Elisavet: The fork I can’t throw out

Elisavet Sotiriadou
Classroom assistant, cookery teacher and music journalist
London

Favourite thing: Fork

When I was moving over to London more than 15 years ago, I thought it would be useful to have some things with me like a fork, a spoon, a knife and a plate and not to go out and buy it. So I took these from home, from my parents, and these were my dad’s.

But the knife and the spoon are gone, they’re missing. I think someone stole them from a previous kitchen when we were sharing. The plate must have broken.

“Each time I move, I think I’m going to throw the fork out but I always keep it”

This fork, I’ve moved, I don’t know how many times I’ve moved since I’ve been in London, 8 times maybe. Each time I’m thinking I’m going to throw that fork out but I always keep it because I’m always thinking, no this is a memory from home. And it’s always useful to have a fork!

Engaging portrait of a woman holding a fork and a bowl of salad

I use it for cooking mainly because I don’t like eating with it. I don’t like the shape of it. I don’t like the way it looks. But it’s handy, you know and you can still use it. So like why fill the garbage, the landfill with something you can still use and there’s nothing wrong with it?

“He only had a knife, a fork and a spoon”

I’ve kept it for 15 years so I should keep it for a few more. My Dad had it from the late 60s when he moved to Sweden. He bought it in Sweden. He only had a knife, a fork and a spoon. And this is the fork he had. So it’s got some kind of value.

Then I took it and moved over here. When you asked me, you know, one thing, I was trying to think of something else. And then I thought, every time I was thinking about what I should pick I went back to that fork — even though I don’t particularly like it. The thing I don’t like about it is looking at it. But it’s a fork: it does what it needs to be doing!

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