'Having rice with hands adds a unique taste to the food' says my aunt. Though I don’t really second the opinion, majority of the Indians definitely will buy it. It’s a part of our Indian culture, something which is not considered to be uncouth or gross. Sometimes I feel, how had we been eating, without the cutlery that we have at our disposal today. Eating with finesse or 'Fine Dining' would really be a recently coined term. But, when did the cutlery come in to our lives? When did the likes of Spoon, Knives and Forks were first used?
The origin of Knives, Spoons: Shells, Animal tusks and horns, as historians predict, were used as spoons to gulp in any liquid. Predominantly, knives, made out of stones were used for eating (& not spoon shaped different items). Stone, later gave way to bronze and finally to iron in around 1000 B.C. During the same period, different variety of pottery like Bone China, Fine China and Porcelain was gaining shape and acceptance in the ancient Chinese territory. The cutlery started with Porcelain and later transcended to Bone China.
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| An Antique collection of spoons, forks and knife |
How is Bone China made?
Bone china is made up of the mixture of Bone ash, Feldspar(Rock mineral) and Kaolin(Clay mineral). Bone ash constitute around 25% - 40 % of Bone china pottery. While the other two components, viz. Feldspar and Kaolin are minerals, are you aware as to how Bone ash is obtained? Well, let me tell you the story behind it.
An Englishman by the name of Thomas Fyre, is credited with the creation of Bone china. In the year 1748, he setup a factory in London, close to a slaughterhouse, which provided the raw material - Animal bones ! 😱😱 (Read the Nerd Notes for a more intriguing revelation).
Animal bones, sourced from the slaughterhouse, were cleaned to clear off any flesh and then heated to approx. 1200℃, until they became powder (ash). The ash or literally, the bone ash was then mixed with clay and other minerals and given a shape of a cup, spoon, bowl and the other cutlery item(s). And hence, it marked the invention of Bone China. So, practically, we are eating on a plate that is a pure amalgam of animal remains. Sounds delicious?
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| Porcelain Cutlery |
What is the difference between Bone China and Porcelain?
Porcelain is the forerunner of China products. It is produced in the same way as Bone China, sans bone ash as one of the ingredients. Also, Porcelain is heated to a higher temperature of around 1450℃ as compared to China, which is heated to around 1200℃. Porcelain, in the current form, came into existence in 1200 AD in the China land (however, the earliest discovery dates back to around 1600-1000 BC). China also started exporting the pottery, which became quite famous worldwide and hence the name China for pottery was coined. Believing in ending on a positive and a tasty note, let me also tell you about the 'Edible cutlery' developed from a company based out of Hyderabad, India.
Have you heard about Edible Cutlery?
There is a eco-friendly and 'tasty' cutlery available in the market. Narayana Peesapati is credited with introducing edible cutlery to the world. His company, Bakeys Food Pvt. Ltd. is producing cutlery produced from the mix of jowar, rice and wheat (this definitely sounds tasty and healthy too) since the year 2010 (see the video below). The product doesn't contain any chemicals or preservatives and comes in different tastes and flavours as well. So as the company says: "Eat with it and then eat it", go ahead and savour the delicious and super healthy 'edible cutlery' 🍴.
Edible Cutlery: A glimpse
Nerd notes:
- You will be shocked or rather aghast to know that a company use human bone ash as a raw material for Bone China cutlery (Read here)
- Until the dawn of 17th century, knives used at dining were sharp and pointed. To avoid any mishap, the knife was made blunt and wide by Louis XIV
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| Human Bone China Sample from Charles Kraftt |
I definitely will stop using any Bone China cutlery from today. Will you?? Tell me your thoughts in the comments section below.
-Prakhar
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