Which side silverware

There came a time in my early adulthood when I needed to set a table and had to reach deep into the depths of my childhood memory to conjure up what my mommy had taught. This is something I am grateful for today, but was really annoyed when I had to do it every evening as a child. Yes, my mother made dinner every evening and we sat at the table every night as a family! When you are in a pinch to set a table this is a great way to remember flatware placement. John of Gaunt dining with the King of Portugal.

It all started with the knife. This was the first table accessory man had to assist in eating their food; other than the knife, we used our hands to navigate food to our mouths. So important and useful was the knife, men not only cut and stabbed their meat with it, but also, used it for hunting and protection. Women of the period were forced to rely on men to cut their meat for them and sometimes even feeding them straight from the blade.

Because most people are right handed, they held the knife with their right hand, so instinctively we placed it on the right side of the plate. The concept of the spoon has existed almost as long as the knife; even if it was as simple as a bowl shaped item tied to a stick. These earlier spoons were mostly used as mere serving utensils rather than instruments for eating.

When people started using individual spoons for the purpose of eating, they became the first utensil to move food from the table that could both touch and enter your mouth. People probably think the fork is the most useful piece of the utensil arsenal. However, the individual and personal fork was only introduced to the table in the 11 th Century; until this period, it was reserved only for serving and not welcomed to the table. I will dive into the tumultuous history of the fork in a later post; for now, we will focus on its placement on the table.

With its implementation, diners now had a stabilizer to assist the knife in cutting meats. It was not until sometime later that the fork was actually used to convey food to the mouth; this function was still reserved for the knife. The best way to remember this is by the brand stamp on the knife. The stamp should always face down so you can't see it. That places the blade of the knife toward the plate — if it's in the right position and you remember it's on the opposite side of the plate as the fork, you'll at least know where the fork and knife go.

Though the formal place setting seems complicated and sometimes overwhelming , it's actually very practical. What you need to remember about the formal place setting is that the utensils are arranged in the same order as the courses of the meal, starting on the outside and working their way in.

This way guests aren't fumbling over their forks and knives, and utensils can also be cleared away without friction. The above image illustrates how a formal place setting should look. From the left side to the right side, the napkin is on the left 1 followed by the salad fork 2 and the dinner fork 3.

The dinner plate 4 is the biggest plate and should be on the bottom of the stack of dishes, with the salad plate 5 topping it and the soup bowl 6 on top of that. To the right of the stack of dishes is the dinner knife 7. Next is the the salad knife 8 arranged next to the dinner spoon 9 , and finally the soup spoon Above the traditional place setting are the extras. The butter knife 11 tops the bread plate 12 which is positioned above the dinner plate and to the left.

Directly above the plate are the dessert spoon 13 and dessert fork If the formal setting is too cumbersome, you can provide the dessert fork and spoon when dessert is served. You also have the option of removing it immediately after guests sit down — the idea is to dazzle them with a beautifully set table when they enter the dining room, and to hold their places at the table. For an informal table: Use placemats at every place setting, or nothing at all. Forks, Knives and Spoons For a formal table: Forks go on the left and knives and spoons go on the right.

Space all flatware as evenly as you can, depending on the size of your table and number of guests, and align it with the bottom of the charger or dinner plate. For an informal table: The same rules apply as above, although usually you would have only a dinner knife and fork, and either a salad fork or a soup spoon, depending on how elaborate your menu is.

Place the silverware inside the napkin with the knife on the bottom, the salad and the dinner fork on top of the knife, the soup spoon on top of the forks and the teaspoon on top of the soup spoon. Position the silverware in the napkin with the handles of the silverware facing the longest side of the napkin and the heads of the silver pointing up toward the point of the triangle.

Fold the bottom half of the napkin up over the handles of the silverware. The napkin should cover about half of the handles.

Fold one of the far corners of the napkin over the silverware, then the opposite corner.