Section: TABLE SERVICE, DISH DECORATION, ETIQUETTE
3rd page of the chapter "TABLE SERVICE. LABEL"

AT THE TABLE
Rules of etiquette
How different dishes are eaten
How seafood is eaten
How to use chopsticks
How to tie a tie

Often at the table you have to communicate with people of different ages, gender, profession, nationality, different cultural level, mental disposition, etc. In your behavior, you should strive to ensure that each of those present feels free and at ease at the table, enjoying not only from deliciously prepared dishes, but also from good serving, as well as from communication.
Therefore, the ability to behave correctly in society, solid knowledge norms of conduct and rules of etiquette.

Etiquette is a set of historically established rules of human behavior in society. The rules of etiquette are usually formed in close connection with the development of the culture of the people, their national traditions and are based on the education in people of politeness, attention, and respect for each other.

The rules of etiquette provide, in particular, the ability to keep oneself at the table, to use cutlery correctly, etc., a skill that both hosts and guests should possess equally.

“Food aesthetics” is closely related to the beauty of table setting. As one Soviet classic wrote, "Food should be beautiful to the smallest detail."And in this he was right - dishes and serving bring up the aesthetic taste of a person.

The rules of behavior at the table are based on compliance with aesthetic standards, convenience and appropriateness.So, it is not recommended to sit too far from the edge of the table or too close and put your elbows on the table. This can embarrass your neighbor. Sit upright in a chair without bending over the plate. If you sit too far back in your chair, you can dip the dressing into the suit. You are not supposed to reach across the table - the waiter can put the dish on the plate.

Taking a napkindesigned for individual use, you need to unfold it and put it on your knees to protect the suit or dress from drops, splashes, crumbs. After eating, you can wipe the ends of your fingers with a napkin, but for the lips it is more correct to use your own handkerchief. After finishing the meal, they put the napkin on the table without folding it.

For children, a napkin is tucked into the collar.

While eating, you need to take care of yourself, observing the established rules.

Unaesthetic manner of eating irritates others. Eating with appetite does not mean eating hastily. If you like the dish, you can finish it to the end, but a piece of bread at the end of a fork looks ugly, which is sometimes used to clean the plate from the remains of the dish.

Usually, food is taken using a fork, spoon, spatula or tongs, but a number of foods are taken by hand. These are bread, cookies, cake, fruits and citrus fruits, sugar (if tongs are not put for it). This order was not adopted by chance: these products do not need to be divided with a knife or fork, they do not get fingers dirty, the hand touches only one piece, which is then put on a plate or in a cup.

A number of rules are dictated by the requirements of aesthetics. So, it is ugly to bite off a large piece of bread or a whole loaf, so small pieces are broken off from them as needed with your fingers; sometimes the bread is pre-cut into small pieces. When serving caviar, it is first put on a plate with a spatula, and then spread on small pieces of bread. Having eaten the first piece, you can spread the second, etc. In the same way, they eat pates, butter, using special knives for spreading.

There are certain rules when using cutlery.

So, cold snacks are eaten snack fork and knife;
hot from a cocotte maker or chill mold - cocotte fork or a teaspoon;
fish hot - fish knife and fork;
hot meat dishes - using table knife and fork;
dessert dishes (pudding, ice cream) - using spoons;
fruit - using fruit knife and fork etc.

The spoon is held so that the thumb rests on top of its handle. Soup is eaten with a spoon from oneself, otherwise you can splatter the suit. You need to scoop up as much liquid as, without spilling, you can bring it to your mouth. Care should be taken not to let the soup drip from the spoon back into the plate.
The spoon is brought to the mouth with its left wide edge.

Chilling the soup, stirring with a spoon, is not supposed, it is better to wait until it cools down a little. Likewise, you cannot blow into a plate, cup or spoon. Soup is eaten quietly, noiselessly; to eat it to the end, it is not forbidden to slightly lift the edge of the plate with your left hand in the direction away from you.

After finishing eating soup, leave the spoon in the plate. They do the same without finishing the soup.

Dumplings, meatballs in soup are divided into parts not with a knife, but with a spoon.

If soup meat is served separately on a platter or in a bowl, you need to take a piece, cut it with a knife and fork, and only then put it in a bowl of soup.

The thick is eaten simultaneously with the liquid. When adding soup to yourself, the spoon is left in the plate. The broth and cream soup are served mainly in a cup and usually eaten with a dessert spoon, with the left hand holding the handle of the cup. Only the leftovers are finished from the cup.

Using a fork and knife while eating, the knife is held in the right hand, and the fork in the left hand.
When eaten only with a fork, it is taken in the right hand.
Do not take your fork, knife or spoon too close to the base.
You cannot take with a spoon what you can take with a fork.
You can take on the fork as much as it fits on without falling over.

To help knife have to resort quite often. They cut fish gastronomy, meat (beef, pork, lamb, veal, elk, wild boar, saiga, bear meat, hare, poultry, game).

Do not cut several pieces at once - the meat will cool down and become tasteless. This can only be used by children who are not yet used to eating on their own or who only know how to use a fork.

Dumplings, dumplings, boiled vegetables are not cut with a knife, but, if necessary, are divided into pieces with a fork.

If there are cutlets, zrazy, meatballs, cabbage rolls or other chopped dishes on the table, using a knife is unnecessary. They are eaten with a fork, holding it in the right hand.

With a piece of bread with your right hand, you can help place a piece of food from a plate on a fork. Dishes such as omelets, vegetables, casseroles are only eaten with a fork.

The knife used to cut meat does not take salt from a salt shaker, food from a common dish.

Do not crush bread into a sauce or other dish. Unable to eat the sauce with the main product - meat, poultry, fish, it is better to leave it on the plate.

If you have to temporarily interrupt food in order to drink water, take bread, put a piece of meat, the knife and fork are placed on the plate as they were held: the knife with the handle to the right, and the fork to the left.

After finishing the food, the knife and fork are placed in a plate parallel to the handles to the left next to each other. This is a sign (to the waiter, service personnel) to remove the plate.

If someone asks to hand over the device, then knives, forks, spoons pass with the handle forward. In this case, you yourself can take the device by the neutral center (for example, in the place where the knife is connected to the handle). This will prevent fingers from getting dirty.

How different dishes are eaten

Poultry and game are eaten with a knife and fork (but not with hands).However, when cutting the meat into pieces, do not use too much force, as the cut piece can easily slip out of the plate onto the tablecloth.

Some dishes, in particular asparagus, chicken-tobacco, crayfish, are sometimes allowed to be eaten with your hands (although still better to use cutlery). In this case, after a meal, a vase of warm water is served for washing hands, into which a slice of lemon or rose petals are dipped. At the same time, napkins are served for wiping fingers, and then everything is removed.

Crayfish, lobsters, lobsters are eaten using a special device,which consists of a short fork and blade. From the body of a crayfish, only meat in the claw is eaten. Then the crayfish is turned over on its back, the neck is separated from the body and the meat is selected with a fork.

Often, for convenience and in order not to get your hands dirty, they put on a lamb or pork chop bone paper papillotes.Holding on to the papillote, it is easy to cut the meat off the bone. Sometimes small plates for bones (meat and fish) are specially placed on the table on the left side.

Hot fish (pike perch, bream, carp) it is customary to eat with a special device so as not to trim the bones. The blunt blade of the knife of this device is spatulate, and the fork has four teeth. If there are no such devices, you can eat fish using two forks. They eat fish with one fork, holding it in their right hand and helping themselves with a piece of bread in their left hand. The bones are folded with a fork on the edge of a plate or on a saucer or plate intended for this purpose.

Fish gastronomy - beluga bock, sturgeon, salmon and other fish - cut with a sharp snack knife. Boiled and hot smoked sturgeon, beluga, stellate sturgeon are eaten only with a fork.

With smoked fish first remove the skin, then separate the meat from the bones. After the top is eaten, the fish is turned over and eaten further. Fish, like meat, are dissected into small pieces. (When you eat fish, try not to remove the bones from your mouth in front of everyone.)

Potatoes and vegetables, like other soft food, they do not cut with a knife, but dismember into pieces with a fork in their left hand, the knife only holds the potatoes. Only the toasted skins of the potatoes are cut as they are hard for a fork. Potatoes boiled "in their uniforms", holding with a fork, are peeled with a knife in the right hand. The peeled potatoes are placed on a plate provided for this purpose.

