General Chat

When I was a child, I was taught that to eat off of the knife, was exeedingly bad mannered.
Last night, we caught part of the Masterchef - The Professionals programme. This is to find a meal fit to be served to Michelle Rouix, and one of the judges, is his second in command. Twice, I saw her testing the contestants offerings, by eating of the knife.
We were totally gobsmacked. Surely this is a social faux pas, of the highest order and very unseemly

Julia in Derbyshire

Absolutely! But you've just reminded me of what one of my teachers put in my autograph book when I left the school :)

"I eat my peas with honey
I've done it all my life
it makes the peas taste funny
but it keeps them on the knife"

Brief is the span between primitive & modern man or chef!

very unseemly Julia - and young people today have no idea how to use a knife and fork properly and the American style of just using a fork to eat puzzles me no end

I was taught that not only was it badmanned but dangerous as knifes can be sharp.

Must admit I would never eat off a knife. At school we were always provided with a spoon and a fork for dessert and to this day I still prefer to eat with both utensils but no-one else seems to bother. -jl

Depends on the upbringing I suppose, my o.h. has awful table manners so his sons had too, I was horrified. None of them knew that in a restaurant if you put the knife and fork together on the plate it signalled to the waiter that you had finished with your meal, I tried to tell him but he said I was a snob. Then one day the waiter came and tried to take his plate lol .......

I used to watch some of the children when I was a school dinner lady, and I'd cringe at the way they used their cutlery etc.

Lizx

Liz, I would have loved to have seen that, with your OH fighting the waiter for his dinner.

Huia.

I remember Cake Forks and Ice Cream Spoons.

Also Damask Serviette's and Table Cloths.

Occasionally, I eat my supper from my lap.

And dont eat with your elbows on the table and dont eat with just your fork.

It wasn't so long ago that the people of Britain started using forks, knives were always used.

Ann in Cardiff,
Americans do use knives, they just pick up the food with their forks.

Once upon a time I had a boyfriend from Pakistan so I always eat curry by picking up a bit with a piece of chapatti.It means you have at least three chapattis to every meal which is how the food evolved.The bread was the staple and the curry was the relish.It was what you had available and, so as not to waste any precious food, strong spices were used to mask any less acceptable flavours.

When I first met Mr Current (think I might call him that,keep him on his toes!) we went for a curry. He saw me eating with a chapatti and assumed I didn't ever use cutlery.

Do try eating your curry with a chapatti.It does make a huge difference to the flavour.To use cutlery is like eating a sandwich without the bread.

I so agree with you Julia - very bad manners indeed.


I googled the following from Debretts......quite interesting...


A knife should be held firmly in your right hand, with the handle tucked into your palm, your thumb down one side of the handle and your index finger along the top (but never touching the top of the blade). It should never be eaten off or held like a pencil.


When used with a knife or spoon, the fork should be held in the left hand, in much the same way as the knife, with the prongs facing downwards. On its own, it is held in the right hand, with the prongs facing upwards, resting on the fingers and secured with the thumb and index finger.


A spoon is held in the right hand, resting on the fingers and secured with the thumb and index finger. Food should be eaten off the side of the spoon; it should never be used at a right angle to the mouth.


Cutlery should be rested on the plate/bowl between bites, and placed together in the bottom-centre when you are finished.


Never gesture with your cutlery, and don't scrape or clatter it noisily against your plate or bowl. Equally, it is bad manners to loudly clank your utensils against your teeth.


The range of a cutlery arsenal will depend on the formality of the occasion, but the layout should always be the same - fork to the left, knives and spoons to the right. Work from the outside inwards, course by course. Pudding implements sit above the place setting.



There is absolutely nothing 'snobby' about eating properly.


Cx

when I've watch .Come Dine with Me at odd times,,,,,I feel ill seeing them put the spoon back after they have tasted the food,,,,,,I'm glad I wasnt a guest and this is what puts me off eating out,,,,,,,its totally foul.......and wonder if the guest are ever ill after when they watch the playback............. :-|

That is a bit off putting Kay,
But even worse than that is people who let their animals in their kitchens, the mind boggles at what is brought in on those, YUK.

oh Foggy hello me darlin~~~~

saw one CDWM and the cat pooed next to the cooker,and quick wipe and carried on cooking without even acid washing their hands.......,,,,,,I felt ill,

one time a chap cats had got up on the tops and half eaten food and that when served had cat hairs in it.........

I would have been outa there mighty quick.......some dont know where good hygiene begins and ends......and some dont care......yuk.......

You'll notice on masterchef, when they taste the food the spoon goes into a separate utensil and isn't used again.

Dermot,They have invented Plates. :-D,also one other thing, You must "Slurp" when consuming soup. and after a good meal always,always give a loud "Burp" the more and larger lts your host know how much you enjoyed the meal. :-D :-D.one other thing,at one time there were no Forks as such,only a knife with wich you "Skewered" what you wanted and broke it up with your hands, :-S ;-)

We were so poor when I was growing up - we had no cutlery at all. Didn't really know anything about such advanced implements.

And another thing, my grandparents had only one set of false teeth between them - so, they had to take it in turns to eat.

And then, the stone-age came along. Wonderful.

Finally, don't eat with your mouth full.

I’m off out now for a take-away. Plastic knives & forks, if you please!