Eating with fingers? In restaurants and hotels, doing without a fork, knife or spoon is unimaginable. Using cutlery has been considered good manners since the middle of the 19th century; especially the middle classes appreciate the possibility to dine without getting their fingers dirty. Since then, the fork has become an indispensable part of everyday life in Europe. Noble menu forks, coordinated with the dishes served, will catch the eye of your guests not only as a finishing touch to the table decoration. They also lie well in the hand and allow full enjoyment - whether juicy steak, crisp salad or fine cream cake.
About one-sixth of the world's population uses knives, forks and spoons as eating utensils. Most of the world's people continue to use their hands, and one-third of the world's population eats with chopsticks.
Everyone knows them, but almost no one knows what the components of a fork are called. Each fork consists of a stem or handle, the ship, and the ladle. The ship is the crossbar that connects the trowel and the handle. On it sit the tines, which are slightly curved to form the trowel.
Traditionally, forks always lie to the left of the plate, following the needs of right-handed people. In exceptional cases, the forks nevertheless move to the right side, for example, when no fish knife is presented for the fish course or when the fork is the leading cutlery when eating pasta.
The table fork
The table fork or menu fork is the largest dinner fork and has four tines. It is always uncovered with a matching dinner knife - the knife is on the right, the fork on the left. Our cutlery series ensure a harmonious table setting with forks, knives and spoons in the appropriate design.
The original fork as eating utensil was brought to the court of Venice by a Byzantine princess in the 11th century. Her custom of not dirtying her fingers while eating met with criticism from the clergy: How dare she not bring the divine food to her mouth with her God-given hands?
The fish fork
The fish fork is perfectly suited to the texture of fish meat: The loose segments are easily picked up by the slightly wider tines. The spaces between the fish fork are equally wider to allow the juices of the steamed fish to drain optimally.
The lobster fork
The hard shell of a lobster requires very special cutlery. The crustacean is cracked open and the meat is released from the shell. For the narrow lobster claws one uses an elongated very pointed lobster fork, which has two small prongs at the upper end.
Oyster fork
When eating oysters, guests want to lose as little of the tasty shellfish liquid as possible. Therefore, the oyster fork has a very deep, round ladle with three or even just two very wide tines.
The carving fork & serving fork Your service staff uses serving forks - also called carving forks - in addition to the serving cutlery and carving knife. These forks, which are not part of the cutlery, consist of a long handle and two equally long prongs. This allows the meat to be easily held and cut with the appropriate knife.
The appetizer and dessert fork Forks served for appetizers or desserts are smaller than menu forks, but also have four tines. Their size is explained in part by space-saving serving as well as the flavor intensity of many appetizers and desserts: Smaller forks make it easier to portion and enjoy these special treats.
For pancakes, semifreddo or other sweet delicacies, the fork replaces the knife. The fork side conveniently divides desserts into small portions. Dessert forks and cake forks are placed on the right side, should they be the only piece of cutlery. If not, the forks lie on the left or across the plate.
The cake fork For cakes, pies and other pastries, most restaurateurs serve cake forks. These are about the same size as dessert forks, but have only three tines. This makes it easier to pick up loose pasta without it falling apart on the fork. In addition, one tine is wider than the other two, as this side is used as a "knife substitute" to cut harder chocolate layers or cake layers. The small notch at the end of the wide tine makes it just as pointed as the others, allowing for the impaling of cake layers.
Stainless steel cake forks are actually hard enough that they wouldn't need a reinforced third tine. Cake forks used to be made of brass, a soft metal that bent quickly. The shape was retained out of tradition.
VEGA's variety of forks allows you to offer your guests the right fork for every dish. We have tailored table forks as well as cake forks, fish forks and starter forks to the needs of catering businesses and their guests.
Various designs
Equip your restaurant with the forks that exactly match your ambience! In addition to elegant, silver stainless steel forks, we also carry specially patterned table forks in a modern design language. Whether matt, shiny or textured, our selection of different forks not only extends to the fork shape, but also includes a wide variety of designs.
High quality stainless steel Our cutlery stands up to intensive use and frequent cleaning. Rely on the durability and robustness of our forks, which are dishwasher safe and easy to clean. If individual forks break or get lost, we will complete your cutlery assortment with individual forks in the appropriate design through our 10-year availability.
Taste neutral
Your guests come to you to experience taste and enjoyment. Our quality forks, like our other cutlery, meet the specifications for tasteless, flawless enjoyment. With forks from VEGA, your dishes taste exactly the way you want them to.
You can't decide which cutlery series to choose for your business? Then use our sample service!