Alternative to the knife and fork

In the end it does come down to the exact POD you're positing, but Western civilisation comes from a context of eating with one's hands. All its neighbouring civilisations did (many people in the Middle East and Africa still do, though it appears cutlery is making inroads) and all developments away from it pointed the way towards our standard cutlery set. If the ancient tradition survives (a stronger Roman tradition) we would likely see foods served pre-sliced into bite-sized pieces of convenient bits and at a bearable temperature (some Greek comedies say that gluttons trained by dipping their hands in heated sand and drinking near-boiling water to be the first to eat as the food came from the kitchens, but etiquette demanded it be fit to touch at the point of serving). Soups and other liquid foods would be eaten with a spoon and some specialties speared with a metal spike (designed for snails, but also used on shellfish). Diners use their fingers to pick up food and make frequent use of napkins.
If the Medieval tradition persists, the eating implement set will be knife-spoon-'courtesy fingers'. The authorities don't agree whether one should eat with the right or left, but the left being used to eat while the right holds the knife seems to have won out (this is pretty close to the 'European' vs. 'American' use of the fork and both likely coexisted). Food is served in larger portion-sized pieces and cut up by the diner prior to eating. Bread is used as an aid to eat semi-liquids while liquids are spooned or sipped. As late as the 17th century, northern Europeans of the upper classes complained that no civilised man could contemplate eating salad with a *fork*! :eek:
If you're arriving there via Tours and Poitiers, look no further than the Mideast for inspiration.

Chopsticks are quite unlikely.
 
How about my favourite Gladiatorial combination - The Trident and Net :D

(In this case the 'net' is refined down to a small held-held mesh thing, rather like a tea-strainer. It's good for sieveing through soup, picking up small vegetables and shellfish. The trident also has blade edges on it's left and right prongs).
 

Jasen777

Donor
I've always been a huge fan of sporks. Maybe some clever marketing during the depression can cause them to catch on as a money saver.
 
Id say spoon as it is more useful then other eating devises. How about a assasination of a relativly unknown politician (to avoid butterflies) with knife and forks during a formal dinner thus making spoons the eating devise of choise in upper parts of society?

I have also wondered if the paranoia of certain leaders might change mens fasion buy making them wear some complicated formal dress which makes it near impossible to kill the leader.
 
Id say spoon as it is more useful then other eating devises. How about a assasination of a relativly unknown politician (to avoid butterflies) with knife and forks during a formal dinner thus making spoons the eating devise of choise in upper parts of society?

Allegedly, this is why modern dining cutlery has round-tipped knives and short, four-pronged forks crather than the pointy blades and two-pronged, viciosly long and straight forks common in the Renaissance and early seventeenth century. Louis XIV is quoted as the usual culprit.
 

MrP

Banned
As late as the 17th century, northern Europeans of the upper classes complained that no civilised man could contemplate eating salad with a *fork*! :eek:

And some of that continues to this day - in the case of asparagus, for instance.
 
You know how Europeans adopted Chinese innovations, such as gunpowder, compasses and so on?

What if they decided that the chopstick was another one that should be adopted? What if Marco Polo introduced it to Italy, and it spread from there? :eek:
 
what if they decide to just continue eating everything with their hands? that would be strange.

but it would be hard to do this with a post-1900 POD.
 
How about my favourite Gladiatorial combination - The Trident and Net :D

(In this case the 'net' is refined down to a small held-held mesh thing, rather like a tea-strainer. It's good for sieveing through soup, picking up small vegetables and shellfish. The trident also has blade edges on it's left and right prongs).

:D:D:D: Excellent idea Wanda.
 
what if they decide to just continue eating everything with their hands? that would be strange.

but it would be hard to do this with a post-1900 POD.

Not at all. 20th century Europeans insisted on the insanitary habit of wiping their rear ends with dry paper rather than properly washing even when running water became available in bathrooms. They continue sleeping in poorly ventialed rooms and continued to drink from pottery cups even when heartproof glass hit the market. A culture that is accustomed to eating with their hands will have a different culinary culture (no steak/schnitzel/cutlet or roast, for one thing) but the idea is no less hygienic or civilised.
 
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