The first association that arises when pronouncing the word “fork” is a cutlery. Then I remember other meanings, which are not so few. What is the meaning of this word and where did it come from in the Russian language? Let's try to answer these simple and at the same time entertaining questions using explanatory dictionaries and historical facts.
Fork ─ these are small pitchforks
In the general sense, a fork is anything that has a branched shape, usually in two directions. For example: fork in the road, thymus gland, fork-shaped tail of a swallow. By the way, the very first forks used for piercing pieces of meat had only two prongs. The origin of the word "fork" is easy to explain. It is enough to imagine the tool with which peasants collect and stack hay.
Fork ─ is a diminutive form of the word “fork.” Initially in Rus', cutlery of this type was called forks or slingshots, only by the middle of the 18th century the name familiar to modern people was assigned to the fork. In turn, the word “fork” is formed from the verb “to twist” by adding the suffix “l” to the root.
The history of the fork in the ancient world
The first forks, according to historical documents, appeared in 1072 in Constantinople, thanks to Mary. A high-ranking person found it humiliating to take food from a common dish with her hands. The court craftsmen made a cutlery with a long handle and two prongs for the capricious young lady. Some researchers believe that Princess Mary drew the sketches for the fork herself.
There is historical information that prototypes of modern forks, only of very large sizes, were used in Ancient Greece to remove roasted carcasses of animals and poultry from spits. In the 7th century, more compact, but still inconvenient forks began to be used to serve tables at the court of the Turkish Sultan. This innovation did not become widespread.
In the countries of the Ancient East, the meaning of the word “fork” was known from the middle of the 9th century. It was then that two-pronged metal spears appeared here for stabbing meat, vegetables and fruits. The straight shape without any bends did not allow the fork to be used in everyday meals. Therefore, this cutlery was forgotten until the 14th century. And today, most eastern peoples have a custom of handling solid or loose foods with their fingers.
An item of high culture and luxury
In Western Europe, a fork, spoon and knife became indispensable attributes of feasts at the beginning of the 17th century. Previously, fatty foods were simply taken with hands, periodically washing the palms in special bowls. In rich families, it was customary to sit at the table wearing gloves, which were thrown away at the end of the meal. Aristocrats preferred to cut meat or fish using two knives, one of which was intended for putting pieces of food into the mouth.
With the advent of forks, the French king Charles V issued a decree prohibiting members of the court nobility from eating with a knife, in order to improve the culture of his subjects. Ordinary people counted forks and did not use them in everyday life. For a long time, forks were two-pronged, then three-pronged, and only in the 8th century did cutlery with four prongs begin to be produced in Germany.
The first forks in Rus'
A cutlery similar to a modern fork was brought to Russia in 1606 and was first used during a feast at the wedding of the impostor False Dmitry the First and the Polish noblewoman Marina Mniszech. According to historical records, this behavior of royalty caused outrage not only among the common people, but also among the nobility. The “horned” fork was considered a devilish object.
Only in the 18th century did the fork timidly begin to enter the use of Russian nobles, thanks to the persistence of Peter I, who, as you know, adored everything European. In ordinary families, the fork remained a vicious, inconvenient and unnecessary object for a long time, while the spoon was the main tool for eating. Until the beginning of the 20th century, cutlery that was disliked by the common people was used extremely rarely; after the Revolution, the fork, as they say, came out to the masses.
You need different forks, all kinds of forks are important
In addition to cutlery, the word “fork” can mean any other device that has branches in its design.
The most famous combination is “plug ─ socket”. Household appliances are found in every home today, so the device at the end of a wire with two (or several) contacts used to connect a refrigerator, TV, computer or vacuum cleaner to the electrical network is familiar to each of us. The “plug ─ socket” pair is also used to create radio and telephone connections.
Clutch fork is a lever in a manual transmission of a car designed to retract the pressure plate.
A knitting fork is the simplest device, consisting of two metal longitudinal rods and a pair of transverse plastic crossbars. The device is used for hand knitting scarves and other items of clothing with straight panels.
A fork for a bicycle, moped or motorcycle is a part at the front or rear of a two-wheeled vehicle that serves to secure the wheels and is a steering element.
Forks you can't touch with your hands
The word “fork” is often used in relation to some actions or processes that have a dual meaning.
A chess fork is a situation on a chessboard when the pieces of one of the opponents are under attack by two pieces of another player. For example, a knight can be aimed simultaneously at a king and a rook, a bishop at a king and a queen, etc. This combination is otherwise called a double strike.
