Main types, purpose and brief description of forks

It's impossible to imagine lunch without forks today. These cutlery came into human life in the 15th century and since then have become indispensable helpers in the kitchen. There are different forks, and sometimes it is quite difficult to figure out which one is needed and what it is for.

Main forks

During the table setting, any hostess lays out a certain set of tools for each participant in the dinner. These utensils (spoon, knife and fork) are considered basic.

However, the main fork is not always a standard four-prong tool. Depending on the purpose, it can be:

1. Dining room. The most common. Needed for hot second courses. It is placed to the left of the plate, the prongs always look up.
2. Rybnoy. Located just to the left of the dining room. The shape depends on which fish the instrument is intended for. So, there are devices with recesses in the middle for separating bones, there are devices with rounded edges. The teeth can be three or four, and they are shorter than the dining room.
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3. Diner. Its name speaks for itself. Used for hot and cold snacks (scrambled eggs, cold cuts, pancakes, etc.). It is a little shorter than the dining room. It is located to the left of the fish fork.
4. Salad. It looks like a spoon. It has a wide base and short, blunt teeth. It is always served with a knife and is intended not only for salads, but also for vegetables cut into large pieces.
5. Dessert. Small tool. Often this device has an unusual design that only emphasizes its purpose. Placed on top of the plate, teeth to the right. The dessert fork has only three cloves.
6. Fruit. This is a kind of dessert fork. A small device with two prongs. Ideal for fruit cuts.

If a full-fledged lunch with hot and dessert is planned, then the whole set of basic tools is laid out for each participant. In the same case, when a meal with one or two dishes is planned (for example, a breakfast of porridge and sweets), then you need to lay out the devices intended for them.

Auxiliary Plugs

These tools are not needed every day. Moreover, not all of them are individual. Often, such devices are used to put food from a common dish into a portioned plate.

There are many auxiliary forks. The most famous are the following types:

1. Chopping two-pronged fork. More of a regular dining room. Works in duet with a carving knife. This tool is needed to cut one large piece of meat into portions.
2. Fork for lemon with two sharp teeth, which are convenient for picking up portioned lemon slices and transferring them to a cup or plate.
3. Spratnaya. A tool with four or five prongs, which are connected at the ends with a bridge. The base of the device is wide, a bit like a spatula.
4. Long fork with two tines for crabs, crayfish, shrimps. It is convenient to use such a tool to pick up "sea reptiles" and extract the pulp. However, it is difficult to use it for the first time.
5. For herring. She has two teeth - sharp and neat. It is needed to transfer portions of fish from the common plate and separate the flesh from the bones (if it is not fillet).
6. Appliance for seafood cocktails, mussels, oysters with three prongs, one of which is especially powerful. Thanks to this structure, it is convenient to remove the pulp from the shells with the tool.
7. Two-tine fork with a sharp shaft for lobster. The rod is needed to get the flesh out of the shell. Using it for the first time is just as problematic.
8. Kokilny. It looks pretty standard, but instead of the usual four, it has three teeth. Needed when serving hot fish dishes.

Knowing what cutlery is and what kind of food they are needed for is useful. The rules of etiquette are universal, they can come in handy in very unexpected situations. It is better to learn once and for all the purpose of cutlery and put a "fat plus" in your personal piggy bank of useful skills.