Do You Eat Your Ice Cream with a Fork?

View attachment 404629
(Wikimedia Commons)
Knowing which fork to use at a fancy dinner has long been a challenge for many diners, but using a spoon to eat ice cream has always been pretty easy. Or has it? Diners in the mid-19th century insisted on using peculiar forks to enjoy this treat.

The ice cream fork was a product of the cutlery overkill during the Victorian era. It seems table-setting became a competitive art form for the Victorians so the requisite utensils were soon accompanied by numerous odd utensils like aspic spoons, snail forks, bonbon scoops, and, of course, ice cream forks. This utensil seems especially odd since people initially associated the common fork with the devil’s pitchfork. We can thank the Italians’ love of pasta and the table-setting boom in the 19th century for making the fork acceptable.

Today ice cream forks aren’t often seen, but proper etiquette still calls for them, especially when eating ice cream sundaes. It all depends on how the ice cream is served. If it’s placed in a bowl, it’s proper to use a spoon to scoop it up. If it’s presented on a plate, you should get out that ice cream fork.

It's rare to find ice cream forks in kitchen shops these days, but these relics are still available on the internet.
You can’t fool me, that’s a Spork! Albeit a very fancy one.
 
I love Fried Ice Cream. Haven't had it in many a year.
During college I worked in a Mexican restaurant and fried ice cream was our top selling dessert. The kitchen crew regarded it with horror! They told anyone who was a fan to let the ice cream sit about ten minutes and then come back and praise the dessert. The ice cream balls used for fried ice cream are pre-scooped, rolled in a crushed corn flake topping, and put in the freezer. Just before serving they are dropped in the deep fryer. They come to the table with a crispy hot exterior. But - and to the kitchen crew this was an important but - as soon as they cool you can see a thin layer of fryer grease all over the outside. Yech. Once I saw a few cooled ice cream balls I understood why they rejected them.
 
You can’t fool me, that’s a Spork! Albeit a very fancy one.
Hyde W. Ballard trademarked the word, "spork" in 1951. My first encounter with one was at a KFC. KFC was the first restaurant to offer sporks to customers.

The Victorians enjoyed molding their ice creams into a variety of complicated shapes which were then brought to the table in a beautiful display. The molds would be cut and served on a plate. Of course the ice cream didn't magically become fork friendly just because it was served on a plate. So, the fork got a shallow bowl added to prevent the creamy goodness from falling through. This creation was definitely something of a proto-spork @Mrs. V .
 
During college I worked in a Mexican restaurant and fried ice cream was our top selling dessert. The kitchen crew regarded it with horror! They told anyone who was a fan to let the ice cream sit about ten minutes and then come back and praise the dessert. The ice cream balls used for fried ice cream are pre-scooped, rolled in a crushed corn flake topping, and put in the freezer. Just before serving they are dropped in the deep fryer. They come to the table with a crispy hot exterior. But - and to the kitchen crew this was an important but - as soon as they cool you can see a thin layer of fryer grease all over the outside. Yech. Once I saw a few cooled ice cream balls I understood why they rejected them.
There was a nearby restaurant that specialized in fried ice cream--and we all went there just for this wonderful dessert. It may have been the hot grease and corn flakes that made it so good!
 
If you were my great grandfather use a knife. That was his go to untensil after the war. He ate peas and corn with it also.
Ever since I was a kid i’ve eaten watermelon with a steak knife. The knife allows you to cut out chunks without crushing the melon and losing a lot of water. Then you just stab the chunk and lift it up to your mouth. Yeah, I could pull it off the knife and eat it, but that would just take more time and make my fingers sticky. I hate having sticky fingers and by using my knife I look more refined. Mostly the only people who look on in horror are strangers and if I feel they are staring at me i’ll shove my pinky finger out to advertise my descent from the First Families of Virginia. It’s been said that i’ve descended pretty far!
 
