and it can be cut with a fork. In this case, the knife acts as a spatula and separates the fish fillets from the bones, thereby helping the fork to get the bones. A fish knife is an optional item, so you can safely use a table knife for fish dishes.
steak knife
We are accustomed to the fact that table knives have blunt rounded blades. But there is one sharp table knife - for a steak. Such a knife began to be actively used after the Second World War. A rare manufacturer has in its assortment sharp knives, so you can use regular canteens instead. But in this case, try to exclude steaks from the menu.
salad knife
During the Victorian era, salad knives were often used, but then they had a special difference from other cutlery - their blade was silver. And the whole point is that lemon juice and vinegar, used for dressing salads, spoiled and corroded all metals, with the exception of silver. But after 1911, when the invention was patented in the USA of stainless steel, a special salad knife began to appear on the tables less and less, and a utility knife began to be used instead. Although it's not uncommon these days to see a salad knife, it's usually paired with a salad fork.
dessert knife
This knife is served with a dessert fork. Its length is approximately equal to the diameter of a dessert plate, and its shape is narrower and more pointed than a salad knife. A dessert knife is used when serving cheese, fruit and such desserts when one fork simply cannot do it.
butter knife
The smallest of all knives, about 16 cm, is the butter knife. If you like to serve bread and butter to the table, then be sure to have such knives in your arsenal, and personally for each guest. Moreover, there should be another knife in the butter dish - for cutting off the butter: it is with it that a piece of butter is cut off from a common piece and placed on bread, and the further process takes place with the help of a personal butter knife.
What cutlery is made of: an overview of materials
With an assortment of cutlery, we figured it out. But only one remained, perhaps the most main question Q: What are they made from? Just as in the case of dishes, the cost of cutlery directly depends on what material they are made of. So, let's figure it out.
Silver
One of the most expensive cutlery sets will be a set of silver, this is obvious. But even here you will see a decent range of prices and will surely be surprised. Although, it would seem, silver and silver in Africa! But we must understand that one hundred percent silver in itself is too soft and therefore impractical to use. For this reason, impurities are always added to pure silver in order to achieve the necessary hardness of the material.
Silver of the highest standard - 925 - is a mixture of pure silver with copper in a ratio of 92.5 to 7.5. As a rule, cutlery made of such an alloy has a hallmark and a crown symbol. Their price is appropriate: for example, for a set of cutlery for 6 persons made of 925 silver (produced by Kubachi, Russia) you will have to pay about 100,000 rubles, and the same set of the Arthur Price of England brand will cost about 700,000 rubles.
The usual silver alloy contains a lower content of pure silver, the most common sample is 875. Accordingly, the price of such a set will be lower.
Silverware belongs to family values and is passed down from generation to generation. We often go to jewelry stores to buy silver cutlery, but it is better to buy this kind of things in specialized tableware stores. You have the right to ask the seller for a quality certificate to make sure that there are no heavy metals in the alloy. And remember, silverware can only have gold plating. If the silver is covered with varnish, enamel or blackening, then this is already a souvenir product, it is forbidden to use it for food.
Cutlery with gilding
If you think that there is nothing more expensive than the finest silverware, then you are mistaken. Gold-plated table sets come to the fore. They are made of silver or steel using special technologies, and gold plating is applied to the entire surface of objects or partially (for example, only on handles).
The cost of cutlery with gilding for many will be prohibitive. For example, a set for 6 persons of the Arthur Price of England brand (composition: 925 sterling silver and 24 carat gold coating) will cost more than 1,000,000 rubles, and a set of Empire Flame All Gold brand Clive Christian for 12 persons (composition: high-tech steel and coating with 24 carat gold) will be worth about 1,800,000 rubles.
If these prices scare you, but gold-plated cutlery is your dream, then you can find cheaper sets of the same brands, but with less gold plating. For example, the same brand Clive Christian offers Empire Flame gilded cutlery for 12 persons - 125 items (matte polished steel and 24 carat gold decoration) at a price of 450,000 rubles. Another worthy option is the Alt-Chippendale collection from the Robbe & Berking brand (silver plating 60 microns, gilding thickness 24 carats, made in Germany), a set for 12 persons (69 items) will be released for 530,000 rubles.
