The Art of Eating Food is Cultural

We all know or should know that food is an important part of everyday life and has contributed to the growth of cultures. Someone once said, "The plow gave way to civilization and all science". What that quote means is that society as we know it socially evolved  through agriculture and gathering around the table. So it is not surprising to know that the development of utensils to eat with came out of that as well. The place where people settled and 'got' civilized was largely through eating together what they produced together in that place.  Place then as it is today had/has much to do with shaping people's food consumption. As people settled in a place and grew what plants successfully in that place shaped their culture- their being and sharing social reality in a place. As cultures grew more sophisticated in what they produced, cooked and shared, so did the tools they used to eat with.  So, when you set down to eat your next meal you can to a great extent thank the Greeks, the Romans, the French, and the Chinese for helping to bring to you the ability to enjoy the delights in front of you. One of the oldest utensils ever used by man is the spoon. You thought that it would have been the knife right? Well, the spoon actually was the first as cavemen and their descendants would use various shaped shells to scoop out their food and eat. The hands worked for roasted meat but the spoon came about to get things that the hands just could not hold. Archeological evidence shows that the earliest spoons were made of shells (sea shells and snail shells) and even pieces of wood that were slightly curved. The most far reaching design of a spoon came from the Romans. They developed long handles with round and oval ends to help hold the food better. Due to the vast Roman Empire and the influence they had on cultures, the new spoon designs took off. The first ones though made of shell and wood continued for many centuries. Over the time the rich were able to have gold and silver ones. But the development of tin and pewter in cutlery brought the most advanced spoons into the hands of the masses. Forks have become one of the most basic of our dining instruments.  They date back as far as the Greeks, but originally were created with two tines as a spearing utensil.  Dining was not the intent of the first fork creation.  Cutting and serving was the main purpose in which two tines worked wonderfully.  By the seventh century it was common place at the tables.  Originally, like most things, it was the rich who had them first.  They were very ornate.  Yet Europe was very slow to adopt this tool.  Many comments were made that God created hands and that was good enough for them.  Eventually, small forks could be found to retrieve messy foods so that the hands could stay relatively clean.  As the years rolled by, the forks were used more and more.  It was in the seventh century that forks with four tines were developed.  The inventors saw that when using the two tines, food could easily slip through it.  The addition of two extra tines kept the food on the fork.