January 6th is National Chopsticks Day, a reason to enjoy an Asian meal or two. We’re making homemade dumplings with this easy video recipe.

As we contemplate the history of chopsticks, the eating utensil of choice in Asia, let’s compare them to the history of the forks, knives, and spoons used at tables in the West.

This information is adapted from a wonderful exhibit, The History Of Eating Utensils, at the California Academy Of Sciences, much of which is available online.

No matter what the country of origin, utensils were historically made in costly materials for the wealthy, and humble materials for everyone else. Table utensils have been made from metals (gold, silver, and pewter—and today, stainless steel), bone, crystal, horn, ivory, lacquered wood, porcelain, pottery, shell, and wood. And today, plastic.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF CHOPSTICKS

Chopsticks were developed about 5,000 years ago in China. Long before chopsticks were used for eating, they were used for cooking—reaching into deep pots. Historians believe that people cooked their food in large pots which retained heat well. Hasty eaters then broke twigs off trees to retrieve the food. The twigs evolved into chopsticks.

It wasn’t until a population boom in the 4th century that chopsticks surpassed spoons as the utensil of choice in China.

By 400 B.C.E., a large and growing population taxed the fuel supply. Food was chopped into small pieces that cooked rapidly, requiring less fuel. Small pieces also meant that knives were not needed at the dinner table—a cost savings, among other benefits. By 500 C.E., chopsticks spread to present-day Vietnam, Korea, and Japan.

Chinese chopsticks, called kuai-zi (“quick little fellows”), are 9 to 10 inches long and rectangular with a blunt end. The English word “chopstick” was likely derived from the Chinese Pidgin English words “chop chop,” meaning fast.

In Japan, chopsticks are called hashi (the word means “bridge”). The earliest chopsticks used for eating looked like tweezers; they were made from one piece of bamboo that was joined at the top. Known as tong chopsticks, today they are used as “training chopsticks” for children. See them here. Japanese chopsticks differ in design from Chinese chopsticks: They are rounded and have a pointed end. They are also shorter—8 inches.

[1] Singapore Hokkien noodles (photo © New Asian cuisine [now closed]).

[2] Fresh ramen at Ippudo | NYC (photo © Ippudo).

 
 
THE HISTORY OF FORKS

Forks trace their origins back to the time of the Greeks. The original forks were large service forks with two tines, to aid in the carving and serving of meat. That design survives today in carving forks.

By the seventh century C.E., smaller forks for individual use appeared in royal courts of the Middle East. They spread to use by the wealthy in Byzantine Empire*; in the 11th century, a Byzantine wife of a Doge of Venice brought forks to Italy. The Italians, however, were slow to adopt their use. Forks were not widely adopted until the 16th century.

In 1533, forks were brought from Italy to France by Catherine de Medici, the bride of the future King Henry II. The French, too, were slow to accept forks, thinking them to be an affectation.

An Englishman named Thomas Coryate brought the first forks to England from Italy, in 1608. The English ridiculed forks as being effeminate and unnecessary. “Why should a person need a fork when God had given him hands?” was a refrain. Yes, it wasn’t all that long ago that even “civilized” people ate with their hands, spoons, impaled their food on knives, or used bread to scoop it up.

But by the mid-1600s, eating with forks was considered fashionable among wealthy British.

Early table forks were modeled after kitchen forks with two tines that ensured that meat would not twist while being cut. However, small pieces of food regularly fell through the tines or slipped off easily. In late 17th century France, larger forks with four curved tines were developed to solve the problem. The curved tines—used today—served as a scoop so people did not have to constantly switch to a spoon while eating. And forks were more efficient for spearing food than the knife.

But the fork did not become common in northern Europe until the 18th century and was not common in North America until the 19th century.

See the beautiful forks in the California Academy of Sciences exhibit.
 
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*The Byzantine Empire, which existed from approximately 330 C.E. to 1453 C.E., comprised the predominantly Greek-speaking continuation of the Roman Empire. Its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), originally known as Byzantium. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe.

[4] How would you eat yogurt without a spoon (photo © The Nibble).

Spoons are the oldest eating utensils, in use since Paleolithic times. These prehistoric peoples—the first modern humans—probably used shells or chips of wood as eating and serving utensils. In fact, both the Greek and Latin words for spoon are derived from cochlea, a spiral-shaped snail shell (that also gives its name to the spiral-shaped cavity in the inner ear), suggesting that shells were commonly used as spoons in Southern Europe. The Anglo-Saxon word spon, the predecessor of the spoon, refers to a chip or splinter of wood.

