Unofficial Etiquette Pollage

[primroseburrows]

After hearing a discussion on the radio about table manners and cultural/national ways of eating, I got curious and decided to ask you guys about it. According to the program, there is more than one way people in Western countries use a knife while eating. I did not know this, which shows just how much I don't know about culture.

So anyway, a poll:



[Poll #1409363]

Comments

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I want to read that book! And there is knife wiping? Woah. I didn't know THAT, either! :)

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

They probably don't refer to it as that or even notice it, but it's just one of those fascinating physical things that are second nature to some and totally foreign to others? It's probably just as weird to them to watch me switch my fork into my other hand, but that's just kind of awkward.

[mawaridi.livejournal.com]

YEah, that's how I do it. You pick things up with the fork (in the left hand) and us the knife (in the right hand) to sweep extra bits of food onto the back of the fork. Good for stuff like stews, mashed potato, etc that you can't pick up by stabbing, and an alternative to "shovelling" or "scooping" with the fork (although sometimes I do that too). I was always told as a kid that it was rude to shovel up your food with a fork instead of pressing or wiping food onto the back of it, but that seems silly to me. Am Australian with a fairly distant British background, btw :)