I love your flatware recommendations and I happen to be in need of some additional forks.
I noticed with interest on the Liberty Tabletop site that they have three categories of flatware sizes--or at least they do for forks. “American,” “Euro,” and “Liberty.” (😆) According to the site, “American sizing” for a dinner fork is 7 1/4” long while “European sizing” is 8 1/4” long and “wider through the tines.” LT came up with a size in-between those two called “Liberty.”
I have never heard of there being a difference before, but I have always noticed with all my IKEA silverware that the forks all seem much shorter than I feel like I grew up with, which led me to believe that perhaps people in the Nordic countries like their forks short.
This, coupled with the Slate article on “Continental” knife-and-fork use versus American knife-and-fork, makes me wonder if European forks are longer (if they really are) because of the “Continental” style?
Also: I found the Slate article fascinating in more ways than one. While I do wonder why Americans are apparently the only flatware-using people on the planet who don’t employ the “Continental” style, I’m not sure I’ve seen evidence of article’s claim (2013) that abandoning the “cut-and-switch” is a growing trend in the US, at least among younger folks: “Nearly everyone I spoke with associated cutting-and-switching with older Americans and Midwesterners, and no-switching with younger and coastal diners.”
Nor do I understand what the impetus for Americans changing ways is. The article says it’s for efficiency! 😆
The only reason that makes sense to me for changing is that it’s simply an appealing-looking way to eat. Plus, I LOVE the food-on-fork stacking (which the writer called “awkward”).
I love your flatware recommendations and I happen to be in need of some additional forks.
I noticed with interest on the Liberty Tabletop site that they have three categories of flatware sizes--or at least they do for forks. “American,” “Euro,” and “Liberty.” (😆) According to the site, “American sizing” for a dinner fork is 7 1/4” long while “European sizing” is 8 1/4” long and “wider through the tines.” LT came up with a size in-between those two called “Liberty.”
I have never heard of there being a difference before, but I have always noticed with all my IKEA silverware that the forks all seem much shorter than I feel like I grew up with, which led me to believe that perhaps people in the Nordic countries like their forks short.
This, coupled with the Slate article on “Continental” knife-and-fork use versus American knife-and-fork, makes me wonder if European forks are longer (if they really are) because of the “Continental” style?
Also: I found the Slate article fascinating in more ways than one. While I do wonder why Americans are apparently the only flatware-using people on the planet who don’t employ the “Continental” style, I’m not sure I’ve seen evidence of article’s claim (2013) that abandoning the “cut-and-switch” is a growing trend in the US, at least among younger folks: “Nearly everyone I spoke with associated cutting-and-switching with older Americans and Midwesterners, and no-switching with younger and coastal diners.”
Nor do I understand what the impetus for Americans changing ways is. The article says it’s for efficiency! 😆
The only reason that makes sense to me for changing is that it’s simply an appealing-looking way to eat. Plus, I LOVE the food-on-fork stacking (which the writer called “awkward”).
Well, I’m off to go measure my IKEA forks.