Any sophisticated diner wants to be familiar with the tools that may or may not be offered to them at the table. Knowing them by sight will be very useful, but it's also important to know why they offer you that specific knife for your purposes so... let's become educated diners together, shall we?
1) Dinner Fork :
this is long tined fork you're used to. originally forks only had two tines. this worked beautifully for things like meat. however ,it doesn't work so well with peas or corn or such. more tines were added to make it easier to capture a variety of things from meat to legumes to vegetables.
2) salad fork :
3) fish fork and knife :
These will usually be silver.Fish is often served with lemon, which will react with steel and will
create an unpleasant taste. So, if you're going to bother to go all out and buy
the fish fork and knife set, make sure it's silver. As you may be able to tell,
the tines on a fish fork are shorter than a traditional meat fork.A salad fork is shorter too.As we know, the tines
on a salad fork are not evenly spaced. But a fish fork's tines are evenly
spaced. The knife will usually be your dead giveaway. It will be in the same
place in a place setting on the opposite side. These knives are not designed
for cutting, they're more supposed to be used for seperating the fish meat from
the bone cleanly. This knife is meant to be held the same way as the knife
you're more familiar with, so don't worry.
4) Seafood Fork :
These look like something Poseidan might yield. It can
either have two or three short tines and is usually built to a) follow the
shape of a shell and/or b) get into small spaces and spear the meat. This
is an extremely generic fork... keep in mind that there are lobster forks,
oyster forks, snail forks (I know it's not a seafood, but it is a shell food),
and shrimp forks.
5) Beef Fork :
A fork used specifically for picking up thin slices of
meat (as you can guess beef would qualify). It's shaped like a regular fork but
it's bigger and the tines are curved outward. You're not likely to see one any
time soon... but just in case.
6) Relish Fork :
6) Relish Fork :
This is
sometimes called a condiment fork. If you see it, it looks like a mini fork
with a long handle but... look carefully. There are two or three tines and
they're set very close together. Often, but not always, the ends of the tines
will be slightly splayed in order to hold more. All of this makes
sense when you think of what relish and chutney are. So why not use a spoon?
Don't be trashy! A relish fork allows for liquid to drain off which will make
less of a mess and keep whatever food the server is topping from getting soggy.
In a pinch, just use a seafood fork.
7) Teaspoon :
7) Teaspoon :
A small spoon (not the measuring spoon) that is
supposed to be used for... ready? ONLY BEVERAGES (though, actually, coffee does
have its own spoon). Yeah, the theory is that everything else served at the
table either has a seperate spoon or does not require one.
8) Tablespoon :
8) Tablespoon :
A large spoon that is nowadays, usually used for
serving rather than eating. So, naturally, the cutlery tablespoon holds
the equivalent of the measuring spoon tablespoon, right? Nope, actually
a cutlery tablespoon holds less than a tablespoon.
9) Soup Spoon :
9) Soup Spoon :
What? Really?
We have to go through soup spoons?! Yeah, of course. Quick! What's the
difference between a tablespoon and a soup spoon? See... ah, gotcha. Okay,
here's the thing. A tablespoon is oval-shaped. How 'bout a soup spoon? Well, of
course, because style is the name of the game, the shape will vary from set to
set. But if we're talking standard definitions, a soup spoon has a rounded bowl
rather than ovoid. It is also supposed to be slightly less than a tablespoon.
These, of course, are the definitions for a Western soup spoon. Chinese soup
spoons are usually made of ceramic and flat-bottomed.
10) Caviar Spoon :
Oh come on! A... why would... but... that's just
pretentious. It is, but if you're paying for good caviar, you want to do this
right. For starters these spoons usually look distinctive. To me, they look
like the Fischer-Price version of a spoon - sort of flattened, very round and
with a long handle (in proportion to the size of the bowl). These spoons
will often be made of glass, bone, mother of pearl and other non-metalic
materials. But why? Caviar comes in tins without absorbing the metalic taste.
If you had this thought, you'd be 100% right. You just want to make sure it's a
spoon with a non-reactive nature. Also, think of the caviar culture and compare
it to any other culture. The culture of smoking requires props... absinthe
drinkers... pot smokers... wine drinkers... they've all got their own props. So
don't judge caviar enthusiasts based on their spoon.
11) Dessert Spoon :
11) Dessert Spoon :
Horray!
Everyone knows dessert is best and, therefore, deserves its own spoon. It may
be difficult to tell a dessert spoon from a soup spoon. Traditionally, the
shape is ovoid (like a tablespoon) but the size is roughly the same size as a
soup spoon. Oh, wait... I know the easiest way to tell a dessert spoon... It
will almost always be placed above the plate (specifically so that it doesn't
get confused). Why on earth would the dessert spoon for a formal dinner be so
large, when desserts are typical small, delicate dishes? Well, piggie, the
spoon is not supposed to be put in the mouth. You're supposed to eat from the
side of the spoon.
12) Runcible Spoon :
12) Runcible Spoon :
If someone asks you if you want a runcible spoon...
they're being an ass. This is a nonesense spoon that does not exist and comes
from Lear's poem "The Owl and The Pussycat." Though, on the flipside,
if you want to make your dinners feel ignorant, apologize for not putting
runcible spoons on the table and see how they react.
13) Steak Knife :
13) Steak Knife :
A steak knife should be offered with any fibrous
protein. What I find more interesting is that you can tell the clientele of a
restaurant by their steak knives. How's that? Go to a middle of the road steak
house... Your steak knife will be over-sized (and if it's family oriented, the
tip will be rounded) with smaller serrations... A more upscale restaurant will
give you a smaller sharper knife with a pointed tip. Seriously, check it out
and tell me if I'm wrong.
14) Butter Knife :
14) Butter Knife :
Smaller than a
dinner knife or a steak knife and usually (but not always) with a rounded tip.
What should a person use this for? Well, to be proper, you should ONLY use it
to cut and spread butter.
15 Dinner Knife :
15 Dinner Knife :
16) Oyster Knife :
17) Cheese Knife :
Not a cheese
slicer, a cheese knife. This knife has the feel of an inverse knife,
thinner at the handle, wider at the end (to counteract the effect of how we
humans naturally hold a knife and allow us to cut through evenly) and has a
series of holes in it. Yeah, this isn't to mimic Swiss cheese... it's to keep
the cheese from sticking to the knife.
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