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If I had known you guys didn't know what a spork was I'd have brought it up a long time ago. It as small as a regular eating spoon but they do make huge ones for serving. We use them all the time here. You learn something new everyday I guess. I'm still getting over the pea pusher.
I just had to comment on something I read earlier on this thread regarding eating with a fork and knife and being 'civilized'.
People from different parts of the world and different cultures have different eating etiquettes. What's considered 'civilized' for some, may be considered 'uncivilized' for others, and vice versa. People are different, cultures are different, and just because someone doesn't eat in that 'fork and knife style', does not mean they are uncivilized. Chinese people eat with chopsticks. I know I would look completely uncivilized eating with chopsticks, because I don't know how to use them...but they look perfectly civilized when they eat like that. In some cultures, eating food with your left hand is completely unacceptable. Whether you are right-handed or left-handed, the right hand is used for eating, and the left hand used for washing yourself after using the toilet. :o For some nations, this has to be very strange, but for others, it is the 'civilized' thing to do. I don't think any of us have the right to condemn others as uncivilized just because they may eat differently. Different cultures teach different things. In the end, all parents do their best to teach their kids what they feel to be proper table manners. I was taught the proper eating etiquette from early childhood, and a major part of what I was taught was 'NEVER eat with the left hand'. I was also taught 'NO washing with the right hand after using the restroom'. :p In certain cultures, it is considered uncivilized to use the toilet and only wipe yourself using toilet paper. You have to WASH yourself thoroughly using water, and then 'dry' with the toilet paper. My point is...cultures are different, and none of us have the right to say which one is more civilized than the other, just because of what we're used to. Now...of course grabbing a bunch of food in your hand and stuffing it into your mouth would be uncivilized by all means, but what I'm saying is.....if someone is just using a fork, or a spoon, or using both fork and knife, or eating with chopsticks, or eating neatly using the thumb and two adjacent fingers as is the custom in certain cultures, all of these ways are neat if done with the proper etiquette, and it should not be considered uncivilized. There are civilized ways of eating and uncivilized ways of eating, but differences in culture should not be considered uncivilized. Every culture has its own important 'proper' way of eating, and that is what they teach their kids. ;)
I crack up when I go to Indian/Pakistani restaurants and see the typical American enjoying a meal. They're eating in the most proper way they know, but when eating the foods they're eating, the proper knives/forks way doesn't work, and looks completely odd. Naan (a type of bread for those who are not familiar with it) is not meant to be eaten like french bread...Its supposed to be 'dipped' in the curry the person's eating with it...and when its eaten in any other way, it looks funny. That's what I mean...What's civilized for some is completely wrong when you're eating the foods of another culture...though personally, I wouldn't consider it wrong. Its what they were taught and what they're comfortable with. Its just a teenie bit cute and funny to see someone eating naan like french bread, and eating the curry with a spoon like soup. :D:D I love diversity, and love different cultures. Its what makes us all unique and interesting...he he he. :D
Well.....I'm the one who said "civilized".... as a joke with my stepsons. So please...don't let that start anything! :D It wasn't a cultural thing....unless you are talking Old folks (me...) culture and young folk (them) culture....:D :D
I swear, we are never too old to learn something new. Popcornbird, I have NEVER heard of that custom, so you have taught me something tonight! Of course, since I'm a lefty, I'm still going to hold my fork in my left hand, but I'll make sure to wash up extra good after using the restroom! :o
I don't think anyone is taking this thread negatively, just with a bit of humour and maybe amazement, yes different strokes for different folks, it is all good in the end, that food gets to where it is meant to and that is all that matters.:)
He he! I knew what you meant, but I wanted to post about different cultures just so no one else took it in another way. Aren't different cultures so fascinating? We always learn something new. :DQuote:
Originally posted by Edwina's Secretary
Well.....I'm the one who said "civilized".... as a joke with my stepsons. So please...don't let that start anything! :D It wasn't a cultural thing....unless you are talking Old folks (me...) culture and young folk (them) culture....:D :D
Logan, I can't stop laughing after reading your post. He he he!! :o
Elbows on the table! That was a HUGE thing with my dad - he hated it. Don't think he ever actually flicked me with a knife, and I never heard about Mabel, but I do remember hearing "all uncooked joints off the table" every two minutes! :D
Must be a British thing, my father used to say exactly the same thing, but probably with more gusto. :DQuote:
Originally posted by Killearn Kitties
Elbows on the table! That was a HUGE thing with my dad - he hated it. Don't think he ever actually flicked me with a knife, and I never heard about Mabel, but I do remember hearing "all uncooked joints off the table" every two minutes! :D
Off topic but Popcornbird, I love that bread! I can't handle the curry though but I eat it with my Tanduri(sp) chicken. Wish we had an Indian restaurant near me!! Closest one I think is like an hour away.
