What is cutlery: their list and description

Some objects have become so firmly established in everyday life that a person can no longer do without them. For example, cutlery. We use only a small part of them every day. Meanwhile, these are not just the tools with which we eat. They can be divided into two large groups: main and auxiliary. Each includes a certain set of items that are useful for all of us to know.

What is cutlery?

We use basic tools for everyday breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are in every home and are laid out on the table according to the number of participants in the meal.

However, all the main devices can be conditionally divided into five types:

1. Canteens - tools for hot dishes (first and second). They are the largest in size (relative to other devices in the main group) and are used most often. These include a knife (usually 24-25 cm in size), a fork and a spoon (these items can be slightly shorter).
2. Fish. This is a fork and a knife. They are shorter than the first ones, but they are also used often. At the same time, the fork has short teeth, and the knife has a wide and blunt blade. Thanks to these tools, you can easily butcher hot fish, separate the flesh from the bones.
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3. Eateries. Small but useful items. They are placed at the farthest distance from the plate and used first. Snacks include a fork and a small knife.
4. Dessert. They are used last. These include a fork (it has three prongs), a knife (with a sharp and narrow blade) and a spoon. These devices are needed not only for sweet dishes. They are used for cereals, pies, milkshakes, fruits. Dessert tools are placed over the plate.
5. Food sticks. These tools are essential for table setting in Asian states. Sticks are essential when serving Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese dishes. An important feature: if the table is not set in Asia, and the participants in the meal will be Europeans, then the traditional forks and knives should also be laid out on the table (in case one of the guests does not want to use sticks).

In addition to the main ones, there are auxiliary cutlery. There are many more of them, but they are used less often. Often these tools are intended for "collective" use, that is, with their help, a dish from a common plate is transferred to a portioned one.

The most popular are the following auxiliary tools:

1. Lemon knife and fork. The names speak for themselves. With these tools, you can either cut off a portion of a slice of lemon, or transfer it to a separate plate.
2. Curved, with a wide and blunt blade butter knife. It is convenient for them not only to cut off portioned pieces of butter, but also to spread them on bread.
3. Cheese knife in the shape of a sickle with small teeth on the blade.
4. Sprat fork. It looks very unusual: the teeth of this instrument are wide and connected by a special bridge.
5. Salad spoon (more than a regular dining room, but very similar to it).
6. Ladle. Designed for liquid dishes.

Important! A separate category of auxiliary instruments is forceps and scapula. There are many of them, but only a small part is used in everyday life. So, the most popular are large and small tongs (the first - for hot dishes, the second - for piece desserts), rectangular and curly scoops for baking, cutlets and meat. Also frequent guests of the table are ice pick tools and nut tongs.

In addition, there are cutlery that is used when serving very exotic dishes: lobster (special needle), mussels, oysters (a fork with one large and two small prongs), shrimp and crabs (a long device with two teeth).

Unusual names of cutlery

As a rule, by the name of the device it is possible to understand for what purpose it is intended. But experienced housewives know tools, the names of which are very specific. Having heard them, a person who is far from table setting and etiquette rules will not understand at all what it is about until he sees the device or its photo with his own eyes.

Among these are:

1. Spanning fork. It is a large instrument with a thick handle and two sharp teeth. Designed for serving portioned pieces into individual plates. Also, such a tool is used for cutting meat and fish dishes.
2. Cooking fork. She has three blunt teeth, designed for cutting hot fish dishes.
3. Two-arm unusual fork with wide prongs for herring.

The variety of cutlery is surprising. Some of them will take time to learn how to use. However, the opportunity to make a vivid impression of a gallant person in any situation is worth it. Therefore, you need to know what kind of cutlery are and how to use them, at least in theory.