A wooden spoon is a spoon, usually used in food preparation, that is made of wood. A common silver spoon A spoon is a common eating utensil, or item of cutlery, somewhat like a small spade, with a bowl-shaped end on a handle, that occurs in a number of sizes and forms. ... Trunks A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is a solid material derived from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ...

A typical wooden spoon

Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 184 KB) I made the image myself, using a Samsung DigiMax S500 digital camera and my own spoon. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 184 KB) I made the image myself, using a Samsung DigiMax S500 digital camera and my own spoon. ...

History

The word spoon derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of wood or horn carved from a larger piece.^[1] Wooden spoons were easy to carve and thus inexpensive, making them common throughout history. Wooden spoons have been made in virtually every nation on earth and (compared to silver or pewter or gold spoons) represent the ordinary artisan and reflect the life of ordinary folk: this is their "folk art".

A wooden spoon

The Iron Age Celts (C. 250BC) of Britain used them. This is evidenced by an example of a small ladle discovered during archaeological excavations at the Glastonbury Lake Village. Roman period spoons have been recovered from excavations in the City of London. The Anglo Saxons were great workers of wood, as were the Vikings, and both these groups of settlers to the British Isles produced wooden spoons for domestic uses. Each region, sometimes each village, will produce their own very distinct style and type of spoon. Many African examples are carved with wild animals and are aimed at the tourist market; there are others that are ceremonial and contain much symbolism. Distinctive painted spoons have been made in the Khokhloma region of Russia for nearly 200 years, originally for domestic use and in more recent times as tourist objects. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2136x1428, 1013 KB) Description: This is a wooden spoon. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2136x1428, 1013 KB) Description: This is a wooden spoon. ... Statistics Population: 8,800 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: ST501390 Administration District: Mendip Shire county: Somerset Region: South West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Somerset Historic county: Somerset Services Police force: Avon and Somerset Police Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: South Western Post office... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... Khokhloma (Хохлома, Хохломская роспись in Russian, or Khokhlomskaya rospis) is the name of a Russian wood painting handicraft. ...

Traditionally, the intricately-carved wooden love spoon has been used as a token of affection in Wales. Each spoon could contain different meaning as shown by the use of various symbols, for instance: a chain would mean a wish to be together forever; a diamond would mean wealth or good fortune; a cross would mean faith; a flower would mean affection; or a dragon for protection. Many sailors carved spoons as they had much free time at sea on their long voyages, they would carve such symbols as anchors or ships into the spoon. Although the Welsh love spoon has its unique qualities, other styles of love spoons have been made in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, notably Romania. According to Welsh folklore, a love spoon is an ornately carved spoon traditionally made from a single piece of wood by young men as a love token for their sweethearts, to show their affection and intentions for their loved one. ... This article is about the country. ... Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. ... Regions of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (UN definition of Eastern Europe marked salmon):  Northern Europe  Western Europe  Eastern Europe  Southern Europe Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium...

Uses

Today, wooden spoons in western cultures are generally large spoons used for mixing ingredients for cooking or baking.

Before electric mixers became common, wooden spoons were often used to cream butter and sugar in recipes such as shortbread or Victoria sponge cake. They are still used for stirring many different kinds of food and beverages especially soups and casseroles during preparation, although they tend to absorb strong smells such as onion and garlic. Some cooks prefer to use wooden spoons when preparing risotto because they do not transfer heat as much as metal spoons. Unlike metal spoons, they can be safely used without scratching the bottom of the saucepan. Handheld electric mixer A mixer is a kitchen appliance intended for mixing, folding, beating, and whipping food ingredients. ... Creaming is a cooking technique used to blend one or more dry ingredients together with shortening of some form. ... Butter is commonly sold in sticks (pictured) or blocks, and frequently served with the use of a butter knife. ... Magnification of typical sugar showing monoclinic hemihedral crystalline structure. ... Shortbread rounds Shortbread is a type of biscuit (cookie) which is traditionally made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts plain white flour, although other ingredients like ground rice or cornflour are sometimes added to alter the texture. ... A slice of lemon sponge cake Sponge cake is a type of soft cake based on wheat flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs. ... The word drink is primarily a verb, meaning to ingest liquids, see Drinking. ... Soup is usually a savoury liquid food that is made by combining ingredients, such as meat, vegetables and beans in stock or hot water, until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth. ... In cooking, a casserole (from the French for stew pan) is a large, deep, covered pot or dish used both in the oven and as a serving dish. ... Binomial name Allium cepa L. Onion in the general sense can be used for any plant in the genus Allium but used without qualifiers usually means Allium cepa, also called the garden onion. ... Binomial name Allium sativum L. Garlic (Allium sativum) is a perennial plant in the family Alliaceae and genus Allium, closely related to the onion, shallot, and leek. ... Risotto prepared with mushrooms and scallions. ... In physics, thermal conductivity, k, is the intensive property of a material that indicates its ability to conduct heat. ...

Use in sporting culture

In some regions, particularly British-influenced ones of the Commonwealth, "wooden spoon award" is a booby prize for the team or individual finishing a competition in last position. The Commonwealth of Nations (CN), usually known as The Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, the majority of which are former colonies of the United Kingdom. ... A wooden spoon is a mock or real award, usually given to an individual or team which has come last in a competition, but sometimes also to runners-up. ... A booby prize is a joke prize, usually given in recognition of a terrible performance or a last-place finish. ...

See also

• treen
• Wooden Spoon the charity of British and Irish rugby

Treen is a generic name for small handmade functional household objects made of wood. ... Wooden Spoon logo The Wooden Spoon Society is a major rugby union charity in the United Kingdom named after the Wooden Spoon award given by the Six (previously Five) nations championship. ...

References

1. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, volume IX.

1913 advertisement for the 11th edition, with the slogan When in doubt — look it up in the Encyclopædia Britannica The Encyclopædia Britannica (properly spelled with æ, the ae-ligature) was first published in 1768–1771 as The Britannica was an important early English-language general encyclopedia and is still...

External links

• Stuart King's collection of carved wooden spoons
• Jan Harm ter Brugge's spoons English summary