Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat

by Bee Wilson

What unites knife enthusiasts is the shared knowledge that having a sharp knife, and mastery of it, is the greatest power you will ever feel in a kitchen.

Alone in our kitchens, we feel entirely emancipated.

Spoons hold up a mirror to the surrounding culture precisely because they are so universal. There are fork cultures and there are chopstick cultures; but all the peoples of the world use spoons.

Table utensils are above all cultural objects, carrying with them a view of what food is and how we should conduct ourselves in relation to it.