![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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!
"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!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-07-30 09:53 pm (UTC)From: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*)