The sauce is not poured on potatoes or vegetables,since it is intended for meat or fish and the appearance of potatoes or vegetables becomes unappetizing. Try to eat the sauce with the main food so that it does not stay on the plate.

Salads, intended as a complement to roast and served on small plates to each separately, eaten directly from them, without transferring them to a large plate. The liquid from the salads is not eaten up with a spoon, but left in a plate.Green salad is not cut - it should already be cut in the kitchen.

Salad served in a vaseput on a plate with a spoon and fork attached to the salad. Separately served radish cut with "roses" with herbs, as well as celery are taken by hand and dipped in salt on their plate, bite off. The remainder is placed on the edge of your plate or in a small plate provided for this.

Sandwiches are eaten with a knife and fork.To make sandwiches, they put bread, butter on their plate, then spread a slice of bread, which they hold on the plate with two fingers (they do not hold the bread in the palm of your hand, as this is unhygienic). Sausage, meat slices, etc. are placed on the sandwich with a fork.

When they eat bread with honey, jam or jam,it is first put on strips, honey, jam or jam is taken on a plate and spread on small pieces of bread, then bite off. Hold a strip of bread with the fingers of your left hand on a plate.

Pieces of kulebyaki, pie are eaten with a knife and fork; small pies - holding with fingers. If the pies are very greasy, they can also be eaten with a knife and fork.

Butter,if it is served in a large piece, it is taken with a special knife (a ball or a rose, barrels of butter can be taken with your knife). A piece of butter is placed on the right side of a bread or dessert plate and only from there is taken to spread on bread or roll.

Mustard and salt take with special spoons. Place the mustard on the bottom of the plate (not on the edge) on the right side.

Scrambled eggsserved in an egg glass. The shell is easily broken with a spoon. The shards are removed with your fingers and placed in a saucer with an egg glass on it. Then carefully remove the top of the egg with a spoon so that the yolk does not spill. Hard-boiled eggs are peeled to the end, cut lengthwise into two halves and then gradually dissected with a fork.

Scrambled eggs and omeletwith ham they eat with a fork in their right hand. If necessary, help with a piece of bread, holding it in the left hand. Fried eggs are eaten with a plastic or stainless steel spoon. Fried eggs with large pieces of ham to be cut are eaten with a knife and fork.

Pasta usually crushed before serving. If they are longer than necessary, they should be split with a fork. A spoon is used only to wind long pasta (spaghetti) on a fork.

Dumplings eaten whole with a fork so that juice does not flow out of them.

Sausages and hamserved in slices; the skin must be previously removed. The slices are placed on their plate with a fork next to the common dish.
If the skin of a sausage or ham is not peeled, it is trimmed with a knife, holding the slice on your plate with a fork.
Served on the table hot sausages "pork fat" the whole skin is not immediately removed, but they do it gradually, as they eat. This way the pork stays hot longer. Thin sausages such as sausages and game sausages are not skinned.
Peel liverwurstcut off gradually, because if this sausage is removed from the shell, it becomes ugly. Pieces of sausage are pressed against a plate with a fork and an incision is made from the inside with a knife, then the skin is peeled off with a knife.

Kulebyaki, pies and pretzels, cakes are served sliced. Pieces of them are placed on their plate with a spatula, tongs or a large fork.

Cakes eat with a special fork or teaspoon. Hard cakes - almond, nutty, which crumble easily - can be eaten by hand. The cake in a paper rosette is placed on a plate along with the rosette and eaten from it.

From slices pretzel,small pretzels and other items that can crumble are broken off by hand in small pieces. From buns stuffed with cream or jam, from coffee buns, etc., bite off while holding them in hand.

From cookiesbreak off piece by piece and eat. Very fatty muffins are eaten with a dessert fork.

Candy take with your hands. At the festive table they are put on their plate, unrolled and then put in the mouth.

Lemon served as a seasoning for food and drinks. A slice of lemon is placed in a cup of tea, the juice is squeezed out with a spoon, the rest is removed and placed on the edge of the saucer.
If the lemon is served on the table dismembered into slices, "garlic", squeeze the juice over the glass with the index and thumb of the right hand.
When serving some dishes (for example, fish, schnitzel, etc.), juice from a lemon slice is squeezed out with the convex side of a fork.

Apple and pearcut with a fruit knife on a plate lengthwise into four or eight pieces. They are then cleaned and cored. These pieces are no longer cut, but bite off from them.

Peaches and apricotseat in different ways. A large peach is taken in the left hand and cut in a circle to the bone, then broken. The bone is removed with a knife. When eating, cut pieces from the halves. An apricot is much smaller than a peach, so it is not cut into pieces, but placed in half directly into the mouth.

Large plums break it in half with your fingers and remove the bone.
Fine plumsqueeze from the ends so that it bursts, and remove the bone with a knife.

Bananatake the bottom with your left hand and cut the top with a knife so that it is convenient to remove the peel from it. Since a long banana without a peel can break, it is only peeled halfway at first. They eat a banana while holding it with their hand. The banana peel is placed on a plate.

Berriesusually served in a vase or in portions already laid out on plates, otherwise they wrinkle easily (especially strawberries and raspberries). They are sprinkled with sugar and eaten with a teaspoon. On more ceremonial occasions, the berries are served with whipped cream.

Grapeseat, picking berries from the bunch with their fingers. Put one berry in the mouth. Seeds and hard skins are carefully lowered onto a plate.

Cherries and other small-pitched berries and fruitseaten like grapes.

Watermelons and melonsserved in sliced \u200b\u200bslices of sector with peel. The thick slice taken from the dish is placed on a plate with the peel down, and a thin slice is cut with a fruit knife and fork. If the watermelon and melon are unsweetened, sprinkle them with powdered sugar if desired and eat the pulp until the skin is hard with a fruit knife and fork (or teaspoon).

Mango cut in two on a plate, remove the bone and eat the pulp with a spoon.

A pineapple peeled and cut across into thin slices, placed on a plate or glass dish. From the dish, the slice is transferred to your plate with the fork attached for this. You can sprinkle it with sugar if desired. Pineapple is eaten with a fruit knife and fork or teaspoon.

Nutsnever snap their teeth, but split with special forceps. The contents are removed from the shell with the fingers and placed in the mouth.

After tasting the fruit, they wipe their hands with a paper napkin and put it on a fruit plate.

Compoteseat with a dessert spoon. The bones are folded with a spoon on a saucer. Until the meal is over, it is customary to put a spoon in a vase with compote, and at the end it is placed on a saucer.
Always scoop out the liquid with a spoon.

Oranges and tangerines eaten by trimming the peel and dividing the flesh into five to six parts. A small lobule is gradually separated from each of them. Thus, the orange can be eaten without using a fork and knife.

Puddings, ice cream, creams eat with a dessert spoon. It is customary to serve them with crackers, cookies, puff buns, which are taken by hand. Mousses are also eaten with a dessert spoon.

Teaspoonserves only for stirring tea. After mixing tea, coffee, a spoon is put on a saucer, and not left in a glass or cup.

How seafood is eaten
You can't forbid eating beautifully:
how to deal with lobster, lobster, crayfish, shrimp, mussels and oysters

Eating seafood elegantly is one of the most challenging topics in the dining class.
They say that seafood is one of the most challenging topics in a course on table etiquette. However, if you are not going to an appointment with one of the European monarchs, you should not worry too much.
Always remember that all the rules and numerous devices are not intended at all so that some of the guests can boast of knowledge of the intricacies of etiquette, but solely for your convenience, so that you can quickly cope with nimble lobster claws or quickly get to the juicy meat of king prawns.
So a little practice and you will succeed!

A set of instruments for seafood.

Shrimp

Most often at dinner parties and at a party we meet shrimp. They are loved to be served at buffets or before a gala reception as a light snack. Usually, large specimens are selected for this and pierced with toothpicks. It is customary to eat such giants whole, dipped in a sauce nearby.
If huge shrimps are served as a main course, then they are eaten with a knife and fork: first, the head and tail are detached, the middle is poured with lemon juice and eaten, cutting off convenient pieces.
In fried shrimp, virtuoso chefs usually leave a tail, for which they need to be gripped with their hands, dipped in sauce and eaten.
The most difficult task will arise before you if unpeeled shrimp are on the table. With your left hand, gently grab them by the head, with your right hand firmly grab the thick part of the tail and turn it slightly so that the shell opens, then take out the meat with a fork.
Leave the shells on the edge of a plate or on a saucer served especially for trash.
Likewise, you can deal with lobsters by breaking off their heads and removing the meat with a narrow oyster fork.

