General Chat

maybe our ancesters did! :-D

I wonder if anyone used the Gebel-el-Arak knife in such a way?

I agree, Suzanne, I was taught good table manners. I taught my 3 children good table manners and now my eldest daughter is doing the same with her children. It's so easy to do, but fewer parents seem to find it important these days, sadly.

we were not allowed to eat off a knife,we would have been told to "leavethe table" we were not allowed to talk or make butties,mum was ery big on table manners. i also did the same with my children,and they in turn followed suit with thier own children,i now have grandchildren age 2 and 15m who both eat with a knife and fork and who could be taken to any restaurant and would show lovely table manners,it costs nothing to teach your children good manners and good table manners.x

I was always brought up with good table manners.Never eating off a knife or licking it.But I have to say there is always the temptation to do it lol.Now in my late 50's if I butter a bit of toast I could still lick the knife :-S(not in public though) :-D

As a child, all the children in our family quickly learned not to eat from their knives. If it were to happen, my father picked up his bread knife by the end of the blade and flicked us on the knuckles with the handle tip. It was mortifying and a lesson quickly learned.

My mother said that when she first knew him (he is early 80's now), he put his jacket on to sit at table. The demise of family meals is a sad thing, although now the family have moved on I do confess to a meal on a tray in front of the tv.

fingers came before knives and forks!!

Bob

As an afterthought, I suppose the person(s) suffering from starvation, and we are assured there are still some in this dire situation, would not worry much about table manners one iota when some food is put in front of them.

With a Sheeps Eye (As your,e the Honored Guest) It also helps when Burping :-D

I totally agree that table manners have gone from bad to worse.
nothing to do with being a snob.The thing was that we all sat at the table with watchful eyes over us when young so you were taught well.
It's not the only thing that has gone since discipline went out of the window.

Never speak with your mouth half full.


It must always be completely filled.

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!

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 ;-)

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

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.......

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.

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............. :-|

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

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.

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.