How do you use a knife and fork?

[Max Downs]

Hi everyone,

how do you use your knife and fork

are you a knife right hand fork left hand and use left hand to put the fork to mouth?

do you go left handed and do the knife in left hand?

do you swap hands to put fork to mouth?

Tell us all how you eat.

Max

 

[MickeyLee]

I legit had to think about it.

I guess there aren't many foods I have to fork and knife it after preparing the dish. Fork in left hand, knife in right hand. Keep the fork in the left hand.

Mostly chop stick and large spoon. Right hand chop stick. Right hand spoon of going flatware solo. Combo, chop right, cuz left hand chop stick would result in someone, probably me, getting hurt.

 

[EllieP]

The fork and knife never change hands. That's the way Mum taught us to eat much to the dismay of my American grandmother. I never understood why this eating ballet became equated with good manners in the U.S. It doesn't make sense when you think about it.

Same for a big spoon and pasta. I remember my little sister asking the server what the spoon was for. He replied it was for twirling your pasta. She said "I use my fork."

 

[Silmende]

If the dish has something that needs cutting: knife in the right hand. If I'm not going to use the knife: fork (or spoon for soup or dessert) in the right hand. My youngest takes his knife in his left hand, which is his dominant hand.
As long as you don't make a mess of your plate and surroundings, who cares?

 

[lapdog2001]

Unfortunately, I grew up with the inefficient 'American' way of using utensils, constantly swapping out my fork and knife in my right hand. A few times a year, usually at restaurants, I try to use them the better way, but old, longtime habits die hard.

 

[XL_Lingam]

Fork in right hand, knife in left. I don’t much care how others do stuff, except utensils scraping across plates or fork tines clanking someone’s teeth makes me see red

 

[22D ROCK]

I'm Left Handed...What's Your Superpower?

I use the fork in my left hand and knife in my right.

If I'm eating a sandwich that has been cut (i.e. Subway, Jimmy John's, Jersey Mike's) I eat the cut side first.

Good thread. I never really thought about it, I just eat.

 

[pdxjoe]

Being an American I have to agree with @lapdog2001 on this issue as I learned to eat this way. I sometimes try to eat with knife and fork at the same time, but it seems awkward to me. Early training is had to overcome.

 

[MickeyLee]

@22D ROCK - cut end sando sameness.

My brain says everything will smoosh out if eating starts at the other side.

Saw someone eat a sub from the top/toppings down. They were probably space aliens test driving humaning.

 

[Kazimir]

Yes I have seen people in the USA drop their knife and then pick up their fork with the right hand.

Makes no sense.

Unfortunately, I grew up with the inefficient 'American' way of using utensils, constantly swapping out my fork and knife in my right hand.

Being an American I have to agree with lapdog2001 on this issue as I learned to eat this way. I sometimes try to eat with knife and fork at the same time, but it seems awkward to me. Early training is had to overcome.

As Miss Manners put it: "The American method is less efficient, and therefore more refined." Or something to thay effect.
The goal isn't to get food into your body as efficiently as possible. Otherwise, why bother with silverware at all?

I grew up using my silverware the proper American way, but unfortunately, after a stint in Europe, I've unlearned it, and now it seems very clunky and awkward to do it they way. I wish that still came naturally to me.

Now I'm stuck with "knife right, fork left" way they do it in Europe. All business, never once setting down your utensils. A truly soulless, inelegant way to eat...

 

[yhtang]

There is nothing elegant about dropping knives to pick up forks.

Max

I agree, and Miss Manners can put down her knife, pick up her fork and shove it up where it does not see the sun.

There is nothing elegant about dropping the knife and swapping the fork. Less efficient does not make it more elegant at all.

And don't start me on eating grains of rice (as opposed to rice pudding) with either a knife or a fork. I use a spoon and it is a lot more practical.

But back to the question, I hold my fork with my left hand and knife on my right. I spear the food with my fork using my left hand and move it to my mouth.

 

[Motion-of-the-Ocean]

What if you eat with one of these?

 

[chicagosam]

What if you eat with one of these?

View attachment 86312591

That would be your forkin’ choice.

 

[MisterB]

Interesting question that IMO is dependent upon where one was raised.

There is no right/wrong way, as long as one is able to get one's sustenance in one's mouth.

Now, chewing one's food with one's mouth open?

That's the issue that needs to be addressed!!!

 

[Motion-of-the-Ocean]

Please stick to the OP.

You asked a question and I answered. Sorry if my answers in your threads are not to your personal satisfaction, but I wasn't aware the OP got to dictate that the only responses were what he or she wanted to hear.

how do you eat champ?

With my hands...caveman style, sport.

 

[Kazimir]

There is nothing elegant about dropping knives to pick up forks.

There is nothing elegant about dropping the knife and swapping the fork.

If you drop your knife, you're doing it wrong.

Part of the point is to slow you down, and make room for things like dinner conversation.
That, and to always have your active utensil in your dominant hand.

Less efficient does not make it more elegant at all.

Elegance and wasteful inefficiency are inextricably linked. In fact, many things are considered elegant because they're inefficient. It's actually a really interesting thing to look into.

Almost everything we think of as high-class is incredibly inefficient and wasteful of time, money, and labor. Deep down we like to be inefficient, because it shows the world that we can afford to be wasteful. That we don't have to make every penny, every minute of the day, every scrap of fabric, count.

 

[MickeyLee]

Best way to get food to your face.

I legit like eating with my hands. Maybe cuz I was crazy about Ethiopian food and injera is amazing. The Middle East and Africa are all phalange friendly food cultures.

 

[EllieP]

What if you eat with one of these?

View attachment 86312591

I have one very similar and have used it on many occasions. Simple: I only use the knife. If I'm sitting at a campfire eating from a tin tray there ain't an ounce of elegance anywhere around. I'm spearing my food with the knife and using it to keep others at bay while I'm eating.

As my fellow campers used to say "You're pretty tough for a girl scout." Yeah, I am.

 

[LaFemme]

It depends on the setting and culture. Formal dinners, I use the switch utensil to dominant hand method. I’ll eat with my hands in other settings. Different settings and cultures have different rules. Basically, I tend to emulate my hosts and follow their lead.

If I’m alone? I just put my food on a pillow, lay down beside it and let it roll into my mouth.

 

[MickeyLee]

It depends on the setting and culture. Formal dinners, I use the switch utensil to dominant hand method. I’ll eat with my hands in other settings. Different settings and cultures have different rules. Basically, I tend to emulate my hosts and follow their lead.

If I’m alone? I just put my food on a pillow, lay down beside it and let it roll into my mouth.

Pillow Feeding Advanced Level - petite sweet peas