.Mohan Guruswamy
The fish knife has gone off the table even in the most pompous of fine dining places such as in the Taj, ITC and Oberoi hotels. The fish knife and fork pairings are for the specific purpose of separating the fine bones and skin of a fish serving. You seldom see them these, unless you are eating at The Bangala in Karaikudi.
This small table knife is specifically designed to facilitate the eating of fish. The knife blade has a curved sharp edge, perfect for sliding between the skin and flesh of the fish. The broad blade is a useful feature as it assists in lifting the fish to the fork, whilst keeping flakes in one piece. The blade terminates in a relatively sharp point which is useful to lift small bones away from the flesh.
The wide surface may also be used to scrape up, or spread any sauce served with the fish.
As with the fish knife, the fish fork is used with fish dishes. The standard fish fork is smaller than a table fork at approximately 7 ¼ to 7 ¾ inches long. Fish forks (and knives) often have an incurve shaped form (pictured); this feature was likely simply to differentiate it from all the other forks that could be present on the table, as there were frequently many.
Like traditional dining table settings, the fish knife and fork are placed in order of use. Therefore, if fish is being served as an appetiser, the fish knife is laid to the right of the dinner knife and fish fork to the left of the dinner fork.
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