Which Word? Please Help Me!
I want a general word to cover what you need for dining in any given culture. So this might be chopsticks, bowls and stools in certain periods of Chinese history, or cutlery, china, glass, tablecloths, dining tables, for certain periods of European and American history. I’d like to make this stretchable to dining rooms, gardens, or wherever meals are taken if the taking of meals is one of the reasons for creating the spaces. And I’d like to be able to include tortillas, banana leaves and plastic clamshells.
Here’s what I’m considering.
Paraphernalia
Accoutrements
Equipage. I’m rather taken with this since I heard Ann Eatwell of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London use it last week at the food history conference at UC Davis to describe tea services. She should know. The dictionary says archaic, though. And “the equipage for the McDonald’s hamburger includes the plastic clamshell and an eminently flimsy paper napkin” nicely alerts the attention.
Materiel. A bit too military, I’d say.
Or is there some absolutely simple and straightforward English word I am missing? Your thoughts greatly appreciated.
how about ‘gear’? Too slang?
dishware?
“utensils” – It works with “cooking”, “eating”, “kitchen”, garden, and gardening.
Yes, “utensils” came to mind. But “implements” also might work.
I like utensils which also suggests instrument or implement. And equipage which suggests articles for use.
“Appliance”
“Appurtenance”
Or there’s always “Kit and Kaboodle”
i liked your paraphernalia best – it reminded me of a word we use in greek to collectively refer to ‘stuff’ : zimbragala
Knives and forks etc. flat ware
or for the broad range of eating stuff Cuisine (perhaps not English enough)
Two more ideas:
‘Culinary miscellany’
or
‘Foodwares’
When we open a restaurant and have to order all the stuff to do so, it is separated into categories: equipment, smallwares, paper goods, linens, etc.
Clicked too fast. :)
I like ‘foodwares’. We have ‘foodways’ (and I wonder when that was coined!) so foodwares might be a logical next step.
Tools. Tools of the trade. Kitchen tools. Culinary tools. Cookery tools.
But I’ve always like utensils and implements.
I got very sidetracked by utensils, but since you’re talking about what we dine from – correct me if I’m wrong – what about serving vessels?