The rise and fall of the fork

Forks have existed for centuries in one form or another throughout the world. It wasn’t until the 10th century, in the Byzantine Empire (today’s Southeastern Europe and Turkey), that they began to be commonly used at dinner tables. Even then it was still only the wealthy elite that used them.

Diners in Western Europe, particularly in the British Isles, were slow to catch on to the trend. Brits were used to getting their hands dirty with dinner, because of the way food was traditionally served.

Before the introduction of the fork, food in Britain would have been served on large communal platters on a table, with each diner helping themselves. Individuals would have used one hand to cut the meat and the other to hold it in place. Table forks, if they were known at all, were viewed as an effete, continental extravagance.

Thomas Coryat, an eccentric travel writer, tried to persuade the English of the benefits of the fork after returning from Italy in the early 1600s. He observed:

Coryat’s readers were unimpressed to say the least, and his acquaintances branded him with the nickname ‘furcifer’ (Latin for fork-bearer) as a result.

The Jacobean playwright Ben Jonson was inspired by Coryat to lampoon forks in his 1631 play The Devil is an Ass:

However, the tide was starting to turn in Coryat’s favour. Hygiene became an increased concern for many, especially following the Great Plague of London in the 1660s.

Sharing meat between dozens of guests at a banquet no longer seemed quite so appetising. Dining became more formal as halls in homes were replaced by separate rooms for leisure and eating.

Meals started to be served à la française (in the French style), like a modern buffet, but with dishes arranged in elaborate displays on the table. Forks allowed guests to help themselves without having to touch the food, and were versatile enough to be used to eat most dishes.

Nevertheless, use of the fork was slow to spread. It was an expensive addition to the household, so most guests were required to bring their own for both hygiene and financial reasons. Many simply preferred eating with a spoon, knife and their hands.

Throughout the 1700s, forks became easier to produce and cheaper to buy. And at the same time, the dining fashions of the upper classes gradually filtered down across society.

By the Victorian era not only was the fork a staple household item, but there were forks designed for every conceivable use: from the sardine fork to the asparagus fork.

The fashion in dining had also shifted to service à la russe (in the Russian style), in which individual dishes were served to each guest, course by course. This style was made possible by cheap domestic labour. 

Dining sets of porcelain and cutlery became a must-have for any household and remain a traditional wedding gift to this day.

But since the latter half of the 20th century, there has been a backlash to the highly regimented formal dining favoured by the Victorians. Many of us now eat on our laps in front of the television, or cater for parties with an informal Swedish Smörgåsbord buffet-style approach, which itself harkens back to the pre-fork era in English domestic dining.

And as global cuisines have become more popular in Britain we are increasingly using other utensils like chopsticks, flatbreads like roti and injera, and indeed eating with our hands once again.