There are situations in every person’s life when they need to show their best side at the table. To do this, you need to know in which hand to hold a knife and fork according to etiquette, as well as some other rules. There may be differences between cultures, but the general concepts of etiquette are the same for everyone.
General rules of behavior or table etiquette are the minimum that every cultured person should know.
How and in which hand to hold instruments correctly
Etiquette prescribes how to use this or that cutlery.
Basic rules of etiquette should be instilled from early childhood.
Fork
European etiquette dictates that the fork be placed on the left side of the guest's plate. If a portion requires the presence of several forks, then the tableware located next to it is used for the main course, and the one further away is used for the salad.
Arrangement of cutlery according to serving rules.
It is prescribed to take the device with the left hand, while the teeth move downwards. The index finger should be placed behind the appliance, but at some distance from the base, otherwise you may touch the food. The fork handle should be hidden under the palm, and its end should be adjacent to the wrist.
Hold the fork in your left hand. The teeth should point downwards.
There is another style (it is called American). He instructs you to hold the device like a pencil, with the teeth pointing down.
If the dish does not involve cutting food, the fork should always be in the right hand, teeth up.
Knife
Both etiquettes require holding the knife in the right hand. The index finger is located on the opposite side of the sharp blade, the other fingers hold the handle, and its end is adjacent to the wrist. The rules of American etiquette suggest that cutlery can be changed. That is, after the desired part of the food is cut off, the knife is placed on the edge of the dish so that the blade faces up and the handle slightly to the right and down. They take the fork with their right hand and continue to eat only with this device.
If the knife is in the right hand, then the fork should be in the left.
Important! The question often arises in which hand to hold a fork and knife according to etiquette, if a person is used to operating mainly with his left hand. In this case, nothing changes. If a left-handed person is uncomfortable eating this way, you should practice at home.
Spoon
The spoon is always held in the right hand. When eating, it is held between the index and thumb, while the middle one serves as a stand. The liquid dish is scooped up with a slightly tilted spoon, facing towards you.
It is customary to hold a spoon between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand while eating.
What not to do with a knife and fork
You cannot store prepared food with cutlery. Before putting food into the refrigerator, you will have to remove forks, spoons, and knives from the plate or pan.
It is not customary to use devices for eating bread, since the crumb crumbles a lot. Pizza and burgers should also be eaten with your hands.
It is forbidden to eat from a knife. This is not only indecent, but also dangerous, since a person can easily cut his lips or tongue.
Do not leave cutlery criss-crossed on the plate. This will show the owners that you didn’t like the food or service.
How to eat properly
There are a few things to consider when using cutlery. If the dish involves the presence of small parts, the knife may not be used. When there is a large piece on the plate, you won’t be able to get by with just a fork.
You need to pay special attention to certain foods and know exactly how to eat them, so as not to get into an awkward situation at the table.
Dessert
Cakes and soft pastries are consumed using a special dessert fork. It can be distinguished by two or three large teeth. If this device is not available, it can be replaced with a teaspoon or dessert spoon. When eating desserts, you must adhere to the following rules.
Dessert etiquette differs in some nuances.
- Triangular cream puffs or sliced cake are eaten starting from the narrow edge. Hard cakes require a knife. Small pieces are broken off from the almond cakes with your hands and placed in your mouth.
- If the cakes are on a common plate with special napkins, then you need to move them without removing the napkins. They eat dessert straight from it.
- Rum cakes, donuts, bagels, and eclairs can be taken by hand, breaking off small pieces. If you don't want to get your hands dirty, you can use a dessert fork.
- Cream, jelly, and ice cream are eaten with a dessert spoon. If you come across berry seeds, you need to transfer them from your mouth to a spoon, then to a paper napkin, which you use to blot your lips, or your dessert plate.
Before serving dessert, everything is removed from the table except glasses for water or juice and glasses for wine.
