A couple of weeks ago, an odd message appeared on Twitter. An American food writer, sitting in a very exclusive restaurant, posted a picture of a spoon. Unlike the average tweeted food porn, this was accompanied by a plaintive request: what is this thing and what is it for? The tweeter, Kat Kinsman, is managing editor of CNN Eatocracy and she was sharing a table with a group of other high-powered foodists at a dinner honouring Thomas Keller at the time she hit “send”. Kinsman has prior form with flatware, as she mentioned later: “I have an MFA [master of fine arts] degree in Metalsmithing and am always deeply amused by antiquated or single-purpose items like grape shears, lamb handles, fish knives, etcetera.” The spoon, as a rapid Google search established, was a cuillère à sauce individuelle, with a flat spatula-like bowl, so sauce can be scraped from the plate without tilting it, and a notch through which any superfluous fat can drain.
幾周前，Twitter上出現了一條怪信息：在一家很高檔的餐館，美國某美食作家當場在Twitter上貼出了一張勺子照片。與其它通常張貼的美食圖片不一樣的是：這張照片后面附了一則略帶憂郁的設問：這是什么？能作何用？發照片者為CNN Eatocracy美食博客總編輯凱特?金斯曼(Kat Kinsman)，點擊“發送”鍵時，正與一伙高級美食家就坐一桌，參加給托馬斯?凱勒(Thomas Keller)捧場的晚宴。金斯曼之前也曾在網上發過扁平餐具的照片，正如她事后所說：“本人獲得過金屬加工的美術碩士學位，一直對有年頭或是功能單一的餐具（葡萄剪、羊肉手柄、食魚刀等）情有獨鐘?！笨焖偎阉饕幌翯oogle網，就知道它是帶有扁鏟狀匙底、單獨舀湯用的勺子，有了它，從盤子里舀湯就不再怕傾斜，勺子上的缺口則能濾掉多余的油。