Do you use a knife and fork?

[beebee25]

I was in a pub the other day and was queuing at the bar for a drink. There was a group of people eating a roast dinner nearby. One of the diners was just using a fork to eat her food. Scooping it up on her fork and shovelling it in. She seemed to be struggling with her Yorkshire pudding and got her knife out for a bit and chopped it up and then reverted to a fork.. why would somebody eat like this? I appreciate she may have been American but I have noticed recently a few young people eating like this. This makes me irrationally irritated and I have no idea why.

Not goady at all my love! If I was being goady I’d tell you that your original point was bullshit and neither I, nor anyone else, has to be concerned by your faux ‘cultural etiquette’!

But it is British Etiquette to eat with a knife and fork, there is nothing “faux” about it! It is the cultural norm to eat like that. People should abide by the cultural etiquette of the society in which they’re publicly eating. If you want to sit there shovelling food into your mouth with your hands, you have to accept society will judge you for it.

That's fine. People can judge me. I expect most people don't notice if someone is eating only with a fork in real life.

Oh they do. Because people are brought up in the UK to eat with a knife and fork, it is so embedded it stands out as not being g quite right so people will take a closer look. It’s human nature tto examine anyone not following social norms- it’s basic tribal behaviour.

Oh well. My neglectful parents didn't bring me up like that. Carry on examining and judging.

Most likely of American extraction as this is how typically they eat, I lived there for 5 years and never could understand why. I actually was asked for lessons on how to eat properly in formal settings by some well heeled acquaintances, because we ate “so well” (no just normally, not immune from an elbow on table either!)

Same

So as @Holluschickie hasn’t started why she she doesn’t eat British food, what counts as British food and what she does actually eat, I’ll ask you the same.

Depends what I'm eating. I'd definitely use a knife and fork for a roast,I don't think I could manage with just a fork! However,if I'm eating a curry,or something similar in a sauce I use just a spoon. I have actually witnessed people using a knife and fork to eat a hamburger and pizza! Everyone to their own I suppose!

@ainsleysanob

if you are eating in a non British style restaurant then the polite thing is to adopt the utensils of that style of food eg French food is definitely knife and fork like us, pasta you use just a fork, Chinese is chopsticks and Indian food could be eating with your hands if super authentic (I’ve been to such places, little gems for taste, but just a fork is fine. Ethiopian food you eat with strips of bread.

if you can’t manipulate two pieces of cutlery of course it is fine not too, sometimes it’s not obvious that someone has a disability, don’t judge

British cuisine is British food, there isn’t anything I personally like beyond chippy chips.

A spork is all you need

If you saw me eating out you would think the same about me.
I have had several strokes and my left hand is pretty useless.
So I cannot use a fork or knife with my left hand otherwise it ends up very messy.
At home I have special forks with cutting edges so use just a fork. I don't eat meat so generally don't need a knife to cut my food up. If I do need to cut it I use a knife in my right hand; then eat with my fork in my right hand. It is easy to judge people when you don't k ow them.

I am left handed! It’s completely irrelevant if taught properly from a young age. I’m talking specifically about British etiquette which was taught at my school from the age of four.

So what types of food are you including in “British Cuisine” what do you eat? Are you purposely avoiding food because it is British whatever that means

I eat almost exclusively Gilgit cuisine, with a little bit of Bangladeshi thrown in, technically a little bit of American as I sometimes make pancakes for breakfast. Surely most people avoid food that they dislike?

Blimey, why do some believe that the only correct way to eat is with a knife and fork! My family will use forks or spoons in their right hands depending on what we're eating and hands too for certain dishes. Different cultures, different practices!

Oh dear, you appear to be conflating two different things.

If there were just two people sitting opposite each other having a meal, would you object if either or both of them had their elbows on the table (with no invasion of space)? If so, why?