How to Use a Knife, Fork, and
Spoon
An Introduction
The rules that specify how knife, fork, and
spoon must be used have evolved along with the
forms of the
utensils themselves. In general, these
rules are explicitly intended to prevent the
utensils from appearing threatening. Margaret
Visser, in her book The Rituals of
Dinner, points out that etiquette and the
ritual it imposes helps to control the violence
inherent in the preparation and serving of
meals. Animals are slaughtered and consumed,
the guest-host relationship is, in itself, a complicated
interweaving of the imposition of obligation and
suspension of hostility, and the ordinary
table knife is related to actual weapons of war.
Consequently, flatware is held delicately,
carefully balanced on the prescribed fingers and
guided by the fingertips. To hold any utensil in
a fist or to manipulate it in such a way that is
pointed at anyone would hint at potential
danger, as would even setting it down in an
inappropriate way.
- Holding a Utensil
- In general use, both spoon and fork are held
horizontally by balancing them between the first
knuckle of the middle finger and the tip of the
index finger while the thumb steadies the
handle. The knife is used with the tip of the
index finger gently pressing out over the top of
the blade to guide as you cut.
- The Zig Zag Method
- By American custom, which was brought about
partly by the late introduction of the fork into
the culture, all three utensils are intended for
use primarily with the right hand, which is the
more capable hand for most people. This leads
to some complicated maneuvering when foods, such
as meat, require the use of knife and fork to
obtain a bite of manageable size. When this is
the case, the fork is held in the left hand,
turned so that the tines point downward, the
better to hold the meat in place while the right
hand operates the knife. After a bite-sized
piece has been cut, the diner sets the knife
down on the plate and transfers the fork to the
right hand, so that it can be used to carry the
newly cut morsel to the mouth. Emily Post calls
this the "zig-zag" style.
- European Style
- The European, or "Continental," style of
using knife and fork is somewhat more efficient,
and its practice is also common in the United
States, where left-handed children are no longer
forced to learn to wield a fork with their right
hands. According to this method, the fork is
held continuously in the left hand and used for
eating. When food must be cut, the fork is used
exactly as in the American style, except that
once the bite has been separated from the whole,
it is conveyed directly to the mouth on the
downward-facing fork. Regardless of which style
is used to operate fork and knife, it is
important never to cut more than one or two
bites at one time.
- Peas!
- Another significant difference between the
American and the Continental styles of using
knife and fork is the American insistence that
even the most awkward and contrary foods (peas
being the traditional example) must be captured
by the unaided fork. In Europe it is permitted
to use the knife or a small bit of bread to ease
a stubborn item onto the fork.
- Once-Used Placement
- There are numerous rules and prohibitions
regarding the proper placement of eating
utensils once they have been used. Essentially,
used flatware must never be allowed to touch the
surface of the table, where it might dirty the
cloth. It is not proper to allow even the clean
handle of a knife or fork to rest on the cloth
while the other end lies on the plate. At the
end of a course, a utensil must not be left in
any dish that is not flat -- the soup bowl, for
example, or a shrimp cocktail dish, a teacup or
a parfait glass. All these items are usually
presented with a plate underneath the bowl or
cup, on which the utensil must be placed after
use.
- Placement in General
- The positioning of knife and fork when not
in use acts as a sort of semaphore, allowing the
diner to indicate the degree to which he intends
to pause in eating. Flatware should always be
placed on the plate during pauses between bites.
If this is to be a very short time, there is no
set
pattern. For longer waits, perhaps caused by a
diverting twist in the table conversation, the
diner places the fork on the left and knife on
the right, so that they cross over the center of
the plate. The diner preparing to pass his
plate for a second helping places the fork and
knife parallel to each other at the right side
of the plate, so that there is room for the
food. When the diner has finished, he signals
this by setting the fork and knife parallel to
each other, so they lie either horizontally
across the center of the plate or are on the
diagonal, with the handles pointing to the
right. The cutting edge of the knife blade
should face toward the diner (again, avoiding
all possible aggressive implications), and the
fork may be placed with the tines either up or
down.
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