Etiquette lessons?

[Whidbey78]

I think I'll do everything I can to avoid that 3rd pit, though the English aren't the worst cooks in the world. That honor is bestowed upon my Mother In-Law.

[Tobus]

Aha! This is why it is dangerous to take things too literally, something that the non British have a habit of doing if I may say so, anyway, you chaps are missing the point of the subtleties of experience!

Uh oh, I'm afraid I'm lost again. Your description of how to properly eat peas seemed pretty specific, and I can't think of any other way to read it except literally. Is there something I'm missing here, that allows peas to be eaten with proper etiquette but doesn't require mixing them with other food?

Is it improper to just use a spoon to eat peas? And what about if the peas are served without potatoes?

What about corn?

[Jock Scot]

Uh oh, I'm afraid I'm lost again. Your description of how to properly eat peas seemed pretty specific, and I can't think of any other way to read it except literally. Is there something I'm missing here, that allows peas to be eaten with proper etiquette but doesn't require mixing them with other food?

Is it improper to just use a spoon to eat peas? And what about if the peas are served without potatoes?

What about corn?

Spoon for peas! Perish the thought! That is for babies!

The no potato problem? Easy! Use a piece of meat, or carrot,or parsnip as the foundation and pile the peas on top. A steady hand may be then needed to get it all to the mouth though!

What about corn? I assume you are talking about sweet corn, maize off the cob? Same as peas.

[Mike_Oettle]

Since the conversation has once more turned to peas (and now also mealies [corn]), I thought I would put my tuppenceworth in on this topic.
When you have peas and and other vegetables (like mashed potatoes) that can be used to adhere the peas to the fork (held tines down), it is fine to put the peas on the fork with "cement" of this nature.
But in the absence of such material on the plate, what does one do with peas and other loose, small veg?
To me the logical step would be to turn the fork over and use it like a spoon (like a spoon– actually using a spoon would be wrong).
While this brings looks of horror to the faces of many, especially our dear Jock Scot, there are times when no other solution is feasible.
Regards,
Mike

[piperdbh]

Is it improper to just use a spoon to eat peas? And what about if the peas are served without potatoes?

What about corn?

Throw in some tomatoes, call it Succotash, and eat it with a spoon to your heart's content.

[Drac]

Funny about the timing of this thread. Part of my job is to watch CNN for 8 hours a day. I work in a surveillance center for the phone company and we need to keep up on things that can affect our network like storms, accidents, etc.

One thing that has been running today (you have no idea how many times you sit through the same story in 8 hours) is the latest trend of taking etiquette lessons to help get a job. Lessons include eating.

Funny how these things always come back around.

Jim

[Pleater]

In my circles peas are lifted on the concave side of the fork, only sliceable things are stabbed and eaten from the points, convex side up.

Different items are not usually mixed together, the sole exception being the rice served witth curry - I did not realise this was such a strong taboo until last week when I had haggis and had to mix in the potatoes before serving in order to achieve the required toning down of the spices.

As for eating corn - I leave that to others, it being a grain not a vegetable in the culinary sense. It is more cuboid than spherical, though - is it not?

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[piperdbh]

If the corn has been cut off the cob, then one uses a fork, witht he concave side up, to scoop up a biteful. If the corn is still on the cob, and the eater doesn't have dentures or braces, then the copb is held witht he hands and the kernels are chewed off. I prefer to start on the left end of the cob, eat down the length of it, then return to the left end and start over, rather like a typewriter (anyone remember them?).

[Mike_Oettle]

Good answer, piperdbh. That’s the way I tackle those suckers.
My father used to make use of special corn-on-the-cob pins (two pins mounted in a plastic holder that looked like a miniature cob). With a holder at each end of the cob, he would hold the cob up to bite.
But first he would take a sharp knife and slice through a row of mealie pips and spread butter over them.
That was too much fuss for me, though. Hold the butter!
And, Anne, thanks for confirming that aspect of my manners!
Regards,
Mike

[Jack Daw]

There are five deadly sins as regards dinner conversation:

1) GOSSIP.......straight to Hell.
2) RELIGION...straight to purgatory
3) POLITICS....straight to the third pit (where the cops are German, the cooks English, and the mechanics French)
4) DEATH........straight to Limbo, where you will languish forever waiting for another dinner invitation
5) ILLNESS.....straight to the fifth pit, which is a NHS waiting room...

Illness was always mentioned in a whisper by my grandmother.