Melchior and nickel silver
Another group of cutlery belonging to the luxury class is cupronickel and nickel silver.
Cupronickel is an alloy of nickel, copper and manganese. Nickel silver is slightly softer than cupronickel, since zinc is present in its composition, and alloy devices receive the MNC marking (copper / nickel / zinc). Nowadays, you can hardly find cupronickel cutlery, unless these are things that you inherited from your grandmother. But nickel silver appears on store windows, but not in its pure form: products with MNC embossing are coated with silver, gold or subjected to blackening. The Royal Buckingham brand offers a set of Empire cutlery (composition: nickel silver with 20 micron silvering and mirror polishing) for 6 persons (42 items) for 110,000 rubles.
Stainless steel
The most popular, affordable and easy-to-clean cutlery is made from well-known stainless steel. Main component an alloy that protects against rust and corrosion is chromium. Accordingly, the higher the percentage of chromium in the alloy, the better (12-17%). In addition, chrome steel cutlery does not absorb odors.
It happens that in addition to chromium, nickel is also added to the alloy. (8,5-10%). The nickel content in the composition enhances the anti-corrosion properties and makes it resistant even to very concentrated acids. The color of chromium-nickel steel is also slightly different from regular stainless steel: a warm creamy shade against a bluish one.
Hint: if you see the 18/10 marking when buying stainless steel cutlery, then you need to understand that the composition contains 18% chromium and 10% nickel.
The stores offer a huge range of stainless steel cutlery - any size, modification and design, choose according to your taste. As an example, here are some popular brands: Eternum (Belgium), Apollo (England), Rondell (Germany), Herdmar (Portugal), Pintinox (Italy), Mayer&Boch (China).
A set of silverware of the highest standard for serving a meal costs a lot of money, therefore, as you now understand, silverware is more often just a phrase preserved from the depths of centuries, which today has nothing to do with the real composition of the alloy from which the cutlery set is made.
Nevertheless, silver can be found on the tables, but more often singly - for the distribution of certain dishes. But there is an alternative: you can easily find more affordable worthy kits not from precious metals, and made of stainless steel, moreover, corrosion-resistant and more practical to clean.
A variety of styles, shapes and designs - you can find all this in stores and choose any set of cutlery to your liking!
Various dishes are eaten different ways, using various cutlery, and some even with your hands. But if you do not know or have forgotten some rule, then follow the main principle - always maintain common sense and do not spoil the mood and appetite of the people around you with your behavior. To get started, see how your neighbors eat this dish, but if you still can’t figure it out, it’s better to give it up and eat something more familiar.
Bread and sandwiches
They take bread from the common tray with their hands, put it on a pie plate or on the edge of the diner, break off small pieces from it, and send them to the mouth.
To make a sandwich, you first need to put butter or pâté on top with a special knife. right side snack plate. You should put a piece of bread next to it and spread it, holding it with your left hand and not taking it off the plate. Sandwiches served with aperitifs are taken with hands, but at the table they are eaten with a knife and fork. The exception is canapés on skewers.
Soups
Soup served in a cup with one handle is drunk directly from the cup. If the soup is served in a cup with two handles, then you need to use a dessert spoon. You can draw liquid with a spoon both towards you and away from you. You can drink the rest of the soup from the cup, taking it by the handles, but the plate should not be tilted, and it is better to leave small residues at the bottom.
Lenten dishes
Long pasta can be shortened with a fork. Spaghetti is not cut, but wound on a fork on the edge of the plate, holding them with a tablespoon.
Sliced cheese is eaten with a cheese or snack fork.
Spaghetti is not cut, but wound on a fork on the edge of the plate, holding them with a tablespoon.
Stuffed vegetables, spring rolls, omelettes and dishes in dough baskets are cut with a knife and eaten with a fork.
Whole lettuce leaves are supposed to be eaten, tearing off small pieces with your hands. If it is served sliced, then you need to use a fork. Asparagus can be cut with a knife.
