History of the invention of the fork. From the history of the origin of the fork: How cutlery came to the center of attention at three royal weddings. An item of high culture and luxury

Imagine that forks suddenly disappeared from the kitchen. We'll have to chase the same pasta on the plate with a spoon. Well, very uncomfortable! But our distant ancestors did not even think of using forks for food. In this story, I will talk about the history of the fork.

Even 300 years ago, the rules of good manners prescribed not to take meat with the whole five, especially with two hands, but only with three fingers. And do not wipe them on clothes, but rinse them in a special bowl of water. At one time in the rich houses of Europe it was fashionable to eat with gloves to keep hands clean.

The fork is now the most popular kitchen utensil. It is considered that fork history started in 1072 year in Byzantium in the imperial palace. It was made in one copy of gold, had two prongs and a short handle, decorated with mother-of-pearl. This fork was intended for a Byzantine princess, who considered it humiliating for herself to eat with her hands.

Fork spread very slowly throughout the world. Initially, it denoted the difference between royal persons from others, and not at all a cutlery. It was considered more convenient to eat with hands or a spoon. The queens had one fork each and wore them in special cases. The fork was widely used only by the 16th century: a sharp awl, with which they pricked food and ate, was replaced by a fork with two cloves.

The fork was brought to Russia from Poland in 1606 year as prince False Dmitry I and was defiantly used during the feast on the occasion of his marriage. This shocked the Russian boyars. The fork became almost a reason for popular uprising against False Dmitry. The argument was simple: since the tsar and the tsarina eat not with their hands, but with some kind of horn, it means that they are not Russians and not monarchs, but the product of the devil. At that time, the church was very opposed to the use of forks, considering it an unnecessary luxury, godlessness and connection with dark forces.

Traditionally, misfortune was assigned to the fork among the people - dropping a fork was considered a harbinger of misfortune, a bad omen. They spoke disapprovingly about the fork, as evidenced by the proverb: “With a spoon that is a net, and with a fork - like a milking”, that is, do not scoop anything.

Peter I played a big role in the spread of forks in Russia. The royal table was always served with a wooden spoon, “seasoned ivory”, a knife and fork with green bone handles. The orderly on duty was obliged to carry them with him and put them in front of the king, even if he happened to dine at a party. Apparently, Peter was not sure that even in " best houses"He will be served the whole set of cutlery.

In Europe, massive fork production began in 1860 silver and then stainless steel. And the fork has become similar to the one you use every day.

It is impossible to say exactly when and by whom the first fork was created. Researchers who have devoted themselves to this issue each have their own opinion. According to one of the proposed versions, the history of the creation of the fork begins in the Middle East. It was in the IX century. While eating fruits, they were pierced with a fork, trying not to stain their hands with juice.

If you stick to another version, then the history of the fork begins in 1072 in Byzantium. This device was invented by the Byzantine princess Maria of Iberia, who believed that eating with her hands was humiliating. The first fork made by her order was made of gold. Mother-of-pearl inlay was the decoration of the ivory handle.

The history of the fork in Europe can be traced back to the 17th century, when Italian merchants and the nobility began to use them. Much later, these cutlery appeared in Northern Europe. The news about forks reached England thanks to the writer Thomas Coryat. He mentioned them in his book, describing his journey in 1611 through Italy. However, the population of England and Germany began to use these devices only in the XVIII century. The fork of that time is a cutlery with four prongs. By the way, bending teeth was invented in Germany. The Catholic Church in every possible way showed its negative attitude towards forks, considering them an unnecessary luxury.

The appearance of the fork in Russia dates back to 1606. Marina Mnishek brought her to the wedding feast in the Kremlin, which greatly shocked the boyars and the clergy.

The new name "fork" for cutlery took root only in the 18th century, earlier they were "wilts" or "spears". Forks in Russia were considered a luxury that only the rich could enjoy. These devices were served at the table only for especially distinguished guests.

The fork is currently 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 "excessive luxury", did not welcome its use - its use at the courts of monarchs was considered as godlessness or even a connection with the devil.

