111 Everett Ave., #1F Chelsea, MA 02150
SPADALAWGROUP.COM 617.889.5000
INSIDE
1. 2.
New Office, Same Commitment — Welcoming Our Second Location Spada Law Group Sponsors Eighth Annual Sammy’s Ride Google Review Contest Winner Revealed Len’s Book Recommendation Garden Fresh Veggie Omelette The Fascinating History of Cutlery
3.
4.
Scan to follow us on social media!
From Fingers to Forks THE EVOLUTION OF DINING ETIQUETTE
Have you ever feasted on chicken wings, your hands stained with barbecue sauce, and thought, Why don’t we just eat everything like this? As it turns out, we did — people only started eating their meals with cutlery fairly recently. Many cultures around the world still eat primarily with their hands. So, why are placemats adorned with forks, spoons, and knives commonplace today? To find out, we have to get our hands dirty — because the history of cutlery, much like the history of civilization, is complex,
good is a fine pot of communal soup without a spoon to eat it with? Likewise, knives have always been used to cut up meat and prepare our meals, but only the advent of individualized meals rather than buffet-style brought along the advent of dinner knives. Forks, however, are an altogether newer invention. Although large serving forks can be traced as far back as Ancient Egypt, the individual, smaller version has its roots in the Byzantine Empire. Around one thousand years ago, the Byzantine noblewoman Theodora Doukaina brought a golden fork to her wedding feast in Venice. It became quite controversial among the Italians, with many shunning the novel tool as posh and overly
decadent. However, as royals began to intermarry, the fork gradually caught on. Royals increasingly ate with cutlery and became weary of dirtying their hands with their food. By the 1800s, cutlery was widespread in the Western world, and today, most people and establishments serve meals with silverware! ANTIQUITY — MAKING A COMEBACK There’s a reason movie theater popcorn doesn’t come with a popcorn spoon and your favorite burger joint doesn’t offer sporks; some food is meant to be eaten with your hands. While most sit-down meals will always be the domain of the cutlery-wielding elite, finger food isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and if history has any say, it never will.
nuanced, and full of gossip. BIG SPOON, LITTLE SPOON
Perhaps unsurprisingly, spoons are the oldest examples of cutlery people used consistently for millennia. After all, what
4 • SPADALAWGROUP.COM
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator