Eating with your dominate hand

[Miss Chicken]

That statement by Wikipedia seems to have been backed up by other sources.

Several studies have come to the conclusion that Wikipedia is as reliable as other encyclopedias.

 

[ITL]

I'd be very interested, though, in learning what caused the American method. Is it only spite (doing it as different as possible from the way it's done in the homecountry) or is there a practical reason (having a hand free to grab the revolver lying in your lap)?

I'm sure Bill Bryson explained it in one of his books (Made In America, possibly), but I can't remember what it was...

Indeed. From what I remember, it's because an early eating implement had the fork and knife combined, with the useful bits at opposing ends of a single piece of wood.

I just looked through Made In America and you're right. Here's the passage:

Only recently had Americans become generally acquainted with an appliance that had been around in Europe for some time: the fork. Before that, diners in the New World got by with knives (which often had two prongs on the end for spearing meat) and spoons. Because they were accustomed to using the right hand for both cutting food and raising it to the mouth, they developed the habit - curious to the rest of the world - of transferring the fork from left hand to right between actions.

 

[Davros]

I have a knife in my right hand and the fork in my left hand, and I use them together to eat. Using your knife, putting your knife down, picking up you fork, taking a bite and then repeating seems to be a very inefficient way to eat IMO.

I use the opposite hands but other than that I am in full agreement.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Wikipedia has an atricle about the history of the fork: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork
However, I wouldn't trust this source much as there is a rather big mistake already at the start of the article: on the European continent, unless we use the fork to poke something up, we hold it with the tines up and use it like a shovel, as opposed to the British way where you hold it with the tines down and pile food onto the back of the fork (or so a book on British etiquette states). I find the latter method highly ineffective, particularly with peas and similarly evasive food.

edited to add: the above is in reply to ITL (Davros overtook me - I'm a slow typer)

 

[Miss Chicken]

I slightly mash the peas before I put them on the back of the fork, or else I mix them with something (such as mash potato) that will stick easily to the back of the fork.

The only time I have the tines upright is when I am only using a fork not a knife (if I am eating savoury rice or pasta) In that case I hold the fork in my right hand and use it as a shovel.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I knew about the American method of zig-zaging fork and knife between hands. It's quite weird to me, but whatever.

But now you tell me that English-speaking people put food on the back of the fork???

 

[ITL]

I knew about the American method of zig-zaging fork and knife between hands. It's quite weird to me, but whatever.

But now you tell me that English-speaking people put food on the back of the fork???

Well...when cutting up food - meat, for example - in this manner, additional foody goodness - peas, for example - are sort of smooshed with the knife onto whatever's been speared by the fork.

Not that we eat like this all the time, though. Fork usage is context dependent. If I don't need a knife, I hold the fork in my dominant hand like anybody else.

 

[Miss Chicken]

There is a video at this site that shows a woman putting food onto the back of a fork though I which she had used other foods to show it more clearly.

edited to add - it also shown here

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fypq2qhRZnI[/yt]

and ITL is correct - one has to have some food speared by the fork and other food is put on top of it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

If I'm eating peas, I usually scoop them up with the fork like it's a spoon. I don't spear them or smush them or anything like that.

 

[iguana_tonante]

The more you know.

In Italy (or at least, in my household), we cut and eat stuff Continental-style (no zig-zag), then you spear "spearable" food (e.g. steak) with the tines down, or you scoop "scoopable" food (e.g. vegetables) with the tines up.

Best of both worlds!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Dammit, now I have a craving for peas!

 

[Grey]

I don't eat peas either way!

In Italy (or at least, in my household), we cut and eat stuff Continental-style (no zig-zag), then you spear "spearable" food (e.g. steak) with the tines down, or you scoop "scoopable" food (e.g. vegetables) with the tines up.

Best of both worlds!

Same here!

 

[rhubarbodendron]

and here as well

The pea discussion reminds me of that silly old joke: what's the difference between roast beef and pea soup?
(Everyone can roast beef...)

 

[scotpens]

The pea discussion reminds me of that silly old joke: what's the difference between roast beef and pea soup?
(Everyone can roast beef...)

Thank you, Benny Hill.

 

[Roger Wilco]

The more you know.

In Italy (or at least, in my household), we cut and eat stuff Continental-style (no zig-zag), then you spear "spearable" food (e.g. steak) with the tines down, or you scoop "scoopable" food (e.g. vegetables) with the tines up.

Best of both worlds!

When I'm eating meat, I "spear" a piece of meat, and then scoop some of the side dishes, vegetable or whatever on my fork using my knife to eat everything together in one bite. Another benefit to using both hands.

 

[Grey]

What about people who are appalled at the idea of mixing food on their plate? What do they do?

I've known two kinds of people: people who say, "Eh, it all mixes in the stomach anyway," before mixing stuff up on their plate/fork (I do this). And then there are the people who say, "If food touches another food item on the plate I will. Not. Eat it!"

Being nauseated by the sight of food mixing on the plate is enough of a thing that I wonder how these people feel about mushing your vegetables/potatoes on the fork with the steak to hold it in place?

 

[marillion]

I'm like that in some ways.. I HATE it when cold food like salad, and hot foods mix.. I enjoy a small bite of potato with my meat, but get bugged if the salad and meat come in contact... I can't explain it and have worked to get over it with some success, but I would still much rather have two separate plates...

 

[Mary Ann]

I was taught that cutting pieces, putting down your knife and eating only with your fork is boorish and that only old rural people (and Americans) eat that way.

This is the first thing that popped into my head when I read the OP. My parents immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in 1964, when they were in their late '30s. My mother loved Canada and picked up a lot of North American mannerisms, but what drove her up the wall was seeing her friends cutting their food with their right hands, putingt their knives down, and picking up their forks with their right hands. My mother always said her own mother would have smacked her senseless if she'd dared to eat like that.

Needless to say I grew up eating the European way, with the fork in the left hand and the knife in my right. I'm left-handed, but never had issues cutting my food with my right hand. When I'm doing food preparation and using sharp knives I use my left hand, though, and I always use my left hand for spoons. I was also taught not to scoop up food with my fork, but to move food onto the fork with the knife. Because of this I eat with a fork and knife whether or not I need to cut my food.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

same here, but then NL and D are neighbours and so their eating habits wouldn't differ much, automatically.
Eating American-style would only abe acceptable for old and/or disabled people and for children up to an age of 4. At 5 you are expected to be able to use fork and knife with both hands. (ok, that might perhaps differ, depending on social status, like so many other educational principles. I am really horrified at how many of my colleagues are unable to hold their cutlery properly!)

 

[Deckerd]

I cut stuff with the side of the fork. Guess I don't eat steak much.

This is what I do because I'm a total slob and eat watching TV.