Cutlery

[Zweihänder]

1. Are you left- or right-handed?
2. Where are you from?
3. Which hand do you hold your knife and fork in while, say, cutting a steak?
4. Which hand do you hold your knife and fork in while, say, eating a steak?
5. Which hand do you hold your fork in while, say, eating a piece of cheesecake?
6. Which hand do you hold your spoon in while, say, eating a bowl of cereal?

I'm right-handed, from New York, and the fork/spoon is always in the right hand. Drives people nuts. ^_^

 

[Pbartender]

Amazing, I'm not the only one who is right handed and keeps the fork in my right hand...go Hellhound!!

There's about a half dozen of us now... We can call it the "Reverse Continental" method.

1. Right Handed
2. Grew up in Red Wing, MN, USA. Currently living in Batavia, IL, USA.
3. Fork Right, Knife Left
4. Fork Right, Knife Left
5. Right
6. Right

 

[EricNoah]

I'm a righty from the USA. Zig-zag style here if I'm being fancy or formal; tines start upside down with the fork in the left hand, but end up right-side up with the fork in the right. If I'm alone or eating fast, I'll keep the fork in the left while cutting with the right, and keep tines down.

 

[Azten]

Raging Epistaxis posting under PbP account. Oops.

As to the origin of the 'American' style vs. the 'Continental' style I seem to remember learning a long time ago that the American style dates back to colonial days. Something about not trusting a colonial with a knife in his hand all the time during a meal. Or perhaps is was not trusting a continental with a knife in her hand all the time and wanting to be different in the colonies. Dunno, but interesting if true.

1. Are you left- or right-handed?
2. Where are you from?
3. Which hand do you hold your knife and fork in while, say, cutting a steak?
4. Which hand do you hold your knife and fork in while, say, eating a steak?
5. Which hand do you hold your fork in while, say, eating a piece of cheesecake?
6. Which hand do you hold your spoon in while, say, eating a bowl of cereal?

1. Right
2. Decatur, Illinois, USA
3. Knife right, Fork left, tines down*
4. Knife on plate, Fork right, tines up*
5. (Don't like cheesecake - but I'll imagine it's key lime pie** as a reasonable substitute...) Fork right, tines up
6. Right
7. ('taters) Fork right, tines up

*In an informal setting, I tend to cut up the whole piece of meat at once and then lay the knife down. The fork is transferred to my right hand to actually eat the meat. I can't say whether I consistently eat tines down or up, but up feels more 'right'. I find the zig zag / cut 1-2 pieces then eat method annoyingly inefficient when all I want to do is eat.
In a formal setting, I find myself pressured to adhere to zig zag conventions even if not everyone else is because I 'know it's the "right way" to eat'.

**<Homer>Mmmm m m m Key Lime Pie (drool) </Homer>

R
' E

 

[Smackfish]

Dubious Information

Never thought my first post would be about dining ettiquette

I seem to remember from my days of waiting tables that another difference between American Style and Continental Style is the placement of the left hand when not in use. In American Style, it is placed in the lap, whereas in Continental Style, it is placed on the table, with no more than half the forearm (no elbows on the table ). The reason for this is supposedly that an American General in the Revolutionary War whose name I cannot for the life of me remember was shot in the left hand, and so dined with his left hand in his lap.

Of course I very well could be misinformed, as I learned it from a 45 year old man who was still waiting tables for a living. Not to disparage anyone who is a waiter or waitress, but it's not exactly the most educationally (is that a word?) demanding profession.


Smackfish

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

1. Previously ambidextrous with slight right-preference. With my neurological condition, whichever one responds to the instruction without going off in a random direction.
2. Rochester, NY.
3. My meat usually has to be cut for me. On the days I can do it, Its relatively random... Whichever one grabs the utnesil first. I often switch freely, as sometimes I require both hands in a series of clumsy motions to finally hold the damn thing in the first place.
4. I eat with my knife. Seriously.
5. I hate cheesecake. But in the case of say, pie or regular cake, see #3.
6. See #3.

 

[freebfrost]

1. Are you left- or right-handed?
2. Where are you from?
3. Which hand do you hold your knife and fork in while, say, cutting a steak?
4. Which hand do you hold your knife and fork in while, say, eating a steak?
5. Which hand do you hold your fork in while, say, eating a piece of cheesecake?
6. Which hand do you hold your spoon in while, say, eating a bowl of cereal?

1. Right handed.
2. Columbus, Ohio, USA
3. Cutting steak - fork in left, knife in right
4. Eating steak - fork in left, knife in right.
5. Right
6. Right