To Wilson, flatware isn’t a tool to be overlooked-it can give you great insight to the minds and the appetites of past cultures. In her book Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook And Eat, she examines everything from whisks to graters to spoons as pieces of technology have indelibly changed how we consume food. Just as there’s no better humblebrag today than having the latest coffee-brewing technology on your countertop, or the en vogue oversized ice cubes for Old Fashioneds’ at your dinner party, the more specialized spoons one had, the more refined and “in-the-know” you were.īee Wilson, a food historian, journalist, and author of various food-related books, is something of a esoteric flatware specialist.
SHARPENED GRAPEFRUIT SPOON HOW TO
Inventing specialized tools and acquiring them before the neighbors knew how to use them was what people did to while away the time and work out their aggressions before they had video games,” Judith Martin writes in a “Miss Manners” column in the Chicago Tribune. “Silverware was a favorite Victorian sport. The country was fascinated in other specialized utensils, that is for sure-there were sardine forks, jelly knives, and oyster forks, among others-but no utensil was replicated quite like the classic spoon. There were, seemingly, spoons for every single type of fruit: melon spoons, grapefruit spoons, berry spoons, citrus spoons. There were not just general soup spoons, but large ones for hearty gumbos or chowders, medium-size ones for cream-based soups, and tiny ones for bouillons. There were spoons that today would be esoteric, like the aspic spoon, which featured a long bowl with one sharpened edge to help one cut through suspended, denser objects suspended in the savory jelly. According to Silver Magpies, a site dedicated to antique silver and flatware, “the rise of industrialization combined with a growing middle class with money to spend eventually led to the great flowering of the spoon which hit its peak in the Victorian era.” While at this time, there existed the basic table spoons, tea spoons, and serving spoons, these basics “exploded into a bewildering taxonomy of new sub-species.”
The Golden Age was Victorian times in England. However, there once was a time when spoons were more remarkable, when specialized baby spoons had a place in this world, and when many spoons didn’t look much like spoons at all. Today, everyone knows the average spoon – they all look relatively similar, save a few decorations and/or embellishments. Whereas forks are somewhat of a newer piece of flatware, dating back just a few centuries, cultures all around the world have been using spoons, made out of everything from bone to wood, since Neolithic times. Really, it goes without saying – we would have a hard time living without the classic, essential spoon.
But we also probably couldn’t imagine life without them. Enjoy!Įveryone knows the modern-day average: around half-a-foot long and relatively unexciting. Food author and historian Bee Wilson, who penned our History of Eating Tools piece contributed to this story as well.
So when Elettra and writer Amanda Arnold did a story titled The Surprising History of Spoons, it was only natural to feature it here on Eatingtools. I first met Elettra at her popup restaurant, GOODNESS, at NY Fashion Week several years ago and was inspired by both her approach to food and sustainability, and the culinary minds she brought together for the cause, including Mario Batali and Allain Allegratti to name a few. From recipes to Imagined Dinner Parties, Elettra Wiedemann's Impatient Foodie is a site dedicated to the marriage of "Slow Food ideals with the realities of fast paced, urban life." Based in New York City as well, that's a mission we can get behind.
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