Want To Spoon With Me? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wales

Although Scandinavian and some European countries also have a tradition of carved wooden spoons, these love spoons have come to be known as Welsh love spoons. Originally they were given as a token of love, but also as a demonstration to the father of the intended bride that her husband was skilled in woodworking and could support the family. They incorporate traditional emblems, such as hearts for love, bells for marriage, horseshoes for luck. Many were carved by sailors and these usually have an anchor somewhere on them. The earliest known one in the United Kingdom is dated 1667 and is in a museum in Cardiff. There is an older one in Germany, dated 1664, which is the oldest one known in the world.

Today these spoons are very much a craft item. The decoration on them makes them impractical as a functional item. They are bought as souvenirs and given as birthday or Christmas presents, or as a love gift on Valentine's day.

Answer: Apostle spoons

The original sets of apostle spoons, which were very popular in pre-reformation times, depicted Christ and his apostles at the last supper. Made of silver or pewter they came in sets of thirteen, each one depicting an apostle with his emblem as the handle, with the thirteenth spoon being Christ. The British Museum has an especially unusual set dating from the 1500s that has the figure of the Virgin Mary on the thirteenth spoon. Over time they have come to mean any spoon, either single or in sets, that bears a Christian figure as the handle. Many are produced with the patron saint of a city or country as holiday souvenirs.

For many years they were a popular thing for godparents to give as baptismal gifts, but this tradition has now largely died out. It is now very rare to find a complete set of thirteen apostle spoons. Modern sets, which are stamped out in vast quantities, tend to come as a set of six and mass production has meant the individual attributes of the apostles are no longer distinct.

Answer: Faberge

All of the above are famous and sought after silver and goldsmiths, but if you want exquisite enamel work on silver, silver gilt or gold then the acknowledged master was Carl Faberge. Working in Moscow in pre-revolution times he was the goldsmith to the Romanovs and the entire Russian aristocracy beat a path to his door to buy luxury items. It is doubtful if any of the highly decorated spoons he produced, either as sets or as single presentation items, were ever actually used to stir anything, they were for show. Many of his items, such as cigarette cases, letter openers and compacts were functional, but far more were just for ornamentation. He did make functional table ware, either in plain silver or gold or with decorated handles, and many of these, which came from the Imperial collection, can still be seen in Russian museums. His most famous works are, of course, the Russian Imperial Easter eggs, which, on the rare occasions one has come up for sale, command millions of pounds.

His spoons do come up at auction houses relatively often, but the magic of the Faberge name is such that the price is beyond the reach of most of us mere mortals.

Answer: Cambridge University, England

The wooden spoon was originally presented to the person who came last in the mathematical tripos honours examination at Cambridge University. The custom spread to other universities for last place in selected examinations, and eventually entered everyday speech as a euphemism for last place in anything competitive.

It was an actual wooden spoon that was presented, and the very last one was presented in 1909 to the unfortunate Cuthbert Hothouse of St John's College, Cambridge. He was an oarsman with the boat club so the handle was shaped like an oar. The spoon was inscribed with an epigram in Greek, and the translation is

"In Honours Mathematical
This is the very last of all
The Wooden Spoons which you see here
O you who see it, shed a tear"

This spoon is now kept at St John's College and there are others at Corpus Christi and Emmanual colleges. Around five are thought to survive in private hands.

Answer: Anointing the Sovereign with oil

The spoon, which is made of silver gilt, is first recorded in 1349 amongst the regalia of St. Edward. It is described as being of antique form, and the style suggests that it was made sometime in the twelfth century, possibly for either King Henry II or King Richard I. It is recorded as being used to anoint the Sovereign with oil during the coronation of King James 1 in 1603 and has been used for this purpose at every coronation since. The anointing comes immediately before the investiture and crowning in the ceremony, and indicates that the Sovereign is chosen by God. The bowl of the spoon is split into two lobes, which allows the Archbishop of Canterbury, who always officiates at coronations, to dip two fingertips into the oil in order to carry out the anointing.