Spaghetti
In restaurants and at receptions, spaghetti is served in deep dinner plates; pasta is served with a fork and spoon. During a meal, the spoon is in the left hand and the fork is in the right. Use a fork to pick up a few pieces of spaghetti, wrap it around, put it on a spoon and eat it. It is permissible to eat spaghetti directly from the fork, using a spoon only to secure it all the time so that the food does not fall. A spoon is required if pasta carbonara is served. Using this device you can eat cream and eggs.
Spaghetti seems to many to be a very difficult dish because it is inconvenient to eat.
Meat
Meat dishes are usually eaten with a fork and knife. A piece of meat is not immediately cut into small pieces, but one or two small pieces are cut off first. After they are eaten, the next portion is cut off. If stewed meat is served, then first the bone is separated from the pulp, the bones are placed on the edge of their plate.
You can only pick up a bone if it is wrapped in paper.
The chops are immediately divided into three or four parts. During the eating process, the flesh is gradually cut off from the bone.
The chop or other large pieces of meat are cut into smaller portions.
If the roast is served in a large piece, then the hostess or the person to whom she entrusts it, divides the piece into small parts and distributes it to everyone present, starting with the guests of honor or the elders.
They cut a piece of the required size - ate it, cut it again, and so on.
Sausages are served sliced. They are taken from a common plate using a serving utensil or your own fork, supported by a knife.
It is important to ensure that your equipment is clean.
When eating cutlets and other products made from ground meat, do not use a knife.
Chopped meat cutlets are eaten only with a fork.
Hot sandwiches and bread
Buns, loaves and other bread products are eaten only by hand. They are taken from the common basket and placed on their own tableware. Biting off a piece is unsightly; you need to break off particles with your hand that can be immediately put into your mouth. Hot sandwiches are eaten using cutlery. If it is assumed that a person himself will put the filling on a piece of bread, then this must be done with a fork. When bread and jam, jam, butter, marmalade are served, the bread is taken with the left hand and greased with the right hand.
They eat small sandwiches with their hands, holding the bottom layer with their fingers.
Salad
Sometimes people, when they get to a reception or a gala evening in a restaurant, get lost and cannot understand how to eat salads with a fork and knife, because usually only one utensil is used. However, if vegetables or other ingredients are chopped coarsely, you will still have to use a knife. In this case, the piece is held with a fork, and it is cut into two parts with a knife. Usually this is enough, because the salad cannot have too large components.
For salad, a special fork is served on the table.
Fish
Cleaned fish fillets are eaten with a fork and a special knife shaped like a spatula. In this case, the fillet is held with a knife and divided into parts with a fork. If the meat is very soft and there is no need to cut it, then the fork should be turned upside down, and the required amount of meat should be applied with a knife.
The fish, served whole, is eaten using special utensils.
If you are serving a whole fish, you must first remove the head and tail with a knife, placing them on the edge of your plate. Next, make cuts along the ridge and belly and remove the skin. If you get bones, you need to quietly push them closer to your teeth, place them on the cutlery, and then on the edge of your dishes.
First of all, you need to remember: if the fish is served whole, the first step is to get rid of the head, tail and skin.
Bird
The poultry meat is held on a plate with a fork, and the meat is cut off the bone with a knife. However, you can also eat it with your hands. If there is a rinse on the table, you can take the bone and eat the meat from it. After eating, hands should be rinsed with water or wiped thoroughly.
Poultry can be eaten with your hands only in a family circle, but not at large celebrations, since according to the rules, poultry dishes are eaten with a knife and fork.
At an official reception, it is still better to use cutlery. This is how they eat poultry.
- Remove the skin with a fork and place on the edge of the dish.
- Hold the meat with the tines of a fork and cut off pieces with a knife.
Important! You should not divide the chicken into several parts at once. It's better to cut off one piece, eat it, then cut off the next one.
If broth is served with meat, they eat it first, and only then the poultry.
Pizza
If you ordered pizza, you can eat it with a knife or fork. You can also eat pizza with your hands, rolling a triangular or rectangular piece lengthwise to prevent the topping from falling out. But it’s better not to eat pizza crusts. They are designed to hold the pizza while eating all the toppings. Although some restaurants neglect this rule and serve crust sauce on pizza. It turns out very tasty.