In military affairs, a “fork” is a combat maneuver with deliberate shelling of the enemy from different sides without hitting the target. Thus, a group of people or equipment is deprived of the opportunity to move in the direction of fire.
It implies a situation where a player places bets in different bookmakers on all possible outcomes of a match in order to obtain a guaranteed win.
Folk superstitions associated with forks
Even though the fork is a common item on our tables in everyday life, these cutlery are still not accepted by the Orthodox Church. Therefore, they cannot be used at funeral meals.
A fork falling on the floor foreshadows the arrival of an angry, grumpy woman in the house.
In villages, housewives are careful not to stir sour cream with a fork or spread butter on bread. It is believed that after this the cow may lose milk.
The fork is perhaps the most mysterious of all cutlery. Some say that this is the youngest cutlery, others claim that forks were used in ancient times.
It’s hard to imagine, but the Naples National Museum houses one found in one of the ancient graves. She is more than two and a half thousand years old.
The exact time of the invention of the fork is unknown. In some countries it was known in ancient times, although at that time it had only one prong (and whether it was a fork is still up for debate). But the ancient Romans added one more to it. It’s just a pity that they only used a fork to pull out the meat that was boiling in the cauldron. Then they ate this meat without the help of utensils.
The ancient Romans and Greeks, while talking about beauty, ate with their hands. The Roman poet Ovid taught them to eat
fingertips and wipe them on bread after eating. Later in Greece, special gloves with hard tips were put on hands.
Something similar to a modern fork, only with five and sometimes more teeth, appeared in Asia in the 10th century. A hundred years later, this invention reached Europe, but the fork became widespread only in the 16th century: the sharp awl, with the help of which they pierced food and ate, was replaced by a fork with two teeth.
There is information that the fork appeared in Europe and was finally formed as a cutlery in an enlightened time - at the end of the 11th century, and even has a completely accurate date and place of birth. There is evidence that the fork was born in 1072
year in Byzantium in the city of Constantinople in the imperial palace. It was made in one copy from gold, and its handle was decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay on ivory. This fork was intended for the Byzantine princess Maria Iverskaya, the widow of Emperor Michael Duca. She can safely be considered the inventor of the fork - she herself invented it and ordered it as an item for the imperial rank, considering it humiliating for herself to eat with her hands.
After 100 years, the fork came from Byzantium to Italy, where it was first made in two copies - for the Venetian Doge and the Pope. At that time, the fork was made with two prongs and was rather a kind of indicator of the prestige of the monarch, and not at all a cutlery. It was considered more convenient to eat with your hands or.
French kings first began to eat with a fork rather than with their hands only at the end of the 14th century. All attempts to introduce the fork into use were met with stubborn resistance from the Church. Several pamphlets were written against the fork, in which the fork was exposed as a vivid example of the corruption of morals, and its use in the courts of monarchs was considered as atheism or even connection with the devil.
The pamphlet “The Island of Hermaphrodites,” published at the end of the 16th century and directed against the minions of the French king Henry III, who adhered to a non-traditional sexual orientation, states as something extraordinary that they never touched meat with their hands, but used forks, “which no matter how hard it costs them.”
Nevertheless, the fork is beginning to win its right to be a cutlery. The first mentions of forks in Europe date back to the 14th century: for example, there were several forks in the treasury of Duke John II of Breton. True, they ate not meat, but fruits or fried cheese.
Peter Galveston, a favorite of King Edward II of England, had 69 silver spoons and three forks with which he ate a pear.
The inventory of the wealth of the Hungarian Queen Clementia for 1328 mentions thirty spoons and one fork made of gold. Since 1379, Charles V had several golden forks with handles encrusted with precious stones, which were used for rare desserts served at the most refined courts of the time.
At her death, the French Queen Jeanne d'Evre left one fork, carefully packed in a small chest, and 64 spoons.
The fork came to England at the beginning of the 17th century, but it began to be used constantly at court during the reign of Elizabeth, and at first it was believed that bringing food to the mouth with a fork, and not with hands, was
Queen's privilege. The rest of the subjects did this with their hands wearing gloves. It was only in 1860 that mass production of cutlery was established in England.
By the end of the 18th century, in almost all European countries, a table knife with a sharp end gave way to a knife with a rounded blade. There was no longer any need to spear pieces of food with a knife, since this function was performed by a fork.
The Russian history of the fork begins in the 18th century. In the 17th century, even at the royal table they used only a knife and a spoon. The cut pieces were taken either by hand or “as best we could.”