After the execution of King Charles I in 1649 much of the regalia was melted down, however the spoon escaped that fate. It was sold to Mr Kynnersley, who was the Yeoman of the King's Wardrobe, for the sum of sixteen shillings. Following the restoration of the Monarchy he returned the spoon to King Charles II. It was used in his coronation and has remained in the royal regalia ever since.

Answer: Silver taints the taste of the caviar

Silver is the one material that will taint the taste of the caviar. Although some people have said this is a myth, pointing out that even the best caviar is sold in tins, purists believe that a chemical reaction between the metal and oxygen takes place that can be tasted in the caviar. Gold, mother of pearl, even horn or ivory, are acceptable spoons to use to serve your caviar with.

Caviar should be eaten as soon as the tin is open, it does not keep. If you don't like it without accompaniment then pieces of thin toast or unsalted gourmet crackers can be spread with it. Ice cold vodka or champagne are traditional drinks to serve with it. Both cut the richness of the caviar without spoiling the taste.

Answer: Giving communion

The Eastern Orthodox church use the cochlear spoon to give the Body and Blood of Christ in one portion to communicants. The bread is placed into the chalice with the wine and the spoon then used to distribute it. This ensures that no crumbs or drops of wine are spilt. The spoons are made of a precious metal, usually gold. If another metal is used it is normally gold plated. Being a sanctified object they cannot be used for any other purpose and should not be touched by anyone below the rank of Deacon.

At the end of communion the Priest will carefully clean the spoon using wine and hot water. It will then be kept with the other liturgical items until next required.

The practice of using a spoon for this purpose goes back as far as the ninth century. Although now we associated cochlear with the ear it is Latin for spoon, hence the name.

Answer: Caddy spoon

Caddy spoons came into use in the nineteenth century when tea was a much more expensive commodity than it is now. It was usually kept under lock and key and doled out in small spoonfuls by the lady of the house. A caddy is the box that tea was kept in. Many had two compartments, one with green tea and one with black. A glass or ceramic mixing bowl was used and the caddy spoon would be used to take a measure of each and mix them.

These spoons were usually made of silver, with a shell or spade shaped bowl and a short handle. They needed to fit inside one of the boxes of the tea caddy.

With the advent of cheap tea and tea bags they are not often used these days. Where loose tea is still used then a normal small spoon usually serves the purpose, although caddy spoons can still be obtained. Now, however, they are made of stainless steel or chrome.

Answer: Absinthe

Absinthe is a green coloured spirit that was very popular across Europe and in America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It has a high level of alcohol by volume, and quickly gained a reputation as a dangerously addictive substance. It has a naturally slightly bitter taste, and for this reason many people preferred to dissolve a cube of sugar in it before drinking. This led to the production of flat, slotted absinthe spoons for stirring the sugar into the drink. Many were produced by breweries, and bear their logo, in much the same way as modern day advertising products do. Some were produced as tourist items. One was made in the shape of the Eiffel Tower for the inauguration of that building.

By 1915, absinthe was banned in many countries of Europe as well as the United States. This led to the spoons rapidly becoming collectors items. In recent years it has been recognised that the dangers of absinthe were probably exaggerated, and now some 200 brands are available across Europe.

Answer: Demitasse spoon

The demitasse, from the French for small cup, spoon is smaller than a normal coffee spoon and is used for speciality coffees and for spooning the froth from a cappuccino coffee. The word also applies to half size coffee cups used to serve Turkish coffee and other specialities. Older examples can be quite ornate for their size. Both the cups and the spoons are an example of dining habits that have virtually died out now other than for in speciality coffee houses.

You are unlikely to find one of these spoons in Starbucks or any of the other coffee chains where cappuccino is now served in normal size cups and the froth spooned up with an everyday base metal or plastic spoon.