Contamination in the language: the history of the fork

When did we start eating with a fork?

The Venetian dialect has borrowed at least 300 Greek words, which are mainly related to the building field. There is one in particular that has become very popular because it is used in everyday life: the word “piron”. It means exactly a small toggle, or a fork with two prongs.

Thanks to trading with the Eastern countries, Venice was one of the first city-states that introduced its use at the table.

According to tradition, a legend goes to confirm this: a Venetian doge married a Greek-speaking Byzantine princess. It is said that during a lunch the princess took an object out of her purse with two prongs and began to use it to bring food to her mouth.

The Venetian nobility considered the use of her object a snobbish attitude because she did not want to touch food with her hands like they did. In addition, the fork came from a foreign land and was branded as a negative object and associated to a pitchfork. However, starting from the 11th century the Venetians began to use it always more often.

Before its invention it was normal to eat with hands or use sharp knives or spoons. In 1300 the fork was already part of the deal when pasta was eaten. Pasta was too hot and also too slippery to pick it up just with hands.

In 1500 the fork was a must at banquets and was part of the good rules of bon ton.

In the 17th century it took on a more curved shape to be able to pull peas off the plate.

The Gondola: a Symbol of Venice

This typical Venetian boat is still made using eight different kinds of wood by skillful master carpenters.

They repair and construct this black boat in the so-called squero, a small boatyard, whose name derives from the square ruler used by shipwrights.

In this workshop the gondola takes its well-known asymmetric shape, that allows the gondolier to keep his balance, while gliding his boat along shallow canals.

In the bow there is the iron, (ferro) a stylized piece with multiple meanings. The shape of an inverted S represents Venice most famous canal, the Grand Canal. The arch over the top point of the ridge has the shape of the Rialto Bridge.

According to tradition, the six points represent the six districts of the city: Castello, San Marco, Cannaregio, Dorsoduro, San Polo and Santa Croce. Under these points there are three screws that represent three of the most famous lagoon islands: Murano, Burano and Torcello. At the back there is another point that symbolizes the Giudecca island.

But the gondola did not have this shape in the past. The first time the term was used to describe it was in 1094 and it was called “gundula”. The origin of its name is not known yet.

In 1486 in the ” Peregrinatio in Terram Sanctam” Bernhard von Breydenbach described Saint Mark’s water basin and its typical boats.

In the 15th century the gondola had a cabin and it did not have a front iron piece yet, which appears later, in the 16th century.

Noble people owned their gondola, and they decorated it in a pompous way. To avoid waste and competition, during a period of decline, the republic decided to paint all the gondolas black.

In 1800 gondolas were used less and less by Venetians and more recently by tourists from all over the world.

Saint Martin’s day in Venice

Pastry in the shape of the saint on horseback, with sword and cape

Who was Saint Martin? He came from Tours in France, (316-397) and was a Roman soldier, a monk, a hermit, and a bisho. The legend of his sharing his mantle with a beggar deals with the time when he was a soldier.

Saint Martin’s day is celebrated on 11th of November in Venice as a tradition that has its roots in the past (1540). The legend has it that Saint Martin gave half of his cloak to a beggar on a rainy and cold day.

It is precisely in reference to this story that the custom was born of producing and giving the now famous dessert of Saint Martin as a sign of benevolence and good omen for the future.

The festival marks the end of the agricultural year, when farmers used to enjoy their first wine, they produced, eating a piece of Saint Martin’s cake.

This part of the year is called the “Summer of Saint Martin", a partial return of the summer heat, a tribute, according to Christianity, to the grace of Saint Martin.

The cake is prepared in 3 versions:

traditional and classic in shortcrust pastry

in chocolate

using quince, the ancient version of this biscuit, covered with sugar glaze, chocolates and sugar almonds

After school on this day children go house to house but also to shops beating pots and lids singing the homonymous nursery rhyme and asking for sweets and spare money.

In the district of Castello, not far away from the shipyard there is Saint Martin’s church. The ceiling bears a fresco from Jacopo Guarana representing the glory of the Saint.

Next to the church there is the guild of Saint Martin’s, reference for the caulkers, that worked in the shipyard. On its façade there is a bas-relief from the 15th century with Saint Martin donating his mantle to the poor man.