Ice Cream Etiquette

Though you may have grown up believing that ice cream and spoons go hand in hand (remember those little wooden tongue depresser “spoons” that came with the ice cream cups served at classroom parties??), it is actually a rule of etiquette to enjoy ice cream with a fork. From the Victorian era of highly specialized cutlery came the ice cream fork, a shallow-bowled, three-tined utensil resembling a spork. While using a spoon to enjoy ice cream certainly seems more intuitive (especially as it melts!), which utensil is set depends on how the ice cream is served. If placed in a bowl, a spoon may be set, though etiquette would insist this is not the case for a sundae due to the additional elements of fudge, nuts, whipped cream, etc. A fork is preferred here since you can construct the perfect bite of each sundae element. If ice cream is presented on a plate, a fork should be set. Please excuse me while I search eBay for a set of sterling ice cream forks…