The fork rooted slowly. It was borrowed from the Venetians, who used it when eating fruit to keep the juice from staining their fingers. In France, a five-fingered fork was used for a long time. It was her that 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 is found in the 9th century in the Middle East. Before its invention, most Westerners used only a spoon and a knife, so they mostly ate with their hands. Aristocrats, on the other hand, 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 of gold, and its handle was decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay on ivory. This fork was intended for the Byzantine princess Maria of Iberia, who can be considered the inventor of the fork. Considering it humiliating to eat with her hands, she invented it herself. A fork was made at that time with two straight prongs, with the help of which it was only possible to string, and not to scoop up food. Initially, it was rather a kind of indicator of the prestige of the monarch, and not a cutlery at all. It was considered more convenient to eat with hands or a spoon.

In the 14th century, the French queen Jeanne d'Hervé had only one fork. She kept it in a case.

The spoon and fork were practically expelled from France until the 16th century and came into use only in the 18th century.

St. Peter Damiani tells with horror that the sister of the Roman 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 extravagant luxury, which brought upon her and her consort is heavenly wrath. Indeed, they both died of the plague.

But since the 17th century, the fork has become a necessary attribute at the meals of the Italian nobility and merchants. However, in Northern Europe, the fork appeared much later. First time on English language it was mentioned in 1611, but the fork was 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 spreading forks everywhere, and was called "Furcifer", which means "fork carrier".

The upper classes in Spain used forks in the 16th century, as can be seen from the vast 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 the same time, forks with four prongs were mainly used.

The fork was brought to Russia from Poland in 1606 by False Dmitry I in the luggage of Marina Mnishek and was defiantly used during a feast in the Faceted Chamber of the Kremlin on the occasion of the marriage of False Dmitry with Marina. This caused an outburst of indignation among the boyars and the clergy, and served as one of the reasons for the preparation of Shuisky's conspiracy. As they say, the fork failed. She became a weighty argument proving to the common people the non-Russian origin of False Dmitry.

Traditionally, misfortune was attached to signs with a fork among the people - dropping the fork was considered the eve of misfortune, a bad omen. They spoke disapprovingly about the fork, as evidenced by the proverb: “With a spoon that is a net, and with a fork - like a milking”, that is, do not scoop anything.

Russia kept pace with the historical process in terms of forks. Even under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, as one European wrote in travel essays, “at dinner for each guest they put spoons and bread on the table, and a plate, knife and fork - only for honored guests.”

The son of Alexei Mikhailovich, Peter the Great, also contributed to the history of the fork in Russia. It was not without his help that the Russian aristocracy recognized the fork in the 18th century. The publication “Russian Starina” for 1824 contains 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 the device, and the orderly orderly was charged with the duty 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 served the entire set of cutlery.

Modern tables are served with appliances, among which there can be a dozen types of forks: ordinary and snack, 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 century. Books have been written about how to distinguish them and how to use them. And this is a separate conversation ...

In the 19th century was invented new way gilding and silvering of metals - electroplating. Christofle (France) bought a patent for his invention from the author of the method, Count de Ruolz, and began to use electroforming in the production of cutlery. And since that time, a huge number of different forks, knives, spoons, spatulas and other beautiful, and most importantly functional table setting items have been developed and produced.
Today, in the production of cutlery, 18/10 steel is the main material. This is the most durable and durable material used even in medicine. Steel 18/10 serves as the basis for products with silver or gold plating.

Good spoons and forks should be at least 2.5 mm thick (measured at the end of the handle). There should be no sharp corners, such as between the tines of the 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 being manufactured, there are certain types, the purpose and method of use of which are determined:

Lemon fork - for shifting lemon slices. Has two sharp teeth.

Two-horned fork - for serving herring.

Fork for sprats 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 shifting canned fish.

The device for crabs, crayfish, shrimp (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 prongs (left) is more powerful for easily separating the pulp of oysters and mussels from the shells.

Lobster needle - for eating lobster.