In the first century C.E., the Romans designed two types of spoons:

 
See the beautiful spoons in the California Academy of Sciences exhibit.
 
 
HISTORY OF KNIVES

Knives have been used as weapons, tools, and eating utensils since prehistoric times. Only fairly recently were they adapted for table use.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, hosts did not provide cutlery for their guests; most people carried their knives in sheaths attached to their belts. These knives were narrow and their sharply pointed ends were used to spear food and then raise it to the mouth.

The multi-purpose nature of the knife—weapon and eating utensil—always posed a threat of danger at the dinner table. Once forks began to gain popular acceptance, there was no longer any need for a pointed tip at the end of a dinner knife. In 1669, King Louis XIV of France decreed all pointed knives on the street or at the dinner table illegal, and he had all knife points ground down to reduce violence. That’s why today we have blunt-tipped “table knives” and separate “steak knives.”

At the beginning of the 18th century, very few forks were imported to America. However, knives were imported and their tips became progressively blunter. Because Americans had very few forks and no longer had sharp-tipped knives, they had to use spoons in lieu of forks. They would use the spoon to steady food as they cut and then switch the spoon to the opposite hand in order to scoop up food to eat.

Feminists that we are, we’re calling this brownie by its historic name: Chocolate Turtle Brownies.

It’s named after the chocolate turtle confection—a caramel-pecan patty enrobed in chocolate, with four almonds, pecans or walnut pieces inserted to represent the legs of the turtle. A bit of head and tail are formed by extra chocolate runoff.

Call them turtles, man-catchers, caramel-nut brownies or make-your-work-colleagues-happy brownies: anyone who loves sweet, chocolatey snacks will love them.

The history of chocolate turtles is below.

For more chocolate caramel deliciousness, check out this Chocolate Caramel Shortbread recipe. National Chocolate Caramel Day is March 18th.
 
 
RECIPE: CHOCOLATE CARAMEL TURTLE BROWNIES

Prep time is 20 minutes, total time is 40 minutes.

Ingredients For 16 Brownies

[1] Sweet, nutty and a bit gooey: turtle brownies (photos #1 and #3 © Meredith Corp).

[2] Chocolate turtles: chocolate, caramel and pecans (photo © Enstrom Candies).

Preparation
1. PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

2. MELT caramels with 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk in a small saucepan, stirring mixture occasionally; set sauce aside.

3. STIR together cake mix, melted butter and remaining 1/3 cup evaporated milk to form a dough. Press 1-1/3 cups of the dough into an even layer. Bake until puffed but not cooked through, about 7 minutes.

4. REMOVE from oven and pour caramel sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle chocolate chips over caramel in an even layer.

5. TOP with remaining dough, crumbled into bits and scattered. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and return to the oven. Bake until brownies are puffy and set, 10 to 11 minutes more. Cool completely and cut into squares.

Candy historians trace chocolate-caramel-pecan turtles candies to the 1930s. A caramel nut patty originally made from chocolate, caramel and pecans, it evolved to use a choice of other nuts, including almonds, cashews, macadamias and walnuts.

Other names for the confection include pecan patties and caramel pecan patties (made without the “feet”) and katydids.

Turtles can be enrobed in dark, milk or white chocolate, the latter of which can be painted with colored cocoa butter to resemble an actual turtle shell.

The mix of flavors has been adapted to cakes, cookies and ice cream—and to this brownie recipe.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF BROWNIES

> THE HISTORY OF CARAMELS

> THE HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

Merlot salt caramels: purple passion. Photo courtesy Moonstruck Chocolates.

There’s also a National Pink Day on June 23rd, so we’ve included some summery dishes.

You can make anything more pink with beet juice, red food color or rosy accents like pomegranate arils, raspberries and strawberries. You can make sauces and soups pinker with a touch of crème fraîche, mascarpone, sour cream, or plain yogurt.

You are encouraged to wear something pink to the party. Owning nothing pink, we’re donning pink nail polish.
 
 
PINK PARTY MENU

PINK & RED COCKTAILS

 
PINK & RED WINES

 
There are scores and scores of other pink cocktails—just search online.

[1] Lobster bisque. You can serve soup shooters on a buffet (photo © Mackenzie Ltd).

[2] Pink crudités (photo © Sid Wainer & Son).

