Again withe the movie mess up. But it just leads me to another worthless, but to me, interesting bit of knowledge.

I was watching this vey poor western staring Casper Van Dien, Aces 'n Eights. In the film, set in the old west near Nogales AZ., he is shown eating .

The way he was eating wouldn't have been utilized by folks like him in that time period.

He was eating in the European or continental style. Which is holding the fork, tines down in the off hand and holding the knife in the strong hand. Both held in the over hand position. With the handles running along the palm and palms down. Then after the food is cut to continue in that position to use the off hand to transferr the parcel to the mouth

Americans would have been eating in the traditional American style with holding the fork tines down in the off hand and holding the knife in the right only for the cutting. Then transferring the fork to the strong hand where it's held with tines up in an underhand position to transfer the bite sized parcel to the mouth.

I've noticed this discrepancy many times in films.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-mirza-grotts/table-etiquette-two-diffe_b_594518.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_utensil_etiquette


So, my question is: How do you eat, American or European style.

Me, as you might surmise, I use the American method.

Dave

I will use any method that gets the grub close to my mouth, including bare hands

After I became more adapt eating with my left hand following breaking my wrist there in the mid '70's , I occasionally ate with both hands. It was just a few years ago after watching people eat that I realized that some people only use one hand to eat and drink with. Me I use whatever hand is closer to the cup or toast or what ever.

After my accident I even used chopsticks left handed and cracked eggs left handed one handed. Still, though, I usually use two hands to crack an egg. Unless I want shells in the mix or want a mangled egg

Dave

Like most Americans, I use the American style.

but you're story about switching due to an injury
got me thinking about a bit of family oddity...
We invariably sat in the same preffered positions
throughout every meal while we still lived at home
but were never "taught" silverware etiquette as such.

It wasn't until 20 years later that my older brother
brought up the fact that although our younger brother
was right-handed in every other way... he invariably
ATE left-handed. His wife said, "Yeah! What's with that?"

Jimmy just smiled and said, as a baby, I learned to eat
by mirroring the person sitting directly across from me
at the table (which was me.) and it became a fixed habit.

Now that is interesting.

My ex wife's maternal grandfather was born and rased in England. My wife's younger brothers reveled in watching him eat. They couldn't see how anyone could eat peas by hold his fork tine down and pushing the peas up on the back of the tines with it held convex upward . How he kept those peas from falling off that fork

Dave

I always thought it was ironic that the European style (which I didn't know was called that until now) is actually what a left hander naturally would do anyway with no etiquette knowledge.

DITTO!

+1
works 4 me

Actually, a left handler, eating Eruopean style, would hold his fork in his right hand and cut off bites with his knife holding itwith his left. Then eat with the right hand. He doesn't switch hands with the fork.

american style lays down the knife , switches hands, and picks up the fork in his dominant hand,the left.