Crayfish

Crayfish are served either floating in the water in which they were boiled, or taken out and laid out on a platter.
If there is no waiter nearby, you have to move the chosen handsome man to your plate with the help of a ladle or tongs.
To the right of it you will find an unusual knife with a hole. This device is needed to split the shell of the cancer, and then, inserting a claw into the hole, push harder and break it.
After all these almost surgical maneuvers, we proceed to the meal: we slowly eat and suck the meat out of the claws and legs, holding them with our hands.
Then, turning the river miracle on the back, separate the back part and take out the meat from it with a fork.

Lobsters and lobsters

If you have mastered the wisdom of eating a river arthropod, then you can easily cope with its marine relatives - lobsters and lobsters. Their shell is usually stronger, so it is customary to split it with forceps. However, sometimes this hard physical work is taken over by the cooks, breaking the protection of the lobster in the kitchen. Too strong claws are pricked with the same device.
You probably guess that a huge lobster on a huge dish is not just for you?
Feel free to break off the parts from it and put it on your plate!
If you have an unusual "spoon-fork" in front of you, then know that with a hook-tooth located at one end, you should pick out the meat from the legs, claws and shell, and with a spoon on the other, scoop out the juice.

Mussels

Small shell tweezers and an oyster fork will help you to tackle mussels elegantly.
Open the clam shelter, take the shell with your right hand, bring it to your mouth and, as it were, suck the mussel with sauce.
If there is only meat, pick it out with a fork.
The rest of the sauce from the plate can be eaten with a spoon.

Oysters

Raw oysters are served open.
However, if you bought them in a store, then before decorating the table with them, separate the halves using a special blunt knife with a thin rounded blade and arrange them beautifully on a large dish filled with finely crushed ice.
On the same plate, place the halves or quarters of the lemon.

These inhabitants of the deep sea are eaten with the help of a special tiny thin narrow long fork.
Holding the sink with your left thumb and forefinger, sprinkle the oyster with lemon juice, and gently and silently suck out the liquid. After that, taking a fork in your right hand, pick up the clam and eat it.
Fried oysters are usually not a problem: they can be sent to your mouth with a regular fork.
Have your hands dirty? No problem! If you have to eat seafood other than cutlery, there are usually bowls (sometimes with a lemon floating in them) on the table for you to rinse your soiled fingers and then wipe them off with a napkin.

Vegetable etiquette:
how to eat dip sauce and artichokes

Green peas fell off the fork and fell out of the plate, the olive flew away in the neckline of the lady sitting next door, the lettuce and bell pepper were too large, and the artichoke generally caused a shock: how can you approach it? To prevent such anecdotal situations from happening to us, we learn the rules of vegetable etiquette.

Salad: appetizer and side dish

If fresh vegetables are served in the form of a salad or vinaigrette, i.e. cut into small pieces and completely ready to eat, which means that you need to eat them in the classic way - with the help of a knife and fork.
Appliances for appetizers are usually slightly smaller than for main courses.
When the salad is served as a side dish to a hot one and is served with a cutlet, steak or chicken on one plate, we feel free to take a large knife and fork in our hands and proceed to the meal.
The knife is especially useful if the dish contains a decent slice of bell pepper, a whole lettuce, or an edible decoration - artistically sliced \u200b\u200btomatoes, cucumbers or radishes. Just don't grind everything at once - we separate small pieces just before putting them in our mouth.
If you are treated not raw, but boiled, stewed or steamed chopped vegetables, then the knife will only be needed to help them put the dish on the fork. The processed fruits are too soft, and there is no need to additionally chop them in a plate.

Vegetable mix

At buffets, banquets and festive feasts, a large plate is often served with a dish called "Vegetable Cut".
It is usually accompanied by common cutlery (tongs or a fork) for placing on individual plates.
Using them, we return it back and take a knife with a fork in our hands (it is indecent to take vegetables with your hands from a plate).
If lettuce leaves and greens (dill, arugula) are too big, but soft enough, then they must be carefully wound on a fork and only then put in your mouth. If they are tough, cut them into pieces.

Dip rules

When vegetables cut into even slices are served with sauces, they are called dips.
Radishes, slices of celery, carrots and tiny cherry tomatoes on skewers are usually dipped in the sauce and sent whole into the mouth. If the slice is too large, after biting off, do not dip it into the common gravy boat. Moreover, this rule applies not only to official feasts in luxurious restaurant halls, but also to democratic picnics.
Of course, everything is easier in nature, but that does not mean that it is time to forget about etiquette!

Peas, corn and olives

Nimble peas and corn, if handled ineptly, can turn into real flying projectiles, striking all living things around. To prevent this from happening, we will treat them especially carefully.
Having pricked a piece of the main dish on the ends of the prongs of the fork, turn it over with the concave side up and, helping yourself with a knife, put some peas on it (like on a spoon).
If the nimble balls still strive to slip out of the plate, before picking up, press them down a little with a fork, and they will immediately become more obedient.
But it is not recommended to prick peas on the teeth.
Olives, olives and small cherry tomatoes are handled slightly differently than peas and corn. For their tasting, special tiny forks or skewers should be provided (sometimes the fruits are already pinned on them). We just have to stick them into the fruit, eat it, and put the device on the edge of the plate.
However, if the meal is informal, it is quite possible to take small fruits with your hands.

Potato passion

Eating different potato dishes correctly is a special science.
For example, mashed potatoes should be eaten with a knife and fork, putting small portions of food on the last.
If there is a large boiled potato on the plate, a fork comes to the fore - break off small pieces with an edge and help with a knife to put the garnish on the device (it is not customary to prick on the prongs).
A special skill is required in order to beautifully eat jacket potatoes. Take a fork in the left hand and hold the tuber, and with the right hand carefully remove the skin with a knife.
There is another way: cut the potato into halves and extract the pulp with a fork.

"Difficult" artichoke

Perhaps the most difficult vegetable is the artichoke.
In Russia, he rarely ends up on the table, but the risk of meeting him during a feast somewhere in Europe is very high.
First, carefully, so as not to injure your hands, detach the leaves of the "bud".
Then we dip them in the sauce and, trying not to make loud obscene sounds, we suck the pulp from the hard shells.
As soon as we deal with the leaves, you need to rinse your hands in a bowl of water and eat the core with a fork and knife.

Important
Fast food dictates its own rules, so if you have a bite of fries on the run, feel free to eat them with your hands.
But in a solemn atmosphere, this uncomplicated dish, served as a side dish, must be consumed according to all the rules, that is, with the help of a knife and fork.

Rules of etiquette:
how is the game

When you see an appetizing roasted chicken or chicken, you just want to take the bird in your hands and gnaw all the bones. Probably, a primitive man would have done just that. But we are civilized people, which means that we will have to feast on game according to all the rules of etiquette

Fillet, cutlets, meatballs

What birds do not end up on our table!
Excellent dishes are prepared from well-fed domestic chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, wild quails, partridges and hazel grouses caught on the hunt. Poultry dishes are tasty, moderately fatty, but it is not easy to feast on them according to all the rules.
Only tender fillet, chicken roll or chicken Kiev is eaten without problems: you just need to arm yourself with a fork and knife, carefully cut off an appetizing piece and put it in your mouth.
The main thing is that the slices are small and there is a napkin on your lap, which will save you from suddenly dripping sauce or fat.
It is also easy to deal with a chopped bird in the form of cutlets, meatballs, meatballs, because soft minced meat dishes are supposed to be eaten only with a fork.