Funny you mentioned it...My mom just made tandoor chicken for dinner tonight. :D Sooo yummy! I love naan with tandoori chicken.Quote:
Originally posted by dukedogsmom
Off topic but Popcornbird, I love that bread! I can't handle the curry though but I eat it with my Tanduri(sp) chicken. Wish we had an Indian restaurant near me!! Closest one I think is like an hour away.
I LOVE Indian food and sometimes I even cook- although I am just an apprentice in that art and will never manage. I love the different grades of hotness, textures, colours and taste.
In India people eat with bread and hands and they say (I have read it) that the food tastes different if you eat it that way, that the way of eating it with knives and forks is kind of sterile. I can believe that. And who ever has seen how perfectly neat Indians can eat with their right hand would never think it isn't "civilized".
Of course if I did it- with a big mess I'd expect- it would not be "civilized" at all:D
I eat "American style" for the most part. My parents, and especially my paternal grandma, were quite strict about table manners, and it has stuck pretty well. One thing I do enjoy doing is when I eat at an ethnic restaurant, I do my best to eat in that accustomed way. I ate at a Moroccan restaurant, where the suggested method was use the flatbread to pick up the food, but only with the right hand. I "slipped up" a few times but the staff admired me for trying. I think it's a great learning experience. I'll never forget learning how to use chopsticks! Boy was I ever a spazz! But that's how you learn.
This is a really cool thread.
Justin had to learn table manners when we got married. His mom makes supper and his family all comes to get what they want off the stove and takes it and eats anywhere in the house. My family was totally different. We set the table with place-mates, plates, glasses, napkins, spoons, forks, and knives. Food was taken out of the pot and put into a bowl on the table. We always said a blessing before we ate anything. Napkins always go in your lap. Forks have to be held properly. No elbows on the table. We had to ask permission to leave the table. Hats are a big no-no too. Justin wears a hat and has to take it off before he sits down at my patents table. His parents on the other hand couldn't care less, anything goes.
A couple years ago Justin's parents had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner, they invited their english friends who had lived here for a couple years, but never had a thanksgiving dinner. The english family is very very proper. Justin's redneck grandparents from West Virginia also came for Thanksgiving that year. Wow was that a Thanksgiving to remember. Justin's grandma sat down next to the english woman. She (the grandma) took a bite of something and said "mmm, this is good", she turns to the english woman and said "did you get any of this?" She hadn't, so Justin's grandma put some more on her fork and shoved it into the english woman's mouth. :eek: We all sat there speechless (and embarrassed).
In the grand scheme of things I just can't bring myself to care whether I'm using the correct fork for a salad or which hand I'm supposed to hold the knife with...
Sorry, I guess I should care otherwise I'm considered "uncivilized" but I don't. Yes I use silverware, but only the essentials. I find it incredibly pointless to set out all the silverware if all you need to use is a fork. I'm sure I've put my elbows up on the table, I don't really notice. I don't talk with my mouth full (or at least I try not to) or like eat food off of somebody else's plate or anything. ;)
Just don't invite me to dinner any of you, I'd rather not have people watching the way I use my silverware. ;)