Olives (olives) are taken with a special spoon with holes for draining the marinade. The bones are laid out on a fork, and then on a plate.
Fish
Hot smoked fish and boiled fish with thin skin are eaten with a fork.
At the same time, smoked meat is first freed from skin and bones on one side, and after eating, it is turned over and proceed to the other. If the skin is dense (as, for example, in a trout), it is cut with a knife on both sides near the ridge and removed with a fork. Pickled herring, salmon, sturgeon or cold-smoked eel are so hard that they can only be handled with a snack knife.
For boiled, stewed, fried fish You need a special knife and fork. Instead of a knife, you can use a second fork or a slice of bread. The bones from the mouth should be quietly removed and laid out on a fork, and then on the edge of the plate. If the fish was served with a lemon, then, holding it with a fork, you need to remove the pulp with a knife, and leave the peel on the edge of the plate.
Meat dishes
Large sausages are eaten using utensils, small ones are taken by hand and dipped in mustard, laid out on the edge of the plate.
Hot and cold meat dishes(chops, entrecote) are eaten using a knife and fork, and it is not customary to immediately cut them into small pieces. Minced meat dishes (cutlets, steak, dumplings) are separated with a fork, holding with a knife.
Contrary to popular belief, neither game nor poultry should be eaten with hands at the table - they are eaten with a knife and fork.
Contrary to popular belief, neither game nor poultry should be eaten with hands at the table - they are eaten with a knife and fork. Truth in different countries and in different places there are different orders, so it's worth seeing how the neighbors do it.
For fondue, meat (cheese, poultry) is cut into small pieces on a special dish, and then one by one is placed on special forks and fried in a container with boiling oil. Spread fondue on plates with compartments for sauces and eat with a fork and knife.
Seafood
Crabs, lobsters, shrimp, lobsters and crayfish are eaten special devices, and in a less formal setting, you can use your hands. If a crab in a shell was served at the table, then it must be cut with a special hatchet or tongs. The tail of a large lobster can be eaten like a chop using a knife and fork.
The restaurant may offer a "bib" to protect the outfit from splashing juice.
The necks of crayfish can be torn off by hand, but it is better with a special knife, cutting the shell from below. The restaurant may offer a "bib" to protect the outfit from splashing juice.
To open the oyster shell, you will need a short, dull knife, as well as a fork to separate the meat. But most often oysters are served already peeled. Mussels are served hot in shells. With tweezers or a hand, hold the mussel on a plate, and take out the mollusk with a special fork. Waste is left on the edge of the plate.
Caviar is scooped up with a spatula and placed on your plate. Then spread on bread or toast. Sandwiches are eaten without utensils, but pancakes with caviar are eaten with a knife and fork.
desserts
Ice cream, soft cakes and mousses are eaten with a teaspoon, and hard cakes or cakes with a dessert fork.
Fruits
Pineapple is divided into four parts, cut into slices along with the peel and served. They eat with a knife and fork. Do the same with melons.
If the fruit is served with a filling, then it is scooped out with a spoon. For example, this is how they eat an avocado, the recess of which is filled with salad, crab meat or sauce.
It is customary to cut the kiwi in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. In restaurants, they are served peeled and cut into slices.
Unpeeled strawberries are held by the sepals and eaten dipped in cream or powdered sugar. Berries without greens are taken with a teaspoon. Cherries and currants are served with petioles. They pinch off a twig from a bunch of grapes, put it on their plate and eat one berry at a time, taking them with a spoon.
The banana peel is cut off on both sides, and then removed, but not completely.
Apricots, peaches, large plums are cut in half and stones are removed with a knife. Small plums are sent to the mouth with a spoon or hand, and the bones are laid out on a spoon.
The banana peel is cut off on both sides (large fruits are also cut across), and then it is removed, but not completely. They eat, holding the unpeeled end.
Oranges are peeled with a knife, and tangerines are peeled by hand, then these fruits are divided into slices. Grapefruit is served at the table cut into two halves and eaten with a teaspoon. Lemon slices are laid out on a plate with a special two-pronged lemon fork and eaten with a knife and fork.