The fork appeared in Russia in 1606; it is believed that Marina Mnishek brought it. At his wedding feast in
In the Kremlin, Marina with a fork shocked the Russian boyars and clergy. This fork almost became the reason for a popular uprising against False Dmitry. The argument was deadly simple: since the Tsar and Tsarina eat not with their hands, but with some kind of spear, it means that they are not Russians or monarchs, but the offspring of the devil. Even the word fork itself finally entered the Russian language only in the 18th century, and before that time this object was called “rohatina” and “wilts”.
The prejudice of the Russian people against the fork was long and strong. But the Russian aristocracy, not without the help of Peter I, became familiar with this cutlery as an element
luxury. The first forks had two prongs and were only owned by very wealthy people. At royal receptions, forks were placed on the plates of only especially distinguished guests. Pyotr Alekseevich himself used a fork everywhere. His orderly always carried a knife, fork and spoon with him, serving them to the king during meals. The Russian people began to use a fork only in the 19th century.
Until the 20th century, among the general public, the fork was not used at all.
was famous, remaining the property of aristocrats and educated people. The Russian people considered the fork inconvenient and unnecessary, as evidenced by the saying “A spoon is like a net, a fork is like a fish.” People were taught to use a fork, essentially, by the Soviet government with its system of mass public canteens, where every visitor was given an aluminum fork. To this day, superstitions reflect a wary attitude towards the fork - it is believed that it should not be given as a gift - this is a sign of arrogance.
Currently, the fork is the most popular and frequently used kitchen utensil.
Currently, the fork is the most popular and frequently used kitchen utensil. But few people know that all attempts to introduce the fork into use in the 17th century encountered stubborn resistance from the Church. The Catholic Church, calling the fork “an unnecessary luxury,” did not welcome its use - its use in the courts of monarchs was considered as godlessness or even a connection with the devil.
The fork took root slowly. It was borrowed from the Venetians, who used it when eating fruit to prevent the juice from staining their fingers. In France, a five-fingered fork was used for a long time. This is what Montaigne meant when he said: “Sometimes I eat so hastily that I bite my fingers.”
But let's go back a few centuries. The first mention of a fork was found in the 9th century in the Middle East. Before its invention, most Westerners only used a spoon and a knife, so they mostly ate with their hands. Aristocrats used two knives - one for cutting, the other for transferring food to the mouth. However, there is evidence that the fork was born in 1072 in Byzantium in the city of Constantinople in the imperial palace.
It was made in one copy from gold, and its handle was decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay on ivory. This fork was intended for the Byzantine princess Maria of Iveron, who can be considered the inventor of the fork. Considering it humiliating to eat with her hands, she came up with it herself. At that time, a fork was made with two straight teeth, with the help of which it was possible only to string, and not scoop up food. Initially, it was rather a kind of indicator of the monarch’s prestige, and not at all a cutlery. It was considered more convenient to eat with your hands or a spoon.
In the 14th century, the French queen Jeanne dHervé had only one fork. She kept it in a case.
The spoon and fork were practically banished from France until the 16th century and came into use only in the 18th century.
Saint Peter Damiani relates with horror that the Roman sister Argilia, wife of one of the sons of Pietro Orseleolo, Doge of Venice, instead of eating with her fingers, brought food to her mouth with gilded forks and spoons, which the saint considered as an extravagant luxury that brought upon her herself and her spouse is heavenly wrath. Indeed, they both died of the plague.
But already from the 17th century, the fork became a necessary attribute at the meals of the Italian nobility and merchants. However, in Northern Europe the fork appeared much later. It was first mentioned in English in 1611, but the fork became widely used in England only in the 18th century. It was introduced by Thomas Koryat thanks to his book about traveling through Europe. But even then, he was ridiculed about the possibility of forks becoming ubiquitous, and was called "Furcifer", which meant "fork bearer".
The upper classes in Spain used forks in the 16th century, as can be judged by the huge assortment of forks found in the remains of La Girona, which sank off the coast of Ireland in 1588. In 1630, Massachusetts Governor Winthrop had the first and only fork in colonial America.
Forks with curved tines first appeared in Germany in the 18th century. Around this time, forks with four prongs began to be used.
The fork was brought to Russia from Poland in 1606 by False Dmitry I in the luggage of Marina Mniszech and was demonstratively used during a feast in the Faceted Chamber of the Kremlin on the occasion of the marriage of False Dmitry to Marina. This caused an explosion of indignation among the boyars and clergy, and served as one of the reasons for the preparation of Shuisky’s conspiracy. As they say, the fork failed. It became a compelling argument proving to the common people the non-Russian origin of False Dmitry.
