Post by Gregoire KretzPost by Waldo Centinigraham surprised us with
Post by grahamEtiquette and rules can ruin the enjoyment of food.
Utter nonsense.
He may be sober? :)
Post by Waldo CentiniMost etiquette and rules point you to the use of the most
suited utensil for eating certain foods. It's etiquette to eat soup with a
spoon because it's the most practical.
These may be two different things, IMHO: it's practical to have soup
with a spoon, yes, the etiquette comes next when you have to decide
which side of the spoon you eat from. IIUC Brits use the side while the
French use the tip, for instance (spoon shape notwithstanding).
Tipping the bowl of soup away from you while you eat the soup was merely to
avoid dumping it in your lap by accident. Bowl shaped soup spoons, while
widely used, are definitely not 'posh'. Using something like a table spoon
is. The main thing however, is to enjoy the soup!
Post by Gregoire KretzEtiquette would also be for the French that you never have soup twice in
the same meal: the host is supposed to offer a second helping but the
guests are supposed to refuse politely (the same goes for salad and
cheese).
AIUI the French believe that you should never use a knife to cut salad but
eat it only with a fork. And they are horrified when the English cut across
the bottom of a wedge of e.g. Brie as they always cut along its length, so
that everyone get a bit of the lovely gooey stuff in the middle.
Post by Gregoire KretzPost by Waldo CentiniIt's the most practical to degrate a fish with a fishknife, therefor it
has become etiquette to use a fishknife for eating fish.
Paging Matthew, who hasn't posted here in a long time. :)
He'll gladly explain fish knives were created by Sheffield cutlery
makers when they wanted to push well off customers to buy an entirely
new set of cutlery, hence Nancy Mitford's non-U.
Someone remarked to the Queen Mother how common it was to use 'fish eaters',
so she promptly asked her butler to lay the tbale with them every time that
particular guest visited her, saying "I do believe we'll use my common fish
eaters today". ;-)
Post by Gregoire KretzAnd if it's to serve a long fish, I'm almost more at ease with two table
spoons anyway.
I'm fascinated and filled with admiration for the waiters who can fillet and
serve a cooked sole, using just spoons.
Post by Gregoire KretzPost by Waldo CentiniNot knowing etiquette, or willfully ignoring it, disallows you from using the
right implement, and thus can ruin your enjoyment of the food.
I still think that's different: cutlery is a tool, which is a natural
extension of the arm/hand. Granted, there is a large cultural content in
it (as in we have forks, they have chopsticks), but different tools can
achieve the same goal, I think, and as such are equally valid,
culturally speaking.
Of course, if you're going to be a die-hard diplomat, you're supposed to
use the protocole and etiquette of the place you're at, which makes
things easier. :)
Like picking up a soup cup (the kind with little handles) to drain your
clear soup to its last lovely drop - it's the 'done thing' but not many
people dare 'do it'.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/