# What other cutlery options has the human race made other than "knife, fork, spoon" and "chopsticks"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813 "2017-08-04T22:48:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/41 "2017-08-08T13:35:16Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Eating off a skewer is pretty common - [yakitori](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakitori) and [satay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satay), for example. In my experience, skewers are used for cooking the food, which people then don’t bother to remove from them. I’ve never seen anyone pick up a skewer and use it to eat other food. Though I suppose toothpicks do count as skewers… ETA: I see now that Wallaby said the same thing just a couple posts after yours. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/42 "2017-08-08T14:07:52Z")
[Yakitori](https://youtu.be/-wMxeho0IXg) [Satay](https://youtu.be/CcMWxGI4-38) ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/43 "2017-08-08T20:09:57Z")
The Victorian era was the high point for cutlery variety in the West. We’ve simplified dinner a _lot_ since then. But they were all basically variants of forks, knives, spoons, and cooking utensils like spatulas and tongs. Do cooking and serving utensils fall under the “cutlery” umbrella? **Scr4** made a great point about bowls being utensils, too. There’s not exactly a clear demarcation between utensils and dishes like plates, bowls, cups, gravy boats, etc. I mean, what is a spoon but a small bowl with a handle? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/44 "2017-08-08T20:25:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Damn you, **Loach**. > > I just ordered three of them. Happy to be of service. ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/45 "2017-08-08T20:26:36Z")
[Runcible spoon](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/runcible%20spoon) From [“The Owl and the Pussycat”](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43188/the-owl-and-the-pussy-cat) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/46 "2017-08-08T20:32:48Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > There’s also the [sporf](https://www.google.com/search?q=Sporf&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiE5eec277VAhUDziYKHSVDCKUQsAQILQ&biw=1152&bih=565), the [splayd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splayd), and the [spife](https://www.google.com/search?q=Spife&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9-IqM2r7VAhXIOCYKHW0qCi0QsAQIJw&biw=1152&bih=565). [https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/17438890\_1309366005823045\_8731015673444040704\_n.jpg](https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/17438890_1309366005823045_8731015673444040704_n.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/47 "2017-08-08T20:54:59Z")
Flat bread. Essentially by a thinking about the categories of utensils. The west went for a large set of specialised implements, and divested some of the responsibility for dismembering the food to the eater of the food. Asia went for a very simple general purpose tool, but responsibility for making the food bite sized went to the cook. India and what we now call the Middle East solved the problem by keeping the responsibility for bite sized with the cook, and solved the problem of avoiding getting their hands messy by wrapping/scooping it up with flat material. As a bonus, their utensils were edible, and could be made to taste good. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/48 "2017-08-09T05:44:15Z")
Other “edible utensils” include ice cream cones, seaweed (e.g. [temaki sushi](http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Temaki-Sushi)), tortillas (tacos, burritos, fajitas), and just about any type of bread (sandwiches). ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/49 "2017-08-09T06:40:57Z")
Agree, however I stopped at pre-prepared food items - such as sandwiches and ice-cream cones - as these cease to be utensils. Splitting hairs I agree. But you can go to any curry house and not order the bread, and eat the curry with a knife and fork. Or you can go traditional and order bread as well, and eat with that. So in that respect the flat breads are an optional way of eating the prepared food. They are not an intrinsic element of the dish. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/50 "2017-08-09T13:58:57Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > In my experience, skewers are used for cooking the food, which people then don’t bother to remove from them. I’ve never seen anyone pick up a skewer and use it to eat other food. > > Though I suppose toothpicks do count as skewers… There was a medieval implement called a ‘pricker’ which was, I suppose, a skewer with a fancy handle, or a fork with only one tine, depending on how you look at it. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/51 "2017-08-09T15:06:46Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > . . . for all the different types of worldwide cuisine your choice is chopsticks or “western” cutlery (knife, fork, spoon)\*. What other options are there? Are these really the only two types of cutlery that mankind has invented? . . . One problem with the question is that, as\*\* DrCube\*\* mentioned, the Victorians went hog wild with cutlery, trying to invent every possible food transfer device. It’s hard to believe they missed much. > [@Wallaby](#): > > The difference is that skewers tend to be part of the cooking process. They are then used as a handy handle (howdy, howdy, howdy) to eat with. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone approach a pile of food with a naked skewer… . . . s. The pre-precursor of the fork was single-tined. It was originally meant for pasta. [ETA - ninja’d] I haven’t read it yet, but I’m looking forward to [Consider the Fork.](https://www.amazon.com/Consider-Fork-History-How-Cook/dp/B009NOT9VK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502290805&sr=8-1&keywords=Consider+the+Fork%3A+A+History+of+How+We+Cook+and+Eat) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/52 "2017-08-09T15:14:24Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Tongs: [Tongs - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongs) > [@SCAdian](#): > > I’ve never seen anybody eat with either of those. Maybe those little tongs intended to pick up sugar cubes? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/53 "2017-08-09T15:23:18Z")
I think it was an episode of _Buck Rogers in the 25th Century_ that showed a future eating implement consisting of a chopstick-shaped rod that food would cling to by artificial gravity. Also, on _ **Star Trek: Enterprise** _ what did T’Pol do in the episode where she considered eating with your fingers too uncouth? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/54 "2017-08-09T16:05:22Z")
Don’t forget antimatter chopsticks: [The Light Switch - Red Dwarf - BBC - YouTube](https://youtu.be/rwdxIUeMrSM?t=151) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/55 "2017-08-09T16:13:39Z")
And of course the often-lethal Mercurian Boomerang Spoon ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/56 "2017-08-09T16:14:39Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Also, on _ **Star Trek: Enterprise** _ what did T’Pol do in the episode where she considered eating with your fingers too uncouth? She just deftly used a knife and fork (European style, I believe) to cut and eat a piece of breadstick ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi-Ian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9fc348/32.png) [@Kiwi-Ian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi-Ian)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813/57 "2017-10-02T02:57:21Z")
Even within “knife fork spoon” you can get an array. My grandparents’ dinner service comprised 8 each of Dinner knife and dinner fork (the big ones, forks with 4 tines)) Desert knife (also used as a spreading knife) and desert fork (smaller ones) and desert spoon Fish knife (blunt - for pushing rather than cutting cooked fish) and fish fork (3 tines) Cake fork (with the broad tine to daintily cut cake and then eat it, also 3 tines) Tea spoon and coffee spoon (even smaller) Soup spoon (the bigger circular spoons) There were also varying numbers of sugar tongs (for sugar lumps), serving spoons (big ones), winkle pickers (or pins) to get the meat from a winkle or a whelk, crab/lobster hammers (smaller than for nails!) and hooks to break the claws and hook the meat out, resters (little bars to rest other utensils on), butter knives (short broad knives used to transfer butter from the butter dish to your plate - none of your knives should ever touch the butter and leaving toast crumbs in the butter was a big no-no). All in all, over 100 pieces for 8 people. Without melon spoons, apple knives and all the other utensils that were hardly ever used. And that’s just within the knife fork spoon range. I can’t see how chop sticks could be so different though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-cutlery-options-has-the-human-race-made-other-than-knife-fork-spoon-and-chopsticks/792813.md?page=2)