Knives & forks

[TastyReuben]

Does this mean that tables are laid in a different manner in the States?

I'm guessing that properly laying a table has gone the way of cursive writing and wedding dowries.

Certainly at more upscale places, you'll still find a formal place setting (and it's set out the same here as there, I think) but at the ubiquitous chain/family restaurants that are consuming the landscape, when you sit down, there will be no place setting at all, maybe a (paper) placemat, and a flatware bundle somewhere nearby, very likely in a big canister at the center of the table and you just help yourself, or the server will have them in the pocket of their apron and they'll just set them out when you either sit down or when your food arrives.

At home, I like setting out a nice table. I don't go all out with six different plates and five different drinking vessels, but working with the basics of a bread/salad plate, dinner plate, two forks, knife, water and beer/wine glass, and placemat, with a tablecloth and some kind of centerpiece, it's not hard to put together something that feels a little nicer than just slapping your food on a plate and having at it, Home Simpson-style.

Most times, though, we don't eat at the table, but when we do, I usually want it to be a little nicer.

 

[Yorky]

Where I grew up it was fork left hand, knife right hand (and that's how the table was laid). 90% of the time the fork was used with the convex surface upwards but occasionally the concave surface upwards when eating garden peas for example (not mushy peas).

Now I don't live where I grew up.

Apart from hotels and sophisticated restaurants; in the sticks where I have spent most of my time in the last 25 years:

In Thailand you are given fork and spoon, no knife. The food is generally cut into small pieces or can easily be cut with fork or spoon (the spoons are very sharp). Chopsticks are generally available for certain dishes.

In China chopsticks are normally the way to go unless you specify other utensils.

In Malaysia there are no utensils just bowls in which to wash your hands.

The Philippines favour the American way (I believe) of fork in the left hand and knife in the right to initially cut up the food (if necessary) and then lay down the knife and use the fork in the right hand.

In Singapore you can eat with whatever utensils and however you like.

In my house here we have knives and forks but I had to go to Bangkok to buy them. I could count on one hand the number of times I've seen my wife use a knife and fork.

 

[Morning Glory]

Where I grew up it was fork left hand, knife right hand (and that's how the table was laid). 90% of the time the fork was used with the convex surface upwards but occasionally the concave surface upwards when eating garden peas for example (not mushy peas).

Now I don't live where I grew up.

So how do you use them now?

 

[cookieee]

I always thought you were suppose to hold your fork or spoon in one hand and keep your other hand in your lap.

 

[TastyReuben]

I always thought you were suppose to hold your fork or spoon in one hand and keep your other hand in your lap.

In my family, with six kids, it was hold your food in one hand and your knife in the other, to ward off anyone going for your meal.

 

[Morning Glory]

I always thought you were suppose to hold your fork or spoon in one hand and keep your other hand in your lap.

So how would you eat a steak doing that?

 

[cookieee]

Obviously, you can use your hand in your lap when you need it. Only when it is not being used, it goes back into your lap. Growing up, I always heard, "keep your elbows off of the table".

 

[Morning Glory]

Growing up, I always heard, "keep your elbows off of the table".

Same here. But we wouldn't have used a fork only.

 

[TastyReuben]

Same here. But we wouldn't have used a fork only.

Right. I don't rest my arms on the table when I eat, as that warranted a smack in the back of the head when I was a kid.

 

[Mountain Cat]

Fork to the left (with napkin folded underneath), plate, then knife, then spoon. Tp cut food, knife in right hand, fork in left. Put fork and knife down to eat, then use right hand to use fork to eat. Since currently I live alone, I put utensils wherever. But I respect the settings at places and homes I visit.

I have been in the UK and I know they don't typically do that. Frankly, your system on the other side of the pond is probably more practical.

Noted: NEVER rest your arms/elbows on the table while eating. Not unless you want a parental unit to smack you. Tasty is right!

 

[The Velvet Curtain]

I always eat in the European style, watching others (mostly Americans) swapping back and forth looks awkward to me.

 

[caseydog]

Does this mean that tables are laid in a different manner in the States?

Not that I have noticed. Forks are still on the left, and knives on the right, with spoons as needed. Desert utensils above the plate. Start at the outside and work your way in as the proper order of use. The difference is just in how we use the utensils. The Yurripean way is not frowned upon at all over here. Just different. Some people here look down on the Murcan way of using utensils -- we call them snobs.

A bigger difference is how finger foods are eaten. Where I live, it is considered somewhat arrogant to eat BBQ ribs or fired chicken on the bone with a knife and fork. It is absolutely acceptable to eat those foods with your fingers -- actually proper. The bone is the only utensil you need.

CD

 

[caseydog]

I always eat in the European style, watching others (mostly Americans) swapping back and forth looks awkward to me.

Driving on the right side of the road would seem awkward to you, too, because you have always driven on the left. I've driven in the UK many times, and adapted to it, but it never felt completely natural to me.

It really does come down to what you grew up doing.

CD

 

[TastyReuben]

I think I picked up the Euro way from being totally immersed in European TV shows and movies when I was a kid. I never consciously said, "I'm gonna start eating like that," I think I just absorbed it somehow.

My wife also eats that way, though, and the only one in her immediate family to do so, but it may be because she eats with her left hand anyway. Some things she does right-handed, others left-handed.

 

[caseydog]

So how would you eat a steak doing that?

I'm guessing that properly laying a table has gone the way of cursive writing and wedding dowries.

Certainly at more upscale places, you'll still find a formal place setting (and it's set out the same here as there, I think) but at the ubiquitous chain/family restaurants that are consuming the landscape, when you sit down, there will be no place setting at all, maybe a (paper) placemat, and a flatware bundle somewhere nearby, very likely in a big canister at the center of the table and you just help yourself, or the server will have them in the pocket of her apron and they'll just set them out when you either sit down or when your food arrives.

At home, I like setting out a nice table. I don't go all out with six different plates and five different drinking vessels, but working with the basics of a bread/salad plate, dinner plate, two forks, knife, water and beer/wine glass, and placemat, with a tablecloth and some kind of centerpiece, it's not hard to put together something that feels a little nicer than just slapping your food on a plate and having at it, Home Simpson-style.

Most times, though, we don't eat at the table, but when we do, I usually want it to be a little nicer.

In a fine dining establishment, the table will be set up in a traditional way, and wait staff will alter your place settings as needed to accommodate what you order to eat. For example, if you order a steak, they will replace one table knife with a steak knife. Same with glassware, if you order wine, they will bring the appropriate wine glasses for the variety of wine you order.

CD