Shin, winglet, thigh

If the plate is not fillet, but a bird with bones - a leg, a thigh, wings or a half of a carcass (for example, a chicken-tobacco), you have to work hard and observe the main rule: in an official setting, you don't eat game with your hands! Otherwise, you need to rinse your soiled fingers regularly, and forget about the side dish altogether - do not take the cutlery with greasy fingers.
So, in order not to fall face down into the mud, arm yourself with a fork and knife and first of all remove the skin from the bird.
Then, holding the portion with the teeth of a fork, cut off thin slices of meat and eat them immediately.
You should not first detach the fillets from the bones, form a pyramid of scraps on a plate, and then eat it deliciously.
In addition, the fun process of gutting a chicken should not interfere with your communication with your neighbors at the table: a person picking a wing for too long looks rather ridiculous.
If you cannot cope with small pieces, it is better to leave the food half-eaten.
By the way, when the wings or legs are served in broth, first the liquid is eaten with a tablespoon, and then with the help of a fork and knife the meat is separated from the bones and used as a second dish.

Leg

At home, visiting friends and relatives, you can relax - the rules of etiquette in an informal setting are not too strict.
A bowl of water and a slice of lemon (finger rinse), disposable wet wipes handed out to guests, or a paper "cap" put on a large chicken foot bone signal that you can put the cutlery aside and feel a little savage.
Gently, with the tips of the thumb and forefinger of your right hand, take the leg by the bone or the papillote put on it (in the case of the wings, act in a similar way) and slowly bite off pieces of meat and gnaw small bones. But never chew them.
A person crunching with bones and sucking the insides out of them looks indecent even when surrounded by close people.
Having finished with the bird, you must carefully lower your fingertips into the bowl, but do not dangle them, so as not to spray the neighbors, and do not immerse too deeply.
Lemon juice will quickly rid the skin of oil and a specific odor, so just dip your hands lightly and wipe them with a napkin.

Grilled chicken

Sometimes, at large feasts, baked goose, duck, chicken or turkey are placed whole on the table. In this case, the waiter (if it happens in a restaurant) or the owner (mistress) of the house must cut the carcass.
But first you have to study the anatomy of the bird.
First, the wings are separated, then transverse pieces are cut from the chest, followed by the bones from the sides.
Make sure that all the pieces are roughly equal with the same amount of meat.
In order not to offend anyone, white meat from the breast is sometimes reported to portions with legs and ribs.
If the chicken was stewed in sauce, you should make sure that every piece is watered with it.

Subtleties of etiquette:
how to eat pancakes

Golden, ruddy, appetizing, hot pancakes just ask for more in your mouth! Just how should you eat them - with your hands or with a fork, biting off or cutting off? There are rules on this.

Each filling has its own place

The main rule of "swallowing" pancakes is that they must be eaten hot!
Place the sunny treat in a stack in the center of the table and don't forget to serve a variety of toppings with it.
If you choose salty snacks, put salmon or herring fillets (no bones!) In a shallow plate with a common fork, and the caviar in a crystal rosette with a spoon.
Give each guest individual dessert dishes and cutlery so that he can take a treat with the common cutlery, put them back in place and use his own.
Jam, sour cream and honey are served according to the same principle.
Empty rosettes with teaspoons are placed next to the guest's plate - whatever filling he wants, he will put this.
If you make minced meat pancakes, you will have to serve hot broth with them. It must be poured into small bowls, handed out to each guest and proceed to the most pleasant thing - tasting.

According to Russian tradition

An ancient Russian proverb says: "Damn - not a haystack, you can't pin a pitchfork."
In the old days, each round was considered a ritual dish, a symbol of the sun, the onset of spring and the hope for a satisfying life.
"Sunny" was simply a sin to cut with a knife and string on a fork.
The pancake was supposed to be taken with your hands, dipped in your favorite filling or wrapped in pieces of fish and savored to bite off.
At home, you can easily follow folk traditions and, without hesitation, smear your hands in grease. Fold the pancakes into envelopes or roll them into rolls and enjoy the tasty treat.
If treats with cottage cheese, meat or other fillings, also do not hesitate to eat them with your hands and do not scold your child for this behavior.
The main thing before a meal is to stock up on napkins so that later you have something to wipe off the fat.

At a buffet table, and not only

We eat pancakes not only at home, but also at a party, at lunch with colleagues, during business negotiations and romantic meetings.
In an official setting, it is worth completely forgetting folk etiquette and remembering how to use a knife and fork correctly. It's good if the famous dish is served in portions at the buffet table.
You just have to hold the edge of the pancake with a fork, cut off a small slice from the tube or envelope and send it into your mouth.
If the treat flaunts in a common pile on the table in a heat-resistant dish, the task becomes more complicated.
With one prong of the fork, you need to be able to hook the edge of the upper solar round and, rotating the cutlery away from you, roll the pancake into a tube.
In this form, transfer the treat to your plate, unfold it and spread any filling with a knife.
Then turn the "sun" into a tube again and only after that start cutting it into slices.
If the filling is liquid (honey, sour cream, jam or berry sauce) and is in an individual outlet, do not unfold the pancake, but immediately chop it into pieces and dip it into the treat you like.

Sauce Tricks:
we serve and eat according to the rules of etiquette

Just as a bad sauce can ruin the most exquisite dish, so improper handling of it (licking a gravy boat, splashing on a tablecloth) can ruin a reputation. Well, to avoid a disaster, you just need to follow the rules of sauce etiquette.

Where to put the gravy boat?

The sauce is usually served on the table in a gravy boat - a small and very elegant oblong cup with a spout and one handle. They put it not on a tablecloth, which can be accidentally stained with drops, but on a saucer covered with a napkin.
If the sauce is intended for each guest individually, then a tiny cup is placed on the left, above the pie plate.
In this case, the spout of the vessel should be directed to the right. The handle of a tea or dessert spoon, which lies on a saucer, also looks there: it is needed to scoop up a fragrant tasty liquid.
If the sauce is poured not into individual bowls, but into common ones, then they are placed next to the dish. And they use special spoons. They are somewhat larger and deeper than teahouses, and also have a small spout.

Don't pour on the side dish

It is advisable that the hostess or the waiter pour out the sauce from the common bowl - it will be safer for everyone.
However, often the guests decide to cope with this task on their own and let the device go around.
In this case, carefully take the saucer and bowl and gently spoon the sauce over.
Try to add it to your main meal, not a side dish.
It is believed that the taste of the dressing was created in order to set off and emphasize the merits of the main dish, and mashed potatoes or vegetables, drenched in a thick liquid, become ugly and unappetizing.
If you didn't manage to dip the meat in the sauce in time and decided to pour it on the weight right on the fork, stop: you can't do that. It is better to eat a dry bite than to be considered an ill-mannered person.

Licking and dipping is not supposed to

Pour the sauce carefully to avoid dripping onto the tablecloth.
If a couple of multi-colored spots still remain on the snow-white surface of the table and the waiter did not come to the rescue in time, do not draw attention to this, just blot the drops with a napkin or cover the dirty place with it.
The sauce should be enough for everyone, so don't be greedy when putting it on a plate.
And try to calculate the amount in such a way that you eat it along with the rest of the food.
If the eye fails, there is nothing to be done - at a gala dinner even the most delicious dressing will have to be left on a platter. You’re not hungry enough to lick a plate.
It is also indecent to drive with slices of bread in sauce puddles, and then suck them with relish.
As a last resort and only in an informal setting, you can put the crumb in the sauce and then remove it from the plate with a fork.

Knife and spoon hybrid

If you are served a dish in which the sauce is already on the plate, the tasting rules will be slightly different.
A special spoon is added to personal forks and knives.
True, it is not very easy to recognize it, because cutlery designers cannot come to a single solution.
Most often, it looks like a dessert spoon, but flatter so that it is handy to scoop out the gravy.
Fish dishes can be served with an even more bizarre device, similar to a hybrid of a knife and a spoon. It is good for them to separate the fillet pieces and immediately pour the sauce over them.

Dip subtleties

There are foods that are usually dipped in sauce. For example, this is how mollusks are dealt with: first, using a special fork, they are removed from the shells, then carefully immersed in an individual gravy boat and only then eaten.
Thick dip sauces are also suitable for dipping.
Usually they are placed in the center, and blocks of fresh vegetables are laid out around.
You need to take a cucumber (carrot, celery, artichoke leaves) with your hands, immerse it in a bowl and eat it.
If you take a bite, do not dip the vegetable in the common gravy boat anymore - this is indecent and not hygienic.

