'How British People Eat'

[ithildin]

How British People Eat is the subject of one Chow digests I just received. There's no link,

"I know a fellow who eats his dinner (and perhaps other meals as well) in an unusual way, and I'm wondering if anyone else has ever seen this, and if it has a name or is identified with some particular culture," says Howard_2. "What he does is, every forkful has a little of each item on the dinner plate. So for example let's say he has on his plate steak, string beans, and mashed potatoes. He cuts a piece of steak, puts it on his fork; adds a few string beans (perhaps using his knife to get them on the fork), and then adds a little mashed potato. Thus, every mouthful has a little of each item—and to my mind, the taste of any individual item is obscured, at best."

"I don't know if there's a technical term, but I call those composed bites, assuming that all the elements on the plate were designed to go together," says inaplasticcup.

"Can't believe that people think this is weird; this is how Brits eat," says pikawicca. "You cut a piece of protein, then spear, tines down. Grab a bit of mashed potato or stuffing and smear it on the back of the fork. Add some veg from the plate. Transport to mouth. Once I saw this in action, I adopted it for myself. Very efficient, and it satisfies my desire to have a bit of everything in one bite." tastesgoodwhatisit agrees: "I've been told this too, specifically with British food, that it's proper to pile a little bit of each item onto the back of the fork for each bite. I think you could only easily do it with the European fork and knife style (tines down for eating, and knife and fork never change hands)."

Discuss: Is there a name for this style of feeding oneself?

So here's one of my things: I like to watch people eat, surreptitiously, of course. How do they hold their fork, in which hands, do they switch them back and forth? My upbringing was a hodgepodge of Canadian, American, and British, and I don't always know that aspect of my behavior or speech comes from which sometimes. I do the 'composed bites' - not all the time, but a lot of the time - and had no idea it was a British-ism. I don't switch knife and fork when I eat; fork stays in left hand, knife in right, and I hold the fork tines up. My parents, who are from western Canada are utensil switchers. So tell me, how do you eat? Feed my hyper-curiosity!

Comments

[jerel.livejournal.com]

I had to really think about it. :)

Generally, my knife stays on the right and the fork on the left. Except with peas; I have a weak left wrist and I can't seem to get them to roll up onto the fork unless the fork is in my right hand.

I'll eat a little bit of each thing, but all separate. So maybe first a little steak, then some rice, then some green beans. But then I might go back to the rice, or skip the green beans for a couple of go 'rounds.

Now, my brother, he only eats one thing at a time. So he'd eat all of his rice, then all of his steak, then all of his green beans. He also doesn't like things on his plate to touch each other. (I used to be really bad about that too, but I've gotten better over the years.)

[idontlikegravy.livejournal.com]

I had no idea it was so regional. Learn something new every day.

Fork in left, knife in right - that's what I was taught as a child was good etiquette. Mind you, that apparently stems from the Victorian model that's based on not using the left hand because that's 'the devil's hand' *shrug* so I can see how that might be peculiarly British. We do tend to hang on to customs just because 'that's the way it's always done'.

As for putting more than one thing on the fork - I do in restaurants or if trying a new recipe because the intention of the chef/recipe writer is that these flavours should be married together and it's best to sample them all at once rather than separately. But normally at home I tend to eat everything separately starting with my least favourite and finishing with my most favourite (very childish behaviour, I know, but that's me *g*)

[dj-aida.livejournal.com]

We eat a lot with our hands - you take a piece of bread and scoop some food onto it, and you take a bite. Can't be done with soups, of course, or when you're dining out unless you're in a restaurant where food is meant to be eaten that way. It's a Muslim thing, and cleanliness is a major, major thing in our culture - both literal and figurative (e.g. you only use your right hand because that's the clean hand, while left hand is used for unclean things; this isn't followed the same in all Muslim countries).

When I do use a knife and fork, I also take composed bites, but I do sometimes switch hands. When I have the fork in my left hand, tines are down for spearing and cutting; when it's in my right hand and the knife s down, tines are up for scooping.

[bleukittie.livejournal.com]

I have little or no dextral coordination, and it shows when I'm eating alone. It's not unusual for food to flying off the plate.

I'm a switcher. I'll eat a little bit of everything, unless it's a favorite of mine, I might save it for last.

[pezgirl7.livejournal.com]

I absolutely hate when my food gets mixed up, so I try to make sure none of it touches on the plate. So I only take one food at a time. First a little chicken, then the next bite some potatoes, etc. My parents are the opposite though, they kinda mix everything up a little, so I think it's just a weird thing of my own. I also always eat with the fork in my right hand because I'm right handed, and with the prongs up. I only switch it to the left hand when I cut my food, but I don't really eat that much food that needs to be cut. A lot of time the edge of the fork suffices for cutting things. I live in the US by the way.

[sharpes-hussy.livejournal.com]

In some ways it makes more sense than our method of
using a knife and fork and after you witness it enough,
it makes a lot of sense.
I began to use that method when I was traveled to OZ and also when I was in New Zealand where most eat that way also.
Don't recall if I did that in UK or not........
BTW, my maternal grandmother ate that way also. She was from Switzerland.

[robi-travels.livejournal.com]

It is a lefty thing. Fork in left, knofe in right, do not switch. Little bit of everything since they are suppose to go together.

[muses-circle.livejournal.com]

Well, I never change hands with my fork and knife, but that's probably because I'm left-handed and therefore put my fork in my LH to eat. ;)

I tend to eat a little bit of everything, all hodge-podge, but not on the same fork. In fact, I have a habit of pushing my food to different parts on the plate so they don't touch (don't ask me why, I've done it since childhood). It's a weird quirk of mine.

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

I'm a switch-hitter on handedness. Mostly right-handed, but I do some things with my left (like using a fork, or shooting). So I eat with fork in left hand, knife in right.

...unless I'm reading while I eat. Then I hold the book in my left hand and the fork in my right.

But on NO OCCASION do I mix foodstuffs on my fork. That's just wrong!

[lara-everlong.livejournal.com]

Fascinating...

My ex was from Germany, and she told me "Americans eat like babies" and I got very indignant about that and my indignance lasted until I got a job in a restaurant and watched people take their knives and forks and slice and dice everything on their plates, put down the knife, and proceed to eat everything with the fork, tines up. I had NO IDEA anyone did that, or that it was an "American" thing. But apparently they do, and it is (sometimes.)

If it's a knife-and-fork meal (which is often the same kind of meal that had protein, starch, and veggies in separate parts of the plate) then yes, fork in my left hand tines down and knife in my right, and yes, I often do stack things up on my fork, like smearing mashed potatoes on my baked chicken and then pushing some mushrooms on there too, and I did know that that's supposed to be a British thing and I'm not sure if I started doing that before I knew that or after.

If it's a meal that doesn't require a knife, like pasta or stir fry or casserole or something, then its fork in my right hand tines up. Without the knife, it's not really possible to stack things up on the fork, BUT, with chopsticks, you can definitely get your veggies, noodles, and protein all in one bite, so... perhaps it's that Americans don't usually like to mix their food up? Dunno...