Traditionally, misfortune was associated with signs of a fork - dropping a fork was considered the eve of misfortune, a bad omen. They spoke disapprovingly of the fork, as evidenced by the proverb: “A spoon is like a net, but a fork is like a fish,” that is, you cannot scoop up anything.
Russia has kept pace with the historical process when it comes to forks. Even under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, as one European wrote in travel essays, “at dinner, spoons and bread were placed on the table for each guest, and a plate, knife and fork were only for honored guests.”
Alexei Mikhailovich's son Peter the Great also contributed to the history of the fork in Rus'. Not without his help, the Russian aristocracy recognized the fork in the 18th century. In the publication “Russian Antiquity” for 1824 there is information about how the table was set for Peter I: “A wooden spoon seasoned with ivory, a knife and fork with green bone handles were always placed at his cutlery, and the orderly on duty was required to carry them with you and put it in front of the king, even if he happened to dine at a party.” Apparently, Peter was not sure that even in the “best houses” he would be given the entire set of cutlery.
Modern tables are set with utensils, among which there may be a dozen types of forks: regular and snack forks, for meat, fish, side dishes, two-pronged - large and smaller, used for cutting meat fibers, special for cutting lobsters, a fork complete with a knife for oysters, forks in combination with spatulas - for asparagus... All of them are of recent origin: XIX - early XX centuries. Books have been written on how to distinguish them and how to use them. And this is a separate conversation...
In the 19th century A new method of gilding and silvering metals was invented - electroplating. The Christofle company (France) bought a patent for his invention from the author of the method, Count de Ruolz, and began using electroplating in the production of cutlery. And from that time on, a huge number of different forks, knives, spoons, spatulas and other beautiful, and most importantly functional tableware items began to be developed and produced.
Today, in the production of cutlery, the main material is 18/10 steel. This is the most durable and durable material, used even in medicine. 18/10 steel serves as the basis for products with silver or gold plating.
Good spoons and forks should have a thickness of at least 2.5 mm (measured at the end of the handle). There should be no sharp corners, for example between the tines of forks. Everything should be smooth and fluid. In addition, an expensive fork can be immediately recognized by the presence of grooves at the base of the teeth, so that food is washed out more easily.
Despite all the variety of forks currently manufactured, there are certain types, the purpose and method of use of which are defined:
Lemon fork - for arranging lemon slices. Has two sharp teeth.
Double-horned fork - for serving herring.
A fork for sprat with a wide base in the form of a spatula and five teeth, to prevent deformation of the fish, connected at the ends by a bridge. Designed for transferring canned fish.
Crab, crayfish, shrimp cutlery (knife, fork) is used when consuming crabs, crayfish and shrimp. The fork is long with two prongs at the end.
Fork for oysters, mussels and cold fish cocktails - one of the three tines (left) is more powerful for easily separating the flesh of oysters and mussels from the shells.
Lobster needle - for eating lobster.
Chill fork - for hot fish appetizers. It has three teeth, shorter and wider than the dessert one.
In addition to the usual four-pronged forks, there are many varieties of this cutlery of various shapes. In fine dining restaurants you might see two-pronged herring forks, a five-pronged sprat fork, a lobster needle and a three-pronged oyster fork. Today, even children can use cutlery, but a few centuries ago, the use of a fork was considered unpalatable and condemned by the church.
Despite the fact that the oldest forks found by archaeologists belonged to the ancient Egyptians, these cutlery only came into use in Europe in the 1700s. A little later they became popular in America. It is believed that False Dmitry brought the first fork to Russia. During the wedding feast, the impostor, who married Marina Mnishek, decided to show the fork to the guests, but this trick ruined him. When the boyars were preparing a plan to overthrow False Dmitry, they used this evidence to prove to the common people the non-Russian origin of the liar.
In ancient times, according to archaeologists, forks were used for preparing and serving dishes. The cutlery found has two prongs. Forks were also used in Ancient Rome. Most often they were made of bronze or silver. Presumably, in the Byzantine Empire, forks were already used to set the table.
Throughout the first millennium, cutlery resembling modern forks was common in Persia, most often used by representatives of the wealthy classes. In Western Europe, on the contrary, they preferred to eat with a spoon, knife, or even with their hands.
The spread of forks in Europe began in Italy. Perhaps one of the reasons for the popularity of these cutlery was the use of pasta. Forks began to appear on Italian tables in the 11th century, most likely due to the proximity to Byzantium. It was very convenient to eat spaghetti with forks, but gradually the Italians discovered that these cutlery were no less convenient for other dishes.