Soy Tricks

Sushi (sushi) or sashimi is usually consumed with soy sauce, which is served in special small cups. To enjoy a Japanese dish, rice balls or fish must be carefully picked up with chopsticks and dipped in sauce. Moreover, it is not the rice side, but the fish side that is dipped into the soy liquid.
In the same way, it is customary to season traditional Thai sticky rice with sauce, especially common in the north of the country. Small cups with several dressings are usually placed in the middle of the table. According to local etiquette, you need to pinch off a small lump from the viscous mass of grains with your hand and then dip it into a common bowl with the sauce you like. Only this must be done carefully - an unfamiliar dressing may be too spicy.

The tongue of knives and forks:
how not to stay hungry at the reception

Sign language in restaurants often replaces words. To be understood correctly, you need to master it perfectly.
You have probably had cases in your life when in a restaurant you went out to call and left a half-empty plate on the table, hoping to finish your favorite salad later. But here's the horror: you are returning, and the dish has already been taken away! And you don't need to scold the waiter in this situation - for sure you yourself let him know that lunch is over. Sign language in restaurants often replaces words. To be understood correctly, you need to master it perfectly.

The meal continues

Most of the signs at the table are usually served with the help of instruments. If you want to free your hands for a short time (to take bread or calmly talk to a neighbor), put the fork on the left, and the knife on the right so that the handles rest on the table, and with the tips slightly turned away from the eater, on the plate. If you are using only a fork, hoist it to your right in the same way.
Sometimes during a meal you need to rest a little, go about your business, go out to smoke or talk on the phone. There are signals for such long pauses. The devices are crossed on a plate, and the knife is placed with the tip to the left, and the fork - with the teeth to the right. This will be a sign to the waiter that the meal is not over yet and there is no need to take the dish away. This rule is sometimes even too scrupulously observed in European countries. Sometimes people sitting at the table wait for the next dish for a long time only because one of them does not know the rules of etiquette (he crossed the dishes on a plate), because in restaurants it is customary to change the dishes of the whole company at the same time, and a well-trained waiter will wait until everything is finish.

Lunch is over!

If you want to show the waiter that it's time to clean up your plate, you don't need to move it away from you or throw dirty napkins into it. It is enough just to put the devices parallel to each other so that the handles correspond to the arrows pointing to half past five. In this case, the blade of the knife looks at the eater, and the tines of the fork are facing up. Likewise, place your fork and spoon after you eat dessert.

Signal spoon

It is more difficult to signal the waiter correctly with a tablespoon. Usually the soup is served in a deep plate on a shallow one. After completing a meal in European restaurants, it is customary to take out the spoon and put it on the lower dish. The appliance left in the soup will be regarded as a sign that the guest wants to continue the tasting. In our restaurants, it is considered acceptable to leave a spoon in the plate, regardless of whether you decide to just relax or finish your meal. An attentive waiter, of course, will clarify what exactly you mean, but if you do not want to part with the soup ahead of time, make sure that it is not taken away inadvertently.
It is the same thing to do when salads or desserts are served in deep bowls or bowls, where it is impossible to put a knife or fork. Such dishes are usually placed on a shallow serving dish. Until you finish tasting, have your fork and knife rest on it with the tips, like on a regular plate, and finally place the cutlery parallel to it - this should attract the waiter's attention. If the vase allows, it is permissible to leave the spoon directly in it.

Eastern wisdom

Oriental restaurants have their own wisdom. If you are in a Chinese establishment, end your meal by placing the chopsticks across the bowl with the ends to the left - this will be a message to the waiter that it is time to remove excess dishes. But in a Japanese establishment, you can't do that. During and after the end of the meal, the hasi are placed in their original place, that is, on a rectangular stand, with the sharp ends up.

Napkin by the plate

The cloth napkin also has its own signaling system.
If you decide to leave the table for a short time, you need to leave it on a chair, and when you return, carefully fold it in half again and place it on your knees.
When you leave the restaurant, you should put the napkin with the used side inward to the left of the plate - then the waiter will understand that the person will not come again and his dishes can be removed.
The main thing is to never put cloth napkins in the dishes!
It is also not worth carefully folding them or trying to give the original look by constructing figures.

Confusion at the table:
how beautiful it is to get out of a stupid situation

There was a fly in a bowl of soup, a large piece of meat in a greasy sauce flopped onto the tablecloth, a fork fell to the floor, you choked, sneezed, choked, ate a hot chili pepper ... Alas, sooner or later this can happen to each of us. The main thing is not to panic and not draw attention to yourself, but to remember how to behave in awkward situations.

Paste fell, fell to the floor

When a piece of broccoli or chicken falls from your fork onto the tablecloth, carefully pick it up with a knife, place it on the edge of the plate and pretend nothing happened. It is quite another matter if the slice was not dry, but generously flavored with fatty sauce, which left a bright mark on the table. In this case (and also when spilling a drink), blot the dirty place with a napkin and leave it on the tablecloth to cover the traces of the crime. Believe me, if you do not actively ask for forgiveness from everyone present, but simply smile guiltily, the incident will be forgotten very quickly.
However, during a party, naughty food can flop not only on the table, but also on your outfit. In this situation, simply wipe the stain with a tissue. If you manage to knock over a full bowl of soup on yourself, excuse yourself, leave the table and tidy yourself up in the toilet. Much worse if you doused your neighbor. In this case, ask for forgiveness and do your best to eliminate the consequences of the embarrassment.
It's a different story when food or cutlery falls to the floor. In such a situation, you do not need to jump off the chair and crawl under the table in search of a rolled olive or a "run away" fork. According to etiquette, nothing should be lifted from the floor: what has fallen is lost! In order to get new appliances, just ask the waiter.

Apchhi!

Adults constantly remind children of the well-known proverb "When I eat, I am deaf and dumb", however, they themselves, as a rule, actively support a table conversation, risking choking on food. If such a nuisance happens to you, take a sip of water and cough a couple of times, covering your mouth with your hand, or even better with a handkerchief. If you cannot overcome the cough in any way, apologize, leave the table and try to recover in another room. And do this even before the moment when people around you begin to beat you on the back (which, by the way, doctors do not recommend).
If a cough torments you due to the fact that you are sick, be sure to carry lollipops with you, and even better - stay at home until you are completely recovered. You should not go out in people and with a severe cold. But if you absolutely need to attend an important banquet and during the meal you felt that it was impossible not to blow your nose, do it as quietly as possible. And be sure to wear a scarf, not a napkin! If it was not at hand, go to the toilet.
Sneezing loudly at the table is also a sign of bad manners. Therefore, as soon as you feel what is stuck in your nose, gently rub the bridge of your nose with your hand - usually this is how you manage to pacify the desire to make a savory "apchi!" If you do not have time to stop the sneeze, cover your mouth with a handkerchief (at least with your hand) and turn away from people and food.

Fire on the tongue

When the waiters are serving food in the heat of the heat, they usually warn guests to be careful.
But if you do take a piece that is too hot in your mouth, quickly wash it down with any drink. This is more effective and decent than opening your mouth wide, sticking your tongue out and actively waving your arms, pumping air and drawing attention to yourself.
If the food turned out to be not hot, but too spicy, on the contrary, in no case do not reach for a glass of water.
It is better to eat dishes with peppercorns with something neutral - rice, potatoes, pasta.
It happens that it is completely impossible to swallow spicy (sour, salty, bitter) food. In this case, imperceptibly (as if wiping your lips), bring a napkin to your mouth and spit a piece into it.

Fly in a plate

Another nuisance that can lie in wait for the taster at the table is hair, flies and other inedible objects in the plate.
In this case, proceed as appropriate.
For example, if an unreasonable insect has committed suicide in your glass, you can quietly ask the waiter to replace the device.
Simply place other inedible items on the edge of the plate.
Moreover, try to do everything so as not to spoil the appetite of others.
However, if you find in the dish not a fly or a lint, but a rusty nail or a shaggy tail, then attract the attention of not only the waiter, but also the restaurant administrator.

Gaza! Team

Perhaps the most unpleasant thing that can happen at the table is accidentally belching loudly or letting out gas.
However, even in such a situation, one should not do hara-kiri or drink potassium cyanide.
Try to hide the burp by coughing quickly - others will not even understand what happened.
But you don't need to beat an attack of flatulence.
Try to pretend nothing has happened and mentally reassure yourself that holding back your natural impulse is unhealthy. After all, people may not even guess who exactly ruined the air.

