Eating utensils

thumb|Stainless steel bouillon (soup) spoon thumb|Sasanian Empire|Sasanian spoon and fork (4th century) A spoon (, ) is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for transferring food to the mouth (eating). Spoons are also used in food preparation to measure, mix, stir and toss ingredients and for serving food. Present day spoons are made from metal (notably stainless steel, flat silver or silverware, plated

thumb|From left to right: pastry fork, relish fork, [[salad fork, dinner fork, cold cuts fork, serving fork, carving fork]] In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to hold them to cut with a knife or to lift them to the mouth.

upright=1.35|thumb|Various chopsticks, from top to bottom, with ruler at top for scale:

Cutlery are utensils used for serving and eating food at the dining table — originally referring to just knives, whereas forks and spoons were silverware — all part of flatware (American English) or tableware, these both encompassing crockery as well. These three implements first appeared together on tables as a set in Britain in the Georgian era. A collected set of silverware is called a canteen of cutlery, typically referring to the polished wooden compartmental case in which they are stored.

thumb|Wood toothpicks thumb|Oral B toothpicks thumb|Bamboo toothpick thumb|Curved metal toothpick (reusable) A toothpick is a small thin stick of wood, plastic, bamboo, metal, bone or other substance with at least one and sometimes two pointed ends to insert between teeth to remove detritus, usually after a meal. Toothpicks are also used for festive occasions to hold or spear small appetizers (like cheese cubes or olives) or as a cocktail stick, and can be decorated with plastic frills or small paper umbrellas or flags.

thin tube used to suck liquids from a container into the mouth of the drinker

thumb|Using a nutcracker A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster and crab shells.

thumb|right|Four types of sporks

thumb|upright=1.35|Wooden skewers

for decorating drinks

'''''' () is the Korean term for the set of eating utensils commonly used to eat Korean cuisine. The word is a portmanteau of the words (, 'spoon') and (, 'chopsticks'). The set includes a pair of metal (often stainless steel) chopsticks with an oval or rounded-rectangular cross-section, and a long handled shallow spoon of the same material. One may use both at the same time, but this is a recent way to eat quicker. It is not considered good etiquette to hold the spoon and the chopstick together in one hand especially while eating with elders. More often food is eaten with chopsticks alone. So

tableware that chopsticks may rest on

thumb|Splayds (or spknorks) are a combination of fork, knife and spoon in one utensil. thumb|A splayd beside a tart A splayd is an eating utensil which combines the functions of a spoon, knife and fork. It was invented by William McArthur in the 1940s in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. His wife, Suzanne McArthur was the initial public face and marketer of the splayd. There are several manufacturers.

insulates hand from hot drink

Tableware