 
PINK & RED SIDES

 
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*Combine 3 cups cooked rice, 1/2 pound cooked, sliced shrimp and 3/4 cup thinly sliced celery in a large bowl. Make dressing with 2/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup strawberry yogurt, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and salt to taste. Dress the salad and then fold in 1-1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries. Chill and serve on a bed of greens.

PINK & RED SOUPS

 
PINK & RED DESSERTS

 
 
RECIPE: SPICY PINK DRESSING OR DIP

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MIX mayonnaise, sour cream, sherry, tarragon, garlic powder and hot sauce until well blended.

2. ADD a few drops of food coloring to desired shade of pink. If the dressing is too thick, you can thin it with a small amount of milk. Chill well before serving.

Recipe courtesy Food.com.
  

Over time, the term became used to designate a meat pie with conventional crusts, baked in the oven in a deep pie plate or casserole dish. There’s more on the history of meat pies below.

The pot pie can be baked without a bottom crust but with a conventional top crust or a biscuit topping (the dough is dropped onto the top), like a cobbler. Personally, we prefer a crisp biscuit to a crust.

Here’s a recipe for a “crustless” pot pie using biscuits comes to us from PotatoGoodness.com; the original recipe was sent to them by GoodLifeEats.com. Prep time is 1 hour, cook time is 1 hours, 35 minutes.
 
 
RECIPE: TWO POTATO BEEF & VEGETABLE POT PIE WITH ROSEMARY BISCUIT CRUST

Ingredients For 6 Servings

For The Filling

 
For The Sauce

 
For The Biscuits

 
Preparation: Filling

1. HEAT the olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet or pan. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat until it is browned on all sides. Remove and set aside on a plate.

2. ADD onion to the pan, with additional oil as necessary. Sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté for an additional 5 minutes.

3. RETURN beef to the pan and add the red wine to deglaze, taking care to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan as they offer a lot of flavor (see how to deglaze a pan). Cover and cook over low heat for 30-40 minutes, or until beef is tender. (Optional technique: use a pressure cooker on high pressure for 10 minutes.) Meanwhile…

4. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F and prepare the sauce. In a medium saucepan, add the butter and melt. Whisk in the flour, then the milk and broth. Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

5. UNCOVER and add the carrots, celery, potatoes and parsnips. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the peas. Stir in the sauce.

6. POUR the ingredients into a large casserole dish and top with the uncooked biscuits (recipe below). Bake for 35 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.
 
Preparation: Biscuits

1. REMOVE the flesh from the baked potatoes. Mash it with a fork or press it through a potato ricer. This will take 1-2 potatoes and should result in a total of 1/2 cup of potato. In a small mixing bowl, combine the 1/2 cup potato with the buttermilk. Whisk until smooth and set aside.

2. COMBINE in a medium bowl the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk until well sifted. Cut the butter into the flour mixture either using two knives, a pastry blender, or a cheese grater (to grate frozen butter into the flour mixture). Add the rosemary and stir to combine.

3. MAKE a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the buttermilk potato mixture. Stir until combined, and then when you can’t stir it anymore, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until you can form a rough ball.

4. FLATTEN the dough into a circle about 1/2-3/4 inch in thickness. Using a biscuit cutter or a drinking glass (about 2-1/2″ to 3″ in diameter for the listed baking time) turned upside down, cut as many rounds as you can. Using the dough scraps, form another circle of the same thickness. Repeat cutting until you have used all the dough.
 
 

POT PIE HISTORY

Meat pies likely date back to milling of flour in ancient times—but before the invention of pie plates. Very thick crusts were used as baking vessels, and were popular banquet fare during the Roman Empire.

By the 16th century, the English gentry revived the ancient custom of meat pies. Venison was the meat of choice. The recipe crossed the pond to America, where it became as American as…pot pie! Chicken, beef and vegetable pot pies are the most common; but if you have venison, by all means, enjoy a historic venison pot pie.

[1] Pot pie without the pie: Use biscuits instead (photo © Good Life Eats).

[2] Beef stew cubes (photo © Lobel’s Meats | NYC)

[3] Fresh thyme adds great flavor notes: earthy, slightly lemony, minty (photo © Good Eggs).

[4] Parsnips are a very under-appreciated vegetable in the U.S. We put them in chicken soup, too (photo © Barbro Bergfeldt | Fotolia).

[5] Bay leaf and beef stew are a natural pairing (photo © Monika Grabkowska | Unsplash).

[6] Fresh rosemary makes a difference (photo © Burpee).