Eating utensil etiquette describes the correct etiquette with the use of eating utensils. ^[1]

Contents 1 Chopstick etiquette 1.1 Placement of the chopsticks 2 Fork etiquette 2.1 American style 2.1.1 Variations 2.2 European style 2.3 Placement of forks 3 References 4 Further reading 5 See also

[edit] Chopstick etiquette

Forbidden is:

• Placing the chopsticks straightup into a bowl of food; this refers to death
• Pointing or gesturing with the chopsticks in hand
• Sticking the chopsticks into the food
• Licking the chopsticks or biting the food off the chopsticks
• Offering tablemembers a taste of your meal using the chopsticks
• Accepting a bowl using the hand you use to hold your chopsticks

Obligations are:

• Placing the chopsticks next to each other on the especially intended holder when you pause or finish eating
• Taking the food from the dish with the back of the chopsticks (not used for eating) to put it into your own bowl. Turn the sticks over when you start eating.
• A bowl of soup or rice can be picked up to decrease the distance between food and mouth (to prevent spilling).^[2]

[edit] Placement of the chopsticks

The correct handling of chopsticks goes as follows:

• The lower chopstick is to be placed between thumb and hand, the end is kept in place using the ring finger. The lower chopstick should not move while picking food.
• The upper chopstick balances on the thumb and is moved up and down using the middle and/or forefinger. ^[3]

[edit] Fork etiquette

Fork etiquette in Western social settings takes two primary forms. The style used mostly in the United States of America, which is sometimes called the zigzag method or American style, differs from the European style (sometimes known as the continental style) which dominates in the rest of the western world including Europe and British Commonwealth countries.

[edit] American style

The knife is held in the right hand and the fork in the left. Holding food to the plate with the fork tines-down, a single bite-sized piece is cut with the knife. The knife is then placed on the right edge of the plate (with the blade facing inward) and the fork transferred to the right hand, with the left hand falling to the lap. The cut piece is then speared (if not already during the cut) or scooped and eaten using the fork in a tines-up orientation. The fork is held in the right hand or put down on the plate while chewing. The fork is then transferred back into the left hand, the right hand picks up the knife, and the process is repeated as necessary. A left-handed consumer can retain the fork in the stronger hand, although the knife is still released.^[4][5]

[edit] Variations

While cutting, the fork is usually held upside down with the handle along the palm and the index finger pressing down at the neck of the handle. Because most forks have a curve this will point the tines downward into the food.

If the food is very soft or flaky (for example, fish), some choose to disregard the knife entirely, using a fork in their right hand and cutting their food by pressing down with the edge or with the tines of their fork. Sawing at the food in this way is considered bad form. Alternatively, a fish knife can be used, held much like a pen or a scalpel. Such knives are rarely seen in the U.S., but they are used more often in Europe.

The fork can be held with the index finger touching the back of the fork throughout the motion of picking up and putting in the mouth.

[edit] European style

The European manner is to hold the fork and knife, in the left and right hands respectively, throughout consumption. Once a bite-sized piece of food has been cut, it is conducted straight to the mouth by the left hand. There is no need to put down the knife.

The hand grasp is also different: outside of North America it is considered better manners not to hold a knife or fork as one would hold a pen, but instead to have the handle running along the palm and extending out to be held by thumb and forefinger. This style is sometimes called 'hidden handle'. This method is also common in Canada and other former parts of the British Empire. In contrast to the American method of using a fork much like a spoon (tines up), in this style of eating the tines must be pointed down.

The cause of the difference in custom is uncertain. It is believed to have originated because the 17th century American colonists had established themselves before the fork, and any custom of its use, had become widespread in Europe. The implement did not become widespread in Europe (certainly northern Europe) until the 18th century, and was not adopted in the United States until the 19th century. The American use of blunt-ended knives was also a factor.

[edit] Placement of forks

Tables are often set with two or more forks, meant to be used for different courses; for example, a salad fork and meat fork. Some institutions wishing to give an impression of high formality set places with many different forks for meals of several courses, although many etiquette authorities regard this as vulgar and prefer that the appropriate cutlery be brought in with each course.

It should not be necessary for the diner to distinguish between types of forks; forks are used in order from outside to inside, with the exception of oyster forks, which are placed on the right-hand side in the bowl of a spoon.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• From Hand to Mouth, Or, How We Invented Knives, Forks, Spoons and Chopsticks, and the Manners to Go with Them by James Cross Giblin. New York: Crowell, 1987.
• The Evolution of Useful Things by Henry Petroski. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
• The History of Manners by Norbert Elias. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978.
• "Newport Etiquette & Modern Manners, " by Didi Lorillard, online at www.NewportManners.com

[edit] See also

• Table manners
• "Newport Etiquette & Modern Manners," by Didi Lorillard, online at www.NewportManners.com