The hundred dollar spork
Stainless Al Gusto Tasting Spork excels in beauty and functionality, but does it stand up to practicality?
The other day, I gave a hard time to another POTT creation, the Al Dente Spaghetti Tester, so in all fairness I thought I'd take a look at another utensil they have. The Stainless Al Gusto Tasting Spork is exactly what it sounds like: a spoon and a fork combined into one elegant design.
I'll ignore the obvious drawback of a nearly $100 utensil, and instead focus on the good. The spork is a fork and a spoon with an elongated handle. Use it as a spoon and dip it into stews, gravies, soups or sauces, for essential testing of balance of flavor. Use the prongs of the fork to grab a piece of heartier vegetation or protein and you can investigate how the whole meal is progressing. For more complex testing, try to use both spoon and fork at once...
OK, I tried. The Stainless Al Gusto Tasting Spork isn't exactly a necessity on any chef's menu. Any standard utensil will do the same trick, at a fraction (of a fraction of a fraction...) of the price. There's always the good ol' wooden spoon, too, which has been the tried-and-true food tester for generations.
With a $95 price tag, I suspect that the specialized spork isn't so much something to use, as it is something cool to look at. Maybe we will start seeing display versions of the spork, replacing those kitschy oversized wooden-utensil sets from kitchen decor of the past. If POTT decided to keep the price, and make the spork into a 3-foot monstrosity, I'd pick one up to hang it in my kitchen.