To eat a burger with my hands?

[Happytobefree17]

In a gastro pub?

My friend is aghast that I didn't use cutlery. Thinks I'm some sort of Neanderthal for eating with my hands.

Who is right?

I always eat (veggie) burgers with a knife and fork because I'm greedy and always think eating them that way makes them last longer. It's the same reason I eat puddings with a tea spoon :)

I wouldn't judge anyone for eating a burger with their hands though!

There is an infuriating trend to build burgers that require you to dislocate your jaw to eat. I'd much rather have breadth than depth.

If it is a large burger I do tend to cut it in half though.

Really, one should eat the food in the way it's designed to be eaten

No, they really shouldn't. They should just do what they find easiest and most comfortable and not worry about all these nonsense "rules" that really don't matter at all.

Italians eat pizza with a knife and fork, the street food version is folded over like calzone

Using cutlery to eat a burger is very common. I use chopsticks

Why on earth would you use cutlery. Just seems so bizarre to me. Only time I've ever used cutlery on a burger was to cut in half if it was a big one. Pizza that's even stranger

Ribs, another fine finger food :)

cdtaylornats - my Italian family use scissors to cut the pizza and then eat with fingers.

A burger at a "gastro " pub sounds vile and probably overpriced. YABU to choose such a bad place for lunch.

I always cut it up and eat it with knife and fork in a pub/restaurant. That kind of massive burger is too big to pick up and bite chunks out of, I think you'd look very odd if you tried. And would get sauce and bits of food falling out everywhere!

The only things I eat with my hands are ribs, fast food burgers, pizza (cut small and folded over). I've never seen anyone pick up a gormet burger and bite into it and would feel a bit shocked and embarrassed!

I've never seen anyone pick up a gormet burger and bite into it and would feel a bit shocked and embarrassed!

How odd.

I have been to many restaurants where no cutlery is supplied. Even curry and rice has to be eaten with hands.

You knife and fork people remind me of this Seinfeld episode:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=UxB-H6f3crY

Back in the day, eating a banana in public had an etiquette (knife and fork) that I always thought implied they knew it looked like a blowjob, but don't like to say.

This 21st century update makes it plain:

Having said that, etiquette for oyster eating has preserved its cunnilingual ( is that even word?) associations over the ages.

There are restaurants where curry and rice is served without cutlery?

That's messy.

That's messy.

Not messy at all. In fact very hygienic.

Eating curry and rice or any food without cutlery is an art. Huge swathes of countries in Africa and Asia manage perfectly well, in fact very elegantly.

Calli is right.
Most countries where curry/rice is part of their national dish use flat breads to scoop up the food. They are not messy at all.

Some countries use chop sticks to eat rice and it amazes me. I house shared with a chinese student back in the day and the speed and neatness of how she could eat rice with chopsticks had me in awe. Apparently the trick is to hold the bowl close to your chin and scoop.

Chopsticks are fine.

I would hate to end up in a restaurant where everyone eats curry with their fingers.

Why Chardonnay ?

What is so offensive about people eating a dish the way that it is meant to be eaten and is a cultural norm?

Yes cosmic, although I have lived in a part of the world where bread is not eaten, rice or more typically sago is balled with fingers, then scooped up with a piece of vegetable or meat and eaten. The whole process is very elegant and quite an art.
Similarly in banana leaf restaurants, where a large banana leaf is used in place of a plate and no cutlery.
Diners in these restaurants wash their hands before eating and there is usually a sink in the corner of the restaurant.
Interestingly these are countries that don't use toilet paper either, but have more hygienic practices than the UK.

Do you not use flatbread to dip/scoop up your curry? Or do you use a knife and fork to cut it then dip? Or dont you eat curry?

I would hate to end up in a restaurant where everyone eats curry with their fingers.

You poor snowflake.

I've never seen anyone pick up a gormet burger and bite into it and would feel a bit shocked and embarrassed! Maybe you need to get out more!

I wonder how many people who eat with their hands wash them first?