A fish fork is the fork with flat, broad prongs used with a fish knife for eating fish — the specialist cutlery of the fish course. The wide, flat tines are shaped for the task: sliding between the flakes of cooked fish, lifting delicate portions without shredding them, and helping separate flesh from bone. It pairs with the fish knife — the blunt-bladed partner that opens the fish and lifts the bones away. The set belongs to formal table service, laid for the fish course in the classic order of courses, and its use signals the meal’s structure as clearly as the menu. Like all specialised cutlery, it is unnecessary and civilised in equal measure — the ordinary fork would do, but the flat-pronged one does it properly.