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How to behave properly while drinking tea or coffee
A tea or coffee table can complete a feast, or can serve as a separate occasion to gather guests. At such a table you will also need cutlery, so you need to know how to properly hold a dessert spoon and fork.
Before serving sweets, you need to clear some space on the table.
The tea and coffee table is covered with a tablecloth, decorated with flowers and candlesticks. Each person present is given a napkin, which should be placed on the right. The center of the tea table is a teapot, and the coffee table is a beautiful service. Also on the table should be milk in a jug, cream, granulated sugar or crushed (lump) sugar. If it is stipulated that toasts, sandwiches, etc. are offered before serving drinks, a dessert container is placed for each guest, a fork for snacks is placed to the left of it, and a fork for cakes to the right.
When the dessert utensils are taken away, the cake utensils are placed on the left side of each person present, and a glass is placed on the right.
To make a good impression at the table, you must adhere to the following rules.
- After stirring the drink, the spoon is not left in the glass, but taken out and placed on the edge of the saucer.
- You cannot put gingerbread, bread, or crackers into the drink.
- You can take a sip of the contents of the cup only after the bitten pieces have been swallowed
- You need to drink any drink quietly.
- The saucer is held in the left hand, the glass in the right. In some cases, for example, if coffee with milk is served, you should not pick up the saucer.
- Hot drinks are drunk only from a glass; pouring them into plates or saucers is unacceptable.
- It looks very ugly when a person blows on the contents of a cup, behaves in a mannered manner, putting his little finger to the side, and sticks his fingers into the ring of the handle.
- The crushed sugar pieces are taken with tongs. If this device is not available, use your fingers.
Shrimps
Everyone knows that you should not drink water with lemon floating in it, but wash your hands in it. And the fact that you need to eat unpeeled shrimp with your hands, remove the shell from them and put them in your mouth - most likely, too. Tempura shrimp, peeled but served with the tail, are also eaten with the hands: they are dipped in the sauce and eaten. The pulp is not pulled out of the tail; this part is specially left in order to handle it with your hands.
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How to use a napkin
It is customary to use two types of napkins at the table: fabric and paper. Most often, fabric ones are used. They come in different sizes. Large napkins are available at formal banquets. They need to be turned halfway. The medium ones fold out two-thirds, and the small ones – completely. A napkin of any size is placed on your knees. It protects clothes from drops and splashes. However, if there are no paper napkins on the table, you can use a cloth one to blot your mouth and wipe your fingers. If the fabric is folded in half or two-thirds, the lips are blotted with the upper folded corner.
If the napkin is completely unfolded, then blot it with the lower right edge.
Important! You can tuck a napkin into your collar only in one case - if lobster is served.
Paper napkins are used during meals. They blot their lips, wipe their hands, etc. After the end of the feast, all napkins should be left on the left side of the plate.
In a formal setting, it is important to look dignified while eating.
Good manners are decorative. A person who possesses them will always be able to make a positive impression on others. Therefore, knowing how to behave correctly at the table, in which hand a fork and knife should be held according to etiquette, is simply necessary. Moreover, learning this is not at all difficult.
Dumplings
They are eaten with a fork, without using a knife. If the dumplings are too large to eat at one time, then they are broken with a fork, then the halves are pricked and put into the mouth. The main thing is not to get dirty with the juice that is in the dumplings.
If dumplings are served in broth, they are scooped out with a spoon.
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Spatula instead of knife
There used to be an expression: poultry and fish are eaten with your hands. It is not known who came up with this first, but modern etiquette is categorically against it. For fish dishes, special spatulas are served, which are used instead of a knife, or there will be two forks near the plate.
Sliced bread is eaten without biting off a whole portion, but breaking off into small pieces. Recently very popular dishes from Japan with the exotic names “sushi” and “rolls” are not cut, but eaten in whole portions. They are already small enough.
