« April Food-ish Candy '07 | Lilly Stein

In an era of fusion, everything from cuisine to cutlery has gone hybrid. Yes, we’ve gone from the spoon, the knife and the fork to the spork, knork and chork.

Most people are familiar with the spork (spoon-fork). I have very reminiscent feelings when it comes to the spork. I think of "hot lunches" in grade school on those days when (luckily) my mom was too busy to pack me a sandwich and a carob cookie. Lately sporks have become a rarity in the places we so familiarly looked for them. Everyone from Taco Bell to Starbucks has knives and forks. Although sporks have that fond usefulness I grew up with, why the sudden engineering of the knork and the chork?

The knork (knife-fork) came out recently, and its functionality is fantastic. The knork is a fork basically but its outer "prongs" are actually engineered with an "increased cutting capability". I’m sure moms everywhere are cheering that they can let their young kids cut their own food without actually giving them a knife. It’s definitely convenient cutlery that I hope makes it to my favorite brunch and lunch spots soon.

The chork (chopstick-fork) is my favorite and the newest to the collection. As someone who loves Asian cuisine but was taught the "classless" way to eat with chopsticks, the chork will simply make my life easier ... and it comes in pretty colors.