You try fitting a square plate on a round potters wheel

Today’s question: Why are our meal plates round and not square? I have no doubt one could buy square plates, but no one I know has them. They would “fit” the table, my sloppiness, the dishwasher and the cupboard better. Before plates and bowls and so forth were mass produced they were made out of clay on a potter’s wheel. This quite naturally led to a circular shape which is a lot easier to form on a potters wheel than a square shape.

Before ceramic plates were common, at least in most European cultures, we ate off trenchers, pieces of bread that were often circular. That’s why every now and then you hear someone who is a good eater described as a “trencherman.”

Come to think of it, you don’t hear that all that often, but it might come in handy at the Scrabble board.

And because people can always find something to fuss about, there is some debate in some culinary circles about whether food tastes better off of round plates or square plates.

Some people who study such matters have found that food served on white, circular plates tastes sweeter than food served on square plates.

And some traditionalist chefs maintain that their colleagues who served food on square plates or plates of colors other than white care more about presentation that flavor.

I can understand that. I think coffee tastes best when it’s served in those white, thick ceramic mugs you get in good diners. Of course, almost everything tastes better in diners, especially late at night.