A silly question about Americans....

[Oggyflute]

Originally posted by Edwina's Secretary
Dear Oggyflute....start with the outside and work your way in...

Dear Logan....thank you. Butter (not sweet Butterboy) is put on the plate with the butter knife....each bite of bread is then buttered from the butter put on your bread plate ...with your OWN knife...not the common butter knife....(Now I understand how Miss Manners gets so exhausted!)

It was pretty obvious that you would know being civilised and all.

The dreaded butter knife. It's just so complicated for some people. Get around it by giving everone a butter knife on their sideplate.

[popcornbird]

What an interesting thread! I never thought their was an 'American way' to eat...I thought everyone has their own personal preferences.

In my culture, its considered very wrong and improper to eat using your left hand, so yes, when I'm using a fork and knife (on rare occasions), I cut with my right hand, then switch, and eat holding the fork in my right hand. My left hand is never used for eating. I prefer to eat rice, etc. with a spoon. I prefer to eat with a spoon in general. Forks are good for foods like steak, lasagna, spaghetti, etc.

There are of course, certain foods I eat using my fingers though. Pizza, burgers, etc. are always eaten by hand. I like to eat rice, and other 'solid' foods using my fingers too, in a very neat way. That is something I usually only do at home though.

[Sweetness]

Well I use, fork, knife, spoon, or hands lol i use it all! All depends what you are eatin and how you like to eat it

[janelle]

I eat with a fork but also a knife to cut food if it is too tough to cut with a fork. Such things as pork chops and steak of course. Other food need to be cut to eat it, like Lasagna, if it has many layers and has a crust on it. We always set the table with a knife and fork and spoon of course if we are having dessert. Also need the knife if we have bread and butter.

I only use my right hand to put food into my mouth. The etiquitte books in America say to use your right hand to cut with the knife and the left hand to hold the fork on the food while cutting. Then put the knife down and switch the fork back to the right hand. Put your left hand back on your lap. Put the food into your mouth with the fork in your right hand. You can put the knife across the top of the plate until you need it again. I only cut a few pieces of meat at a time. I find if I cut it all at once it gets cold faster.

I am use to eating like this and when I see people in other countries shoving food onto their fork it looks like they are trying to shovel the food in as fast as they can. I know it's more efficient but it looks strange to me. Sorry, but it looks like how a child eats. LOL Not as refined. IMO And it would seem strange to put the food into my mouth with my left hand. I would probably drop it if I tried to eat that way. Too use to the American way. LOL

[NoahsMommy]

At a VERY early age I was taught how to eat property by my very English grandfather.

I use a fork and knife for almost everything. And...I usually know what all the extra forks/utensils are used for too.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Originally posted by sirrahbed
In Germany we adopted the European way which is holding fork in left hand, cutting meat (or whatever) with knife in right hand and then just using the left hand to put food in the mouth - since that fork stabbed it anyway - oh and tongs down instead of up like they would be in the right hand...make sense??

Yup yup, Debbie, THAT is the European way !! I just cannot eat without both knife and fork . Feels like I have one hand to much then....

It is true that Americans eat with fork in right hand and only switch it to left hand when they want to cut their food into pices, using a knife too then! I noticed when we lived in Missouri in the 80-ties! At first I also tried to eat "the American way", but then I gave up; I just didn't manage to get my peas on that fork without the help of my knife !!

[Barbara]

Of course Americans eat differently, it's one of the ways how you can tell if you see them in a restaurant

My English accent being weird enough I only can tell from the accent if it is really really broad Texan

(In Italy, Edwina's secretary tried to teach me different US accents. Whenever we saw someone in a shop, she pulled my sleeve, whispering: "Now this is New Jersey )

Ok, us Europeans being so civilized and thinking about guns in hands: I think one of the advantages of the fork in the right hand is that it can be a pretty handy weapon too. There is a legend in my family that my dad being a teenager (that must have been in the late 1920s) ran after his sister with the fork and stuck it in her back. So he must have had it in the right hand

And Logan: talk about a butter knife: If you wonder what this is- it is what Butter has on all 4 paws

Now you all have to think whether you still get along with me

[Logan]

And Logan: talk about a butter knife: If you wonder what this is- it is what Butter has on all 4 paws

Isn't that the truth? LOL!!!!

[lbaker]

I'm with Sara and Logan on this one (politics aside ). When I was growing up we were "proper" with sitting at the table until everyone was finished with a "may I be excused" when leaving. As a small child we had what was known as a "pusher" for peas and such. It was a sterling (always sterling silver dahling) utensil that looked like a wee hoe, small enough to fit small fingers. Cloth napkins with a silver napkin ring please, with initials. Cut when needed with your knife in your right, eat with the left. Utensils used from the outside in. Always a separate salad fork etc etc. Of course a separate butter knife on the butter plate. Oh my, memories......

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Originally posted by Barbara
And Logan: talk about a butter knife: If you wonder what this is- it is what Butter has on all 4 paws

Ahhhhhhh!!! NOW I get it ! I think we have "inka-knives" here

[Killearn Kitties]

I had totally forgotten about "may I be excused"! Good grief, that took me back!

I love the sound of the wee hoe. I have never heard of a "pusher" before (well in terms of cutlery anyway). Do you know if they are a peculiarly American thing, because of the different way of eating?

[Jods]

I am Canadian, but I will answer as well. I eat everything except for the obvious soup, cereal etc with a fork. I eat stew, peas, mashed potatoes everything with a fork and only set out a knife if needed. If the meat is chicken I will cut it with a butter knife , but steak or something tough I will use a steak knife.

I was wondering how do you hold your fork when cutting? I turn it upside down so the hump is facing up (dunno how to explain) I always thought it looked horrible seeing people cut their meat with their fork the standing up. So what do you do?

[gemini9961]

I use a fork for most everything. I will use a knife to cut steak, chicken etc. I don't usually use my fingers though. I eat with my utensils. I will cut up all my food and then eat it as well. Saves time If i need a spoon for soup, ice cream or anything a fork can't handle then I will use a spoon. I'll even use my fork to eat my french fries, lol. I hate using my fingers unless it's neccessary. However, I never set a table properly. I just grab what I need and use it. I really don't know what utensils to use for salad, soups, desserts etc. I have never been in any formal situations really to use all of those utensils.

[ramanth]

The only time I use a knife is if I have a piece of meat like a steak or chicken breast, that needs to be cut up. But I don't cut anything esle. For the most part I use whatever utensil is needed... fork for solid foods, spoon for the softer stuff.

I tried using a fork and spoon for spaghetti and ended up frustrated. *laughs*

[K9soul]

I don't switch from right to left when I am cutting and eating, I just use the fork in my left hand then.

I grew up with just my mom. She was a single mom often working 12 hour days to support us, but she still insisted on making a homemade meal every night for dinner. We did not have many of the things most people take for granted today, like dishwashers, air conditioning, cable TV, and for awhile even a washer and dryer (we had to go to the laundromat). So Mom did the best she could do after long exhausting work days followed by making a meal every night. She made sure I knew basic table manners but did not practice all the "proper" utensil usage. Of course I used a fork/spoon and not my hands for foods (except like pizza and burgers). She did the best she could to bring me up as "civilized" as possible, and I love her for it.

I really don't think of it as civilized versus uncivilized. I look at it as formal versus informal. At home I am informal. At a restaurant I am formal. With guests I am more formal than without.