# Are knife, fork spoon eating utensils fairly universal except for Asian cultures? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2009, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-knife-fork-spoon-eating-utensils-fairly-universal-except-for-asian-cultures/489059 "2009-03-11T10:48:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-knife-fork-spoon-eating-utensils-fairly-universal-except-for-asian-cultures/489059/1 "2009-03-11T10:48:36Z")
Just curious re cuisines of the world. Other than chopsticks or hands is there anything else re eating utensils other than the standard knife, fork, spoon combos? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-knife-fork-spoon-eating-utensils-fairly-universal-except-for-asian-cultures/489059/2 "2009-03-11T11:57:53Z")
IIRC the fork was a Byzantine invention from roughly the 11th century so it spread out from there making it far from universal. Spoons, on the other hand, are universal including Asian cultures; they wouldn’t be able to eat soup with them. The shape of Asian spoons would look funny to most Americans but they’re recognizable. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-knife-fork-spoon-eating-utensils-fairly-universal-except-for-asian-cultures/489059/3 "2009-03-11T12:57:32Z")
Anecdotal: The Gambian family that lives upstairs from me often use their fingers. IIRC traditional Ethiopian food is also eaten with the hands. ---
**Author:** ![Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicolas_Bourbaki)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-knife-fork-spoon-eating-utensils-fairly-universal-except-for-asian-cultures/489059/4 "2009-03-11T23:04:26Z")
Yeah, I would say flatbread and fingers are the only thing that’s truly universal. I can’t think of any culture that uses forks that didn’t originate in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-knife-fork-spoon-eating-utensils-fairly-universal-except-for-asian-cultures/489059/5 "2009-03-11T23:10:18Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > Spoons, on the other hand, are universal including Asian cultures; they wouldn’t be able to eat soup with them. [Without a spoon, you say?](http://cupasoup.com/) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-knife-fork-spoon-eating-utensils-fairly-universal-except-for-asian-cultures/489059/6 "2009-03-11T23:44:44Z")
Think of that as soup served in one giant spoon. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-knife-fork-spoon-eating-utensils-fairly-universal-except-for-asian-cultures/489059/7 "2009-03-11T23:51:13Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Think of that as soup served in one giant spoon. I find it debatable that it is soup. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-knife-fork-spoon-eating-utensils-fairly-universal-except-for-asian-cultures/489059/8 "2009-03-12T03:13:44Z")
Soup is more often drunk directly out of the bowl in both Japan and China. Spoons are used with ramen (way different from instant ramen available in the US) and other Chinese-derived food, but they’re an adjunct to chopsticks and drinking out of the bowl; some people don’t use them at all even if they’re provided. Forks didn’t disseminate to continental Europe until pretty late, around the 16th century, and were adopted in England later than that. They were used for carving meat way before they were adopted for individual dining. A spoon and a knife were the common dining implements before that. Bowls are pretty close to universal. Spoons are used in just about every culture I know of. Knives are used in preparation, but often banned from the dining table itself in Asian cultures. Everything else is very much subject to change.