If at the table you have to use
chopsticks

They were invented in China. In those days, when our ancestors in Europe still ate with their hands, the Chinese were already training finger dexterity with chopsticks.

Already in the XII century BC. the rulers of the Shan dynasty used "elongated fingers" - sticks. Then they were made of valuable materials - jade, agate, ivory or silver.

Today they are usually made from bamboo, wood or plastic. Chinese call sticks kuaizi, which in translation means "accelerator"; this is true, at least in skilled hands, because the Chinese eat quickly and do not hesitate to hold a bowl of rice near their mouths in order to "speed up" the movement of the rice with the chopsticks.

From China, sticks came to those countries that had a great historical impact of Chinese culture - to Japan, Korea and some others.

Sticks are different: short, about 25 cm, to be eaten from bowls or trays, and long, 35 cm, made of bamboo, for beating eggs or stirring sauces.

Eating with chopsticks is a matter of training: the lower stick is fixed between the index finger bone and the thumb, the upper one remains movable for gripping food.

Learning to use chopsticks is not a big deal.
Look at the pictures, remember everything well and the main thing is to train more.

Chinese (kuaizi), they are Japanese (hasi) sticks
Instructions for the user and the intricacies of etiquette

They use chopsticks like this:
1. First, take one stick (one third from the top end) between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. Hold the wand with your thumb and ring fingers so that the index, middle and thumb form a ring.
2. The second stick is taken, placing it parallel to the first, at a distance of 15 mm. When the middle finger is extended, the sticks move apart.
3. They bring the sticks together, bending the index finger, and pinch with the tips what they want to send into the mouth. In addition, if a piece is too large, you can separate it with chopsticks, but only very carefully.
Since sticks are a part of Japanese (and Chinese) culture and history, there are many conventions and ceremonies surrounding their use. Countless rules and good table manners in Japan are also grouped around sticks.

In general, the set of rules for using hasi is as follows:

# Do not bang your chopsticks on a table, plate, or other object to beckon a waiter.
# Do not "draw" with chopsticks on the table, do not "wander" aimlessly around food with chopsticks. Before reaching for your chopsticks, select the piece visually.
# Always take food from above, do not poke your chopsticks in a bowl in search of the best piece. If you touched food, then eat (omnivorous Japanese simply do not understand how you can choose better pieces from the available food in the European manner - although this is their difficulty).
# Don't stick your food on sticks - they are too dumb for that.
# Do not shake the sticks to cool the piece (food may fly in unpredictable directions).
# Do not put your face in a bowl or bring it too close to your mouth, and then use chopsticks to stuff food into your mouth. Do not tamp food delivered to him with chopsticks in his mouth.
# Don't lick your sticks (like a spoon or fork). Don't just keep the chopsticks in your mouth.
# When not using chopsticks, place the sharp ends to the left.
# Never pass food with chopsticks to another person.
# Never point with sticks or swing them in the air (just like with a fork).
# Do not pull the plate towards you with chopsticks (you don’t do it with a spoon?) - always grab it with your hands.
# Place your chopsticks on the table before asking for more rice.
# Do not pinch two sticks in your fist: the Japanese perceive this gesture as threatening (but if you do this, no one will think that you are going to attack everyone).
# Never stick sticks into rice in a pillar. It is forbidden among the Japanese - this is only served to the dead before the funeral (again, because you are not Japanese, and no one will deeply condemn you, rather it will be a reason for displaying Japanese humor).
# Do not place chopsticks across the cup. After you have finished eating, place the chopsticks on the stand.

It is not easy to use hasi out of habit, so in order to avoid inconvenience, in a Japanese (or Chinese) restaurant, do not hesitate to ask the waiter to show you how to use chopsticks correctly, and if it’s really hard, bring more familiar and rational devices - a fork or a spoon (after all, you don’t have to try imitate all this national nonsense!)

Chopsticks are also used in Korea, but rice is eaten there with a spoon, especially in the presence of elders!

Chopsticks as a tool for eating have one indisputable advantage for those who are going to lose weight - with the help of chopsticks, especially from habit, it is almost impossible to overeat, since this activity gets boring and tiresome much earlier than satiety sets in.

How to tie a tie

If it is not at all necessary to be able to eat with chopsticks, then everyone should be able to tie a tie with several different types of knots.
"Four" is the simplest and most frequently used knot.

Server rental. Website hosting. Domain names:

New posts from C --- redtram:

New posts from C --- thor:

In the previous article, we examined the rules of behavior at the table, learned how to understand cutlery and other accessories for a feast. But this is not enough to fully feel confident at the table. Now you need to decide how one or another dish is eaten. Etiquette consists of different little things and they are all equally important.

Bread.

There is a bread plate to the left and slightly above the main unit. Bread should be taken from a common plate and broken in half over your bread plate. One half remains lying, and from the other with the left hand they break off a piece and put it in the mouth. The piece should be small. When the first half is eaten, proceed to the second. If instead of bread, small buns are served, then they should be eaten in the same way as bread.

In no case should you take bread with a fork from a common dish, if you do not want to look ridiculous. If you want to spread a slice of bread with butter or pate, do not put it in your palm (unsympathetic and unhygienic), put it on a plate and spread. It is more convenient and aesthetically pleasing to eat it with a knife and fork.

And further. Do not wipe down the plate with a slice of bread.

Sandwiches.

The word sandwich comes from the German "Butterbrot", which literally means "bread and butter". Nowadays, a sandwich is not a buttered slice of bread. Sandwiches are of three types: open (the simplest), closed (the contents are covered with another slice of bread on top) and flaky (several slices of bread, with filling between them). Interestingly, the closed sandwich (sandwich) got its name in honor of the Earl of Sandwich, who was an avid gambler and loved to snack without interrupting the game. Therefore, in order not to get dirty yourself and not to dirty the game table, the sandwich was covered for him with another slice of bread.

If you are able to eat a simple or closed sandwich in two or three meals, it is allowed to take it with your hands and bite off. If the sandwich is large, then you need it, like an entrecote, using a knife and fork. But a complicated sandwich is not worth biting off. Imagine how you will look with your mouth wide open, so you need to eat it, definitely, with the help of a cutlery.

Cheese.

If cheese is served cut into slices, then, as we said in the previous article, it must be taken with a device that is specially provided for common dishes and carefully put on your plate.

It happens that the cheese is served in one piece on a flat dish, then there will be a knife for cutting the cheese next to it. With this knife, you need to cut off a piece and move it onto your plate with your fork.

Salads.

If the salad is served simultaneously with everything, then it is eaten with a fork for the main course, but if it is served in portions, then you need to use a salad fork, which, like a knife, is smaller than the rest of the appliances. There are salads in which the ingredients are contained in large pieces. These salads should be eaten with a knife and fork, cutting off the vegetables one piece at a time.

Cherry tomatoes, if they are small, are eaten whole, if larger, they are cut. If the olives, olives, cherry tomatoes are hard and small, not sprinkled with salad dressing, then it is better to take them with your hands than with a fork, avoiding the risk that they will slip out and fall on someone's lap. In this case, you must try to do everything naturally.

Side dishes.

Since pasta is different in shape, it is eaten differently. If serving spaghetti, you only need a fork. The fork (s) should be immersed in the pasta and twisted in the hand until the required amount of pasta is wrapped around it. As a rule, the spaghetti hangs from the fork. These parts can be gently bite off or sucked into your mouth. You can put the pasta on a spoon and twist with a fork along its bottom. If such manipulations do not work out for you, then you can cut the pasta and eat it with a fork and knife, like a regular side dish. The same applies to small pasta.

We often observe that in fast food fries are eaten by hand, which is not forbidden in such establishments, but in a decent restaurant it is better to use a fork. Plain fried potatoes are eaten the same way. If whole baked and boiled potatoes are served, then they are first cut and then eaten with a fork. Otherwise, they eat potatoes in their uniforms. It is cut in half, then the middle is laid out on a plate, while you can add salt and sauces. If you want to eat the rind, then this is not bad form.

Vegetable stew.

There are many ways to cook stewed vegetables, as well as their types. They are eaten with a fork, if necessary (if the vegetables are large) use a knife. If vegetables are prepared in the form of liquid puree, that is, they should be taken with a special spoon.

