Who invented the fork or the history of its invention

The Naples National Museum houses a fork that is more than 2.5 thousand years old. But this tool is too different from the usual cutlery, so I suggest you familiarize yourself with the history of the appearance of its modern version.

Guest from China

This may sound a little strange, but forks came to us from here. Not similar to modern ones, made of bone, but still awarded the honor of accompanying the dead to the afterlife. It was in the burials of the ancient Chinese Qijia culture (2400-1900 BC) that archaeologists found some of the oldest and most recognizable cutlery. Similar finds were also made in burials of later eras and dynasties.

The origin of the name of this cutlery is invariably associated with the Latin word “fulka”, which translates as “garden fork”. On the territory of Russia, the modern name was preceded by the variants “Rohatina” or “Wiltsy”. This is due to the similarity of the cutlery with the utensils of the same name.

A little later, the Chinese fork began its “victorious march” to the west. At first, she appeared hesitantly in Ancient Egypt, where she played the role of cutlery. Then it was brought to the Roman Empire, where the fork was not allowed on the dinner table, but it was used to prepare and serve food.And closer to the beginning of the 10th century AD, the fork spread throughout the Middle East, where people of noble blood again used this cutlery while eating.

History of the European Plug

In the 11th century, the fork settled in Italy. Then she had two teeth and, perhaps, that is why she did not immediately deserve respect. Overseas merchants were not very keen to distribute the strange cutlery in their countries: the European aristocracy associated it with the unclean and preferred to deal with dishes the old fashioned way - with a spoon, knife and hands.

Interesting fact: not wanting to use a fork, aristocrats calmly made do with two knives. One of them cut the dish into slices, and the second brought it to the mouth.

But the convenient fork still won the hearts of Europeans. True, this happened in the XIV-XV centuries and not everywhere. It became a mandatory attribute at the meals of people of the noble classes only in the 17th century. At the same time, it reached Northern Europe (with the exception of England, where it was appreciated only at the beginning of the 18th century) and Russia.

It is believed that the fork was brought to Russia by Marina Mnishek, who greatly surprised the boyars at a wedding feast in 1606.

The emergence of a modern version

Looking back at the brief history of the spread of this cutlery, you can see that it gained popularity rather slowly. The reason for this is the Catholic Church, which did not welcome the fork, calling it an unnecessary luxury. And some Slavs brought the ban on its use on funeral and Christmas days even to our time.

But, despite the unfavorable attitude of the church, the fork continued to conquer the hearts of people.Already in the 18th century, it acquired a familiar appearance to us: four teeth and a concave shape, which allows not only to prick, but also to scoop up food. This happened in Germany.

True, this did not particularly affect the popularity of the cutlery, mass production of which began only in 1860 in England. Until this time, although the fork appeared on the tables of the nobility, it was still considered a sign of effeminacy and was rather harshly ridiculed in satires, which is why few people decided to use it.

And only after the launch of mass production everything changed. The fork has ceased to be a luxury item, finally gaining the recognition it deserves and becoming a mandatory cutlery in all rich homes. Well, after 1920, when the production of stainless steel cutlery began, the dinner fork finally reached all segments of the population, becoming an indispensable tool in every home.

As for its special varieties, they are still following the path of their dinner sister, since knowledge about their purpose and the ability to use them remains the prerogative of rich people, members of the upper strata of society.

The only exception to this rule is the spoon-fork, a cutlery beloved by tourists and manufacturers of fast food, although it was originally intended for eating ice cream. By the way, this type of fork is not a modern invention, because the patent for it was issued back in 1874.

This is the history of the cutlery, which we can safely say was invented by China, but invented by Europe.