Food History

The history of cutlery probably begins in the Stone Age with the shell and the sharp flint used for cutting meat and other food items.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal live. John 3:16 (NIV)

Cutlery in its most basic form stuck with human roots right from Stone Age when our ancestors substituted their tooth and nail fighting with food. Knives were made out of stones in early days which were replaced by copper, bronze and even silver and gold when mining of those metals began. Finally steel and other varieties of steels have replaced other materials for the blades of instruments for cutting. In fact every modern kitchen knife is a direct descendant of these early tools. Coming to Spoons, have a more recent history. Its minute applications were found in prehistoric times, courtesy the discovery of fire which meant that early human beings had to find some way to get hot food and liquids into their mouth.

The ancestor of the spoon was probably the sea shell. The fork came later, giving us an idea of our recent eating sophistication or could we see, teeth break. The very thought of we always saying about knives and forks, never forks and knives, also confirms the forks recent history. Anglo-Saxon forks have been found - dating back to the 9th century - but these tended to be little more than a skewer, sometimes with two prongs. Interestingly, it was the Italians who first started using forks giving us an idea about their eating habits. As our desire for taste grew and became more stylish, specialized tools for particular foods were developed. An early example is the fish knife, made with a silver blade tapered to part the flesh from the bones. Then, there are egg spoons and grapefruit spoons and many different knife shapes for cheese, butter, cake, bread and so on. These innovations are mostly early 20th century but are now widely accepted.

Looking at its manufacturing history, making cutleries was started with crude process invented in the small confinement of our Stone Age ancestors. Later, few selected craftsmen started carving out cutleries for public use with craftsmen skills. As the need and acceptance of cutlery grew, mass production and advanced techniques of manufacturing were invented. However, the cutler's craft or industry was long marked by the successful resistance of the handicraftsman to mass production. Small shops, with from one workman to a half dozen, were characteristic. Certain localities have become known for the excellence of their cutlery. In Spain, the Toledo blade was famous when the sword was an important weapon. Solingen, in Germany, and Sheffield, in England, famous for Arthur price and other brand manufacturer, has been noted for their cutlery since the middle Ages. From the days where carving out purposeful, practical cutleries, it spread out to artistic makeover with even the likes of great Michelangelo painting on his personal cutlery. Nowadays etching your custom design or name of your family on silver cutleries is common.

As we can see, Cutlery has gone through major changes from helping our ancestors eat their food to today giving our dining table, a style statement.

We at For your Home are specialist in helping you make better homes and gardens. You are always welcome to visit our online store at http://www.foryourhome.co.uk and our cutlery corner at http://www.foryourhome.co.uk/index.php/cPath/15

You can also read this article on our website here: http://www.foryourhome.co.uk/newsdesk_info.php/newsPath/4/newsdesk_id/27

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