First meal.

First courses are served not only in deep bowls, but also in bowls or cups, if it is broth or puree soup. If the soup is served in a bowl, then it is poured only to the inner edge, filling only the recess. In no case is it customary to blow on the soup in a plate or spoon to cool it down, it is better to wait until it cools down, or stir it slightly with a spoon. Let a little soup remain in the plate, but do not lift the edges of the plate to scoop it out to the bottom. Leave the spoon in the plate after eating.

A bowl or bowl is placed on a serving plate. From them, the rest of the soup can be carefully finished without making any sounds, and after removing the spoon, put it on a serving plate. If the table is served with spoons with blunt noses, then they should be brought to the mouth with the side, if with a sharp, then with a sharp end, slightly obliquely. The spoon should contain exactly as much soup as will fit in your mouth at a time.

Meat dishes.

The most basic rule of eating meat dishes is the maximum use of cutlery. And only as a last resort, rejection of them.

The meat is cut into small pieces, so that you can easily eat it right away. If this is a stew, then with the help of a fork and knife, the pulp is separated, and the bones are pushed to the edge of the plate. Also, meat from the bone is cut if veal or lamb chops are served. If the bone is wrapped in paper, then you can grab it with your hand and gnaw it.

If goulash or beef stroganoff is cooked, as you know, in small pieces, then you can only use a fork, holding it in your right hand.

Dishes made from minced or scrolled meat (schnitzels, cutlets, meatballs, etc.) will be eaten correctly only with a fork, dividing them into pieces without using a knife.

The shish kebab can be eaten both with a skewer and with a fork and knife, removing the previously strung pieces on a plate.

Fish meals.

Fish dishes are considered difficult due to the fact that they contain a lot of bones. They should be eaten with a special fork and knife. The fish knife has a wide blade, sometimes with a curved handle. With a knife, it is necessary to separate the bones from the fish and put them in a separate plate, if such is provided by the serving, if not - on the edge of its own. The same should be done with the skin of the fish if it is not edible. If it so happened that the bone, nevertheless, got into the mouth, it should be gently pushed out with the tongue on a fork, or taken with your fingertips and put on a plate.

Fish fillets are eaten according to the same rules as meat. Small fish - whole. If it is fried, then if you wish, you can separate the bones and head.

Seafood.

Probably few people know how to eat lobster correctly. You should hold the lobster firmly with one hand; tongs should be in the other hand. First, detach the claws. We carefully split them so that the spray does not fly to the neighbors. Then, with a special fork, extract the meat and eat it. Separate the meat from the tail on each side. It happens when the entire strip is removed, then it must be divided into pieces with a knife. Likewise, lobster liver and caviar are edible. The remains of the shell should be put in a special container for garbage.

Raw mussels, oysters, etc. are served in open shells laid out on ice. They are supposed to be eaten with a special spoon, holding the shell with the thumb and forefinger. The juice can be drunk straight from the sink. Break the crab shell with tongs, and then with your fingers. Their meat is eaten with a special fork.

Sushi.

If the sushi is cooked wrapped in seaweed, that is, you need them with special chopsticks, and only in very extreme cases - with a fork. If the sushi is pieces of raw fish and rice, then it is customary to take the fish with your fingers, dip it in the sauce and eat.

Dessert.

A knife, fork and spoon are served with dessert. Fork with two prongs - for cake. Spoon for jelly, ice cream and puddings, knife and fork for fruit.

Apples and pears, cut into 4 parts, take out the middle with seeds, if desired, you can peel the skin. Peel the orange with a knife, then you can take the slices with your hands. The lemon is served already sliced, you can put it in the tea, but when the tea is drunk, you should not take the lemon out of the cup. The grapefruit is served cut in half, and a spoon with sharp edges is served to it. Pineapple is also served already cut and eaten with a knife and fork, the same goes for watermelon and melon. Grapes from a bunch are taken one berry by hand.

Compote should be eaten with a dessert spoon along with the fruits that are in it. The seeds from the berries are carefully placed on a spoon brought to the mouth, and then into a plate for waste.

A special dessert fork is served for the cake, and you can eat dry cake holding it in your hand, while you need to carefully monitor the crumbs.

The drinks.

Mineral water should be on the table in the containers in which it was originally poured, juices - in crystal decanters so that the color and consistency can be seen.

There are also many rules about alcoholic beverages, but there are two main ones: consumption in moderation, and the fact that they exist to drink food, and not to eat them. The stronger the drink, the smaller the dishes for it. The type and number of containers for drinks is determined by their availability and types at the reception.

Guests can enjoy aperitifs before meals. As an aperitif, there can be different alcoholic drinks, but they are served in small quantities to whet the appetite. It should be remembered that no one is obliged to drink. Everyone for himself determines the dose and type of drink.

What is it called and what to do about it?

There seem to be no fatal problems, there is a bunch of all sorts of minor troubles. Small ones, kind of interconnected, but a lot. It seems that either the fuse has blown somewhere, or the battery has run out. ...

Great importance has always been attached to table manners. You can't talk about a high cultural level of a person if he eats ugly, carelessly and does not know how to use cutlery. Therefore, each person should be signaled what to eat properly.

Meat. You've been served a finely grilled steak. You should not twirl a piece on a plate, cutting off from one edge or the other, leaving the middle. Cut off small pieces, starting at the edge closest to you.
Bird. The bird is also eaten with a knife and fork. Cut carefully so that the piece does not slip out and fall onto the tablecloth. At home, at the family table and in an intimate company, it is allowed to take large pieces with your hand - preferably with your left. At banquets and ceremonial receptions, this is not done, even if you have to leave pieces of meat on the plate that could not be separated from the bone with a knife and fork. Small bones that have got into your mouth should be carefully spit out on a fork and placed on the edge of your plate or on a special plate, which is placed on the table in front of each device when a bird or fish is served.
Fish. For fish, a special blade-shaped knife and a trident fork are required. You can also eat fish with two forks or with one fork held in your right hand, helping with a piece of bread in your left hand. Bones that fall into the mouth are laid in the same way as when eating a bird.
If the whole fish is on your plate, then first the upper part of the fillet is separated from the skeleton, eaten, then the spine and bones are separated, put aside, then the second part is eaten.
Not knowing that crayfish, crabs, shellfish or lobsters are perfectly acceptable to eat with our hands, many of us begin to conduct a difficult and painful experiment on cutting these dishes with an ordinary fork and knife.
Pilaf is usually eaten with a fork, but (!) In the east, eating pilaf with your hands is a tradition.

If at a party you do not know how this dish is eaten, be guided by the hosts of the evening.

Comments

Thank you, of course, but judging by the fact that the uniqueness of your answer is only 5% (text ru), this information is well known. But here I, for example, heard that the same bird can be eaten with hands, holding by bare bones and not in very intimate campaigns. And what is pilaf and other, the same crumbly dishes? A spoon is clearly more convenient, and among these peoples themselves it is generally accepted by hand, but that was a long time ago ... And what about a pie on a plate - take it directly with your hand, if it does not crumble or is it with a knife and fork?

At the expense of pilaf, a comment was made in the answer that it is eaten with a fork; the traditions of the East were also mentioned. As for the pies, all pies, such as lemon, marble, sand and Christmas cupcakes, are eaten by hand, and a piece is broken off from such a pie on a plate and sent to the mouth.

What dishes do they eat. It depends on what kind of "culture" we are talking about). If about European, then I'll put it in quotes).

Unfortunately, we take a lot of bad things from the West. The same plug was invented by a pest and a demon, not otherwise))). These are the basics of bioenergetics, you can't put something sharp in your mouth, like a fork or a knife. It is clear that receptions, buffets and mannerisms under the guise of good breeding). You can't go anywhere if there is a collar in the form of a tie around your neck.

And now we are talking about ancient culture. "Digestion starts in the hand!" The fingers are already assessing the temperature, structure, hardness and oily food and give the command to prepare the mouth, stomach ... It is impossible to get burned. Do you agree? Do you agree to wash your hands before eating? They also wash their mouth, face and eyes before eating. If possible, then legs. After eating, be sure to rinse your mouth, wash your hands .... Does the European "culture" know that? Something there, in the previous stupid answer, was about the left hand ... They don't eat with their left hand at all. It is allowed to take food, pass salt, hold, breaking off with the right hand and bringing it to the mouth ... But they never put food in their mouth with their left hand. The right one gives energy, the left one takes. These are the foundations of an ancient culture, over which we can only mock now, not understanding anything in the world around us, but inflated with pride and conceit.