During college I worked in a Mexican restaurant and fried ice cream was our top selling dessert. The kitchen crew regarded it with horror! They told anyone who was a fan to let the ice cream sit about ten minutes and then come back and praise the dessert. The ice cream balls used for fried ice cream are pre-scooped, rolled in a crushed corn flake topping, and put in the freezer. Just before serving they are dropped in the deep fryer. They come to the table with a crispy hot exterior. But - and to the kitchen crew this was an important but - as soon as they cool you can see a thin layer of fryer grease all over the outside. Yech. Once I saw a few cooled ice cream balls I understood why they rejected them.
Mmmmmmm...... fryer grease! (Sorry, it had to be said. Too many episodes of “The Simpsons” when I was younger.)
 
I have eaten ice cream with chopsticks. The hot fudge toping was a bit drippy, but no fudge got on my shirt or trousers. I can not say the same thing for the poor lieutenant who was with me. His shirt and trousers were a mess. I asked him if he was a lieutenant or a pig?
 
I love formal dining and am sorry to see people abandon fine china and silver flatware. There is something about a perfectly set table with special food that communicates love to me.
I agree, especially the older days when it was more common to have manners. Families and folks were good at socializing with each other. To make meals in the past took lots of work and they all worked together; to hunt, gathering crops from the fields, going to the stream for water and as for preparing meals everyone joined together for this whether it's shucking corn, pealing the potatoes, cutting up okra, preparing the meat, etc., Therefore they didn't take things for granted like many of us do today especially the technology, including watching tv during dinner rather than have family time socializing. As for fine china, my grandmother on my mother's side always had the dining room set up like the older days, she loved antiques. You had to sit and stand properly and even each utensil had to be used properly like using a tiny little fork for lobster. All this was done together; family and friends and neighbors out of love.
 
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I love Fried Ice Cream. Haven't had it in many a year.
I love Fried Ice Cream!!! To me, the mexican restaurants make the best fried ice cream, depending on where you eat. We've never made any homemade before.
 
View attachment 404629
(Wikimedia Commons)
Knowing which fork to use at a fancy dinner has long been a challenge for many diners, but using a spoon to eat ice cream has always been pretty easy. Or has it? Diners in the mid-19th century insisted on using peculiar forks to enjoy this treat.

The ice cream fork was a product of the cutlery overkill during the Victorian era. It seems table-setting became a competitive art form for the Victorians so the requisite utensils were soon accompanied by numerous odd utensils like aspic spoons, snail forks, bonbon scoops, and, of course, ice cream forks. This utensil seems especially odd since people initially associated the common fork with the devil’s pitchfork. We can thank the Italians’ love of pasta and the table-setting boom in the 19th century for making the fork acceptable.

Today ice cream forks aren’t often seen, but proper etiquette still calls for them, especially when eating ice cream sundaes. It all depends on how the ice cream is served. If it’s placed in a bowl, it’s proper to use a spoon to scoop it up. If it’s presented on a plate, you should get out that ice cream fork.

It's rare to find ice cream forks in kitchen shops these days, but these relics are still available on the internet.
I like this utensil the best for it's both spoon/fork together. I would use this more than a fork or a spoon.
 
I love formal dining and am sorry to see people abandon fine china and silver flatware. There is something about a perfectly set table with special food that communicates love to me.
@lupaglupa , I thought about you when we recently stayed at a B&B in PA. The tables were set to perfection for breakfast every day. It was such a lovely way to start the day. They even had knife rests on the table.
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I suspect it worked best with harder ice cream, which was the norm at this time, as a standard spoon tends to skip over the surface - or push the ice cream off the dish. Many sweet courses at this time would be small size - as would be their containers - and you did NOT let anything fall off your plate! Most uncivilised. Even worse (!), the hard ice cream may get a soft surface but remain hard under the surface!
 
I hadn't heard of an ice cream fork before, but I did eat ice cream with a fork for the first time this year because there were no spoons available. It actually worked out pretty well. If you're getting ice cream out of a carton in your freezer it's rather practical. With soft serve on a hot day not so much.

Frankly, all of that eating formality does not appeal (or formality in general).

Ditto.

I've never been to a dinner with proper silverware etiquette before and I hope never to do so.
 
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