The fish fork, sometimes along with the fish knife, is an eating utensil specialized for fish meals. Like most highly specialized utensils, the fork dates back to

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

( 1870). With a length of about 7.5

inches The inch (symbol: in or ) is a unit of length in the British Imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to yard or of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth"), the word ''inch'' is also sometim ...

, its distinctive features often include a wide left tine (similar to the pastry fork) or a deep notch that can be fit over the bones. To avoid the metallic taste that comes from metal in the fork reacting with the acid in lemons, which are commonly served with fish, the fork was traditionally, until the arrival of stainless steel in the 1920s, made of silver. A similar fork with the same name, intended for serving, has three to four tines and is longer at 8 to 10 inches. To distinguish the eating fork from the serving one, the former was sometimes labeled as "individual". Fish forks are used just as normal forks are and can be replaced by a long ( in length) or medium-long () dining fork. Prior to the introduction of the modern fish knife in the 19th century, members of the aristocracy ate fish with two

dinner 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 h ...

s, one to separate a piece and another one to eat or otherwise with a single fork and a slice of bread to help.

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* * * * {{kitchenware-stub Forks Fish