Chill fork - for hot appetizers of fish. It has three teeth, shorter and wider than those of the dessert.

Publication date: 2011-04-17

The fork familiar to us is actually quite unusual. Of all cutlery, it is truly unique. Until now, there are people who doubt the advisability of introducing this item of kitchen utensils into everyday life.

Since its inception, the fork has met with stiff resistance not only among many people. Even the Catholic Church did not want to put up with a fork and stubbornly denounced this modest cutlery as a diabolical device (apparently, the fashion for drawing devils armed with pitchforks came from there).

So, what preceded the appearance of the very fork that we now use? Of course, it was not the trident of the mythical Poseidon, but an ordinary knife. Pieces of food were picked up by the edge of a knife, as we now use a fork. However, a knife is not a fork. It is much more convenient and safer to work with a fork. Praise be to the man who invented the fork, although he remained unknown in world history. But historians suggest that the fork first appeared in Byzantium, and its first user is Mary of Iberia, a Byzantine princess (who is credited with inventing the fork, which I personally doubt very much). And Mary of Iverskaya needed a fork then so as not to eat with her hands (like commoners).

So initially the fork enjoyed the attention of only the royals. That, however, did not prevent other people from being horrified by this ordinary subject for us. It was even such that some thought that the use of a fork would certainly provoke the wrath of God (and there were precedents for the assertion of this belief).

It is clear why the distribution of the fork was so slow, although the first mention of the fork dates back to the 9th century. The fork more or less took root only in the 16th century in Spain, and later in the 18th century in England, where the nobility recognized the fork as a very useful cutlery.

In the same 18th century, a curved fork appeared in Germany (before that, all forks were straight), and somewhere at the same time the number of teeth reached four (before that, the fork was two-pronged).

And Vilka came to Russia together with Marina Mnishek, the wife of False Dmitry. Perhaps it was precisely in connection with the tragic fate of this lady in Russia that there was a belief that a fork leads to misfortune. However, already Peter I obliged his orderly to always be with a fork, so that the sovereign could use the fork even outside the house.

This is such an unusual fate for the plug we are used to.

Now, there are a lot of generally accepted varieties of an ordinary fork. There are special two-pronged forks for lemon, five-pronged forks for sprats, three-pronged forks for oysters and mussels (moreover, one prong is larger than the other two, for the convenience of separating the pulp from the shells), a special needle for lobsters, and even a tricky device - a spoon-fork (I no longer I'm talking about a newfangled fork with a small fan to cool hot food).

The modern world treats the fork with great respect. There are even several monuments to the fork. Two of the most famous monuments are in America (Springfield and New York State), and one in … Lake Geneva.

Therefore, when picking up such a familiar cutlery as a fork, treat it with respect, because the fork deserves it.

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In addition to the usual four-pronged forks, there are many more varieties of this cutlery. various shapes. In gourmet restaurants, you can 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, and a few centuries ago, the use of a fork was considered unholy and condemned by the church.

Despite the fact that the oldest forks found by archaeologists belonged to the ancient Egyptians, in Europe these cutlery came into use only 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 demonstrate 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 cooking and serving dishes. The found cutlery has two prongs. Used forks and Ancient Rome. Most often they were made of bronze or silver. Presumably, in the Byzantine Empire, forks were already served at the table.

During the first millennium, cutlery resembling modern forks was common in Persia, most often used by members of the wealthy classes. V Western Europe, on the contrary, they preferred to eat with a spoon, a knife, or even with their hands.

The distribution of plugs in Europe began with 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 proximity to Byzantium. Forks were very convenient for eating spaghetti, but gradually the Italians discovered that these cutlery was no less convenient for other dishes.

The spread of forks was constantly opposed by the church. In particular, the Byzantine princess Theodora Anna Dukaina was unlucky. To celebrate the wedding with the Venetian Domenico Selvo, she made sure that each guest had a fork on the table, and ... miscalculated. 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 considered that this was the punishment for the use of forks and disrespect for God.

Forks also played an important role at 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 get the same devices. So the fashion for the use of forks came to France.