The spread of forks was constantly opposed by the church. In particular, the Byzantine princess Theodora Anna Dukaine was unlucky. To celebrate her wedding with the Venetian Domenico Selvo, she made sure that every guest had a fork on the table, and... she made a mistake. The clergy regarded this as an unpleasing act. The guests sincerely believed that it was much more natural to eat with their hands, because, in their opinion, man was created with ten fingers. A few years later, the Byzantine bride died of an unknown disease. Many then believed that this was a punishment for using forks and showing disrespect for God.
Forks also played an important role in the wedding of the Italian Catherine de Medici and the French king Henry II, which took place in 1533. Katerina brought a collection of silver forks to the wedding, which caused a real stir among the royal families; everyone wanted to acquire the same devices. This is how the fashion for using forks came to France.
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A fork is a cutlery consisting of a handle and several narrow teeth (usually from two to four). Widely used for cooking, as well as during meals to hold or carry individual parts of food. The fork is sometimes called the "king of kitchen utensils."
As a cutlery, the fork has been created for centuries. The Naples National Museum houses a fork found in one of the graves of the ancient city of Paestum in southwestern Italy. It is more than two and a half thousand years old. Cardinal and Bishop of Ostia (the ancient trading harbor of Rome) Peter Damiani, who lived in the 11th century, argued that the use of a fork at the table was introduced into fashion by one princess originally from Venice, and from there it spread further.
In France, the fork first appeared on the royal table during the reign of Charles V, more precisely in 1379. The first forks were imported into England in 1608 from Italy.
How was the fork shape created?
The rules of good manners prescribed not to take the meat with all your fingers, especially with two hands, but only with three fingers; Do not wipe your fingers on clothes, but rinse them in a special bowl of water.
In wealthy European homes, it was fashionable to eat with gloves to keep your hands clean. After lunch, the grease-stained gloves were thrown away.
A fork is a prototype of a hand. The first forks were huge and had only one sharp tine, later - two. The ancient Romans used them to remove pieces of meat from a cauldron or roasting pan. These tools cannot yet be called forks in our understanding, since the noble patricians continued to eat meat with their hands, along which fat flowed down to their elbows.
Small silver, often gilded, richly decorated food forks in recognizable proportions and shapes came into use only in the middle of the 16th century, replacing the two knives that were used at the table in “decent houses.”
In 1860, England began mass production of cutlery, including modern forks, made from silver or silver-plated metals. Stainless steel cutlery began to conquer the world in 1920.
Russia has kept pace with the historical process when it comes to forks. Even under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, as one European wrote in travel essays, “at dinner, spoons and bread were placed on the table for each guest, and a plate, knife and fork were only for honored guests.”
Alexei Mikhailovich's son Peter the Great also contributed to the history of the fork in Rus'. Not without his help, the Russian aristocracy recognized the fork in the 18th century.
In the publication “Russian Antiquity” for 1824 there is information about how the table was set for Peter I: “A wooden spoon seasoned with ivory, a knife and fork with green bone handles were always placed at his cutlery, and the orderly on duty was required to carry them with him and put it in front of the king, even if he happened to dine at a party.” Apparently, Peter was not sure that even in the “best houses” he would be given the entire set of cutlery.
Modern tables are served with cutlery, among which there may be a dozen types of forks:
- Lemon fork. Has two sharp teeth.
- Double-horned fork - for serving herring.
- A sprat fork with a wide blade-shaped base and five tines connected at the ends by a bridge.
- Device for crabs, crayfish, shrimp. Long fork with two prongs.
- Fork for oysters, mussels and cold fish cocktails - one of the three tines (the left one) is larger than the others and is designed to separate the pulp of oysters and mussels from the shells.
- Lobster needle.
- Chill fork - for hot fish appetizers. It has three teeth, shorter and wider than the dessert one.
In addition to traditional serving forks, there are unusual items.
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The world's largest fork is located in Springfield, Missouri. The sculptural form, which is 10.7 meters high, was built by an advertising agency that considers this cutlery to be its talisman. In Kyiv, too, there is a monument to a fork, and not even one, but two. The Vilka monument is located near the Beer Duma pub, which is located on Drahomanov Street. Presumably, it was the pub that initiated and, accordingly, sponsored the installation of this monument. The author of this strange monument to a fork is the sculptor Vladimir Belokon. One of the strangest monuments is a huge fork, which, thanks to the efforts of the Nestle corporation, ended up stuck into the bottom of Lake Geneva. The sculpture, created in 1995 and located in front of the Alimentarium food museum and Nestle headquarters, is called the "Monument to Food".
