In the medieval era, people in east Asia were eating with chopsticks, and people in Europe were eating with their hands. In between them in Constantinople, people of the upper class were eating with a strange utensil called a fork. Previously only used for cooking and serving, forks on the dining table spread throughout Byzantium. This was seen as bizarre by Europeans, and you can understand why when they looked like the implements shown above. Sure, Europeans used knives and spoons when called for, but eating with a fork was barbaric.
Forks were introduce to Europe through Italy. A Byzantine princess married a Venetian Doge and ate dinner with a fork. A theologian blamed her early death on her insistence on using the utensil. But some Italians noticed that a fork would make eating pasta easier. Imagine eating spaghetti or lasagna with your fingers! Still, the spread of fork use took an awful long time, because people have always been peculiar about the right way and the wrong way to eat. Read about the controversial fork and how it made its way across Europe at the Conversation. -via Damn Interesting
(Image credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen)
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