I have a set of steak knives in a crate in Norway. Haven’t acquired one here in the US. Quietly to myself I say “if this requires a serrated knife I’d rather you’d made it a stew” whenever a place setting has a steak knife.
You know, I have a lot of chopsticks. I have freebie wooden chopsticks from takeout food. I have some nice lacquered chopsticks a friend gifted me after returning from Japan. I have some fabulous “every day” plastic chopsticks I bought in Japan. And then I have a dozen pair of bamboo chopsticks. And I have no idea how I acquired those.
Mmmmm, many of my favorite foods are better with a serrated knife. Or at least a sharp one. My steak knives aren’t actually serrated.
India: No utensils are standard at your place. You are expected to use your hands. Also, one person, traditionally the hostess, will serve everyone, so no one who is eating will touch the serving dishes.
If we’re eating formal, here, there will be a grand total of :
4 forks (main, fish, salad, cake)
3 spoons (soup, dessert, coffee)
2-3 knives (table, butter and steak only if steak is on the menu)
Our canteen lacks dedicated fish knives. #sadface
“Standard” place setting in a restaurant is dinner fork, dinner knife and a dessert spoon, I would say.
I must have 3 to 4 dozen pairs of chopsticks around the place, and I know exactly where I got them: Stater Bros market. Packs of them are right next to the soy sauce in the “International” aisle.
There are very few things more useful around the kitchen and house than chopsticks. Stir sticks, spacers, props, you name it. Unbelievably versatile. Plus, I eat with them at least once a week. It should be noted that these are almost exclusively cheap bamboo with blunt tips. I hate Japanese style chopsticks. Utterly useless things. There are also a couple of sets of metal chopsticks that came in sets of travel utensils. Also useless, and heavy.
We were given two sets of metal chopsticks as a wedding gift. When wewe moved the second time in 8 years, we got rid of them. Sometimes I’m sorry we got rid of them, because they were a gift. But I don’t miss having them.
We do have some disposable chopsticks from take away, so they just stay with the other leftover utensils, napkins and straws. Ever so often we might actually use one of them.
OK, so if steak knives are a common extra and you might have a butter knife, what kind of knives are in the usual cutlery set?
They are less useful as spacers, stirrers, and oil thermometers, but they excel for eating food. I like they they are slightly textured and can easily grasp smooth food, and the slightly shorter length and pointy end gives me finer control. And I just toss them in the dishwasher after supper.
Dinner knives.
OK, thank you. I’ve always called those things “butter knives”.
Butter knives are pretty small.
The things generally called butter knives, I always called butter spreaders, and yes, there’s usually only one in the kitchen. In my house, it’s in or on the butter dish.
Yeah, same here, kind of. I thought dinner knives and butter knives were the same thing: the knife that’s not pointy or sharp.
In fact, in Australia there is so much cutlery [the preferred local term - I’ve only heard silverware used for the genuinely posh stuff] confusion that it is the basis of a national game.
“Everyone”? Some of us have to take turns with the family spoon.
We used to suck on a damp cloth
Luxury! We would have killed for a damp cloth.
The one I have, like most I’ve seen, is nowhere near as fancy-looking as those. It’s really not sharp and was never meant to be - you can use it like a normal knife, but it’s not great for that. That’s why they tend to hang around forever - no problem with them going blunt when that’s what they were supposed to be like.
Dinner knives have a sharper blade.
Dinner knives are the normal knives in a set of cutlery, at least in the US. Butter knives are pretty uncommon until you get into actual silver. And then you can get into piss-elegant territory with the master butter knife and individual butter spreaders.
“Dinner knives” have always been referred to as butter knives or flat head screwdrivers in my family.