I just have to giggle at the thought of medieval lords and ladies, in their cloth-of-silver and brocade gowns, trying to eat fried chicken, or bacon and eggs. (Fabulous Feasts has recipes for various forms of omelets; I assume you'd use your knife to cut off a manageable piece and then stuff it in your mouth with your fingers.)
And reading Fuchsia Dunlop's marvelous "Invitation to a Banquet" (a history of how Chinese cuisine evolved), she makes the point that cutting up the ingredients before cooking them is one way to prove you're not barbarians - who roast whole oxen or sheep over a fire, and use their swords to hack off a chunk to eat, and using chopsticks to eat is further proof. And how anyone with any refined sensibilities would find their appetite ruined by the sight of knives on the dinner table, which would remind them of the violent ways humans obtain food.
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And reading Fuchsia Dunlop's marvelous "Invitation to a Banquet" (a history of how Chinese cuisine evolved), she makes the point that cutting up the ingredients before cooking them is one way to prove you're not barbarians - who roast whole oxen or sheep over a fire, and use their swords to hack off a chunk to eat, and using chopsticks to eat is further proof. And how anyone with any refined sensibilities would find their appetite ruined by the sight of knives on the dinner table, which would remind them of the violent ways humans obtain food.