It was especially adorable to read in some book of Karl Smolka about good manners something like the following - "but some fruits have to be eaten only with your hands. And, although this is a mockery of culture ...." This is a parody of culture, and numerous diseases confirm this. Success in studying the types of glasses, forks, knives and table setting))).

Everyone knows that knowing and following the rules of table behavior is extremely important because ethical table behavior helps us feel confident and comfortable.

The inability to use a knife and fork should not deprive us of the pleasure of spending time in a fine restaurant. Here are some basic rules of conduct in restaurants and in fine societies in general.

In the restaurant: menu selection, ordering, tips

Near the mirror in front of the entrance to the restaurant, you can straighten your hair, but you cannot comb your hair or tint - this is done in the ladies' room. A man enters the hall first.

In the wardrobe, leave a coat, umbrella, bags, a case with documents (if you are not having a business meeting), but not a handbag.

It is permissible to arrange a meeting on the street if you do not like to go to a restaurant alone. But according to the rules, the one who invites comes earlier and waits at the table.

The man orders the dishes, he chooses the wine as well. True, he can consult with you, ask about your wishes. The man communicates with the service staff - head waiter, waiter and sommelier.

If you've invited a business partner to dinner, it's best to place and pay for your order in advance. Business is not talked about until food and drinks are selected.

The person who invited pays the bill, even if it is a business lunch and the invitee is a man.

If a large company dines, everyone pays for himself, while the husband always pays for his wife.

Taboo... It is unacceptable to knock with a spoon when calling the waiter. You cannot demand an account when a partner or partner finishes coffee - even if you are in a great hurry. It is not polite.

NB! In the restaurant hall, do not move the chair yourself - wait for your companion or head waiter to do it. Stand calmly without bending your legs or looking back.

If you are in a restaurant with a company and invited a friend to join, introduce him to everyone present.

In the restaurant, it is customary to leave a tip in the amount of 10% of the order value in excess of the amount indicated in the invoice. In Ukraine (in all high-class restaurants) and in Germany, the cost of service is included in the invoice, and you can limit yourself to the amount indicated in it.

There is an unspoken rule: tips are left in bills. It is permissible to check the account for "errors". And if you are unhappy with the service, you don't have to leave a tip.

Code of Conduct

You need to sit at the table at a comfortable distance - not too close, but not too far away - the distance should not exceed the width of your palm.

In no case should you put your elbows on the table, you can only put your wrists on the table for a short time. However, women are allowed to lean slightly on the table if absolutely necessary.

When using appliances, your hands should not touch the table at all. When eating, if you have one hand free, do not keep it under the table - this is bad form.

You always need to sit on a chair evenly, you can only slightly bend over the plate while eating. You need to sit at the table straight, but at the same time, free, so that you do not get the impression that you are uncomfortable or uncomfortable.

Place your personal linen napkin on your lap. She should not wipe her lips and hands while eating. To do this, there must be paper napkins on the table.
After you have finished eating, you can lightly touch your lips with a linen napkin and wipe the ends of your fingers.

If women have painted lips, they should only use paper towels.

Naturally, in no case should you use any napkins at the table as a handkerchief. After finishing your meal, simply place the napkin on the table.

Even if you are very hungry, you must eat slowly, quietly. Chew with your mouth closed and never slurp or blow on food to cool it down.

Don't talk while eating.

Don't insist on food choices for your tablemates.

Even if the dish was delicious, you cannot wipe the bottom of the plate with a slice of bread.

At a large table, all common dishes should have their own utensils, for example, special forks, spoons or tweezers. With these devices, and not personal ones, it is necessary to take and put food from the common dish on your plate. In no case, do not take food from a common dish with individual devices.

If the desired dish or, say, the salt shaker is at a great distance from you, do not reach for them across the entire table. Ask a neighbor or waiter to serve them to you.

If you need to temporarily interrupt the meal, in this case, put the knife and fork on the plate as they were held: knife - handle to the right, fork - handle to the left.

If you have completely finished your meal, arrange the cutlery as follows: the knife and fork are next to each other, parallel to each other, and the handles of both items are pointing to the right. This means that you have completed your dinner (lunch, breakfast, lunch) and the plate can be taken away.

If you are full, it is not necessary to finish the dish to the end. This rule also applies to alcoholic beverages.

Table etiquette

Bread

Bread is eaten in pieces, which are broken off from the taken large piece. It is not customary to bite off directly from this piece.

By the way, they take bread with their hands. In the same way, they take cake, cookies and fruits. Sugar in cubes is also taken by hand or with special tongs, if they are lying nearby.

In case you want to spread butter on the bread, gradually break off small pieces, press them against the plate with your fingers and spread with butter. By the way, butter and pate are taken from common utensils with common appliances and put on their plate and only after that they are spread on bread. Caviar can be spread immediately on bread.

Bread with butter should not be cut with a knife.

If there is a small bread plate near you, then the bread must be transferred from the common plate to it. This is what it is designed for. The butter is also placed with a clean knife on the edge of the same plate. The same is done with caviar, but instead of a knife, a small spatula is used for caviar.

Sandwiches, served before the feast, are eaten by hand, and at the table - with a fork and knife.

Sometimes a buffet sandwich is multi-tiered and disintegrates in the hands, does not fit in the mouth. Such a sandwich should be put on a plate and use a knife and fork (if there are no cutlery, use paper napkins).

Meat

Pork and lamb chops, fillets, steaks, liver and other similar dishes are eaten using a table knife with a fork: gradually cut off small pieces without slicing everything at once. In this case, the knife is in the right hand and the fork is in the left. When cutting a dish, the fork must not be held perpendicular, but only at an angle to the plate.

Meatballs, cabbage rolls, omelets, cutlets, and other soft dishes that do not involve the use of a knife are eaten with a fork, which is held with the right hand, helping oneself with a knife. But it is not customary to cut dishes with a knife.

The kebab is removed from the skewer with a fork or the blunt side of a knife.

The sauce is poured over the meat, not the side dish.

Pierce the Kiev cutlet near the bone so that the oil drains out, and cut off piece by piece. Attention: do not take her by the bone and papillote!

The bird is eaten with a knife and fork. In this case, it is not necessary to completely cut all the bones. At home, you can afford to take a chicken leg in your hand.

Meat with vegetables. There are conflicting recommendations on how to eat such a dish. According to the first, the meat should be cut into small pieces and the knife should be set aside. According to the second, the knife must not be released from the right hand for a minute, the fork from the left. The first rule is that the Americans are guided. In the European sense, this method is far from elegance. Following the second recommendation, it will be correct to cut off a piece of meat, holding it with a fork. Put mashed potatoes on a cut piece of meat, chopped on a fork.

If peas or other vegetables that are difficult to hold on a fork are served with the meat, then you can do this: holding the meat with a fork, cut off a piece, then turn the fork with this piece and put the vegetables in it; vegetables can be placed on cut pieces of meat, as much as can be retained.

When the meat is finished, holding the fork in your right hand, eat the peas (do not put the peas with a fork, but dial on it like on a spatula).

If the potatoes are served whole, they should not be crushed on a plate.

Salad served with meat on a separate plate should be eaten from the same plate, picking up little by little in order with what is on the main plate.

Fish

The fish is eaten with a fish appliance or with a fork and knife. In the case when there are no special devices, the fish can be eaten with two table forks.

If a spatula and a fork are fed to the fish, then the spatula is held in the right hand and the pieces are held, and the fork is held in the left and the bones are separated.

If two forks are served with the fish, one is used for eating and the other for separating the bones.

If one fork is served to the fish, then they take it in the right hand, and in the left - a piece of bread.

If the fish is served whole (boiled or smoked), then first the upper part of the fillet is separated from the skeleton and eaten, then the spine and bones are separated. Set aside and proceed to the second part. After this dish is eaten, the fish skeleton should remain on the plate.

If a fish bone remains in your mouth, it must be discreetly placed with the tip of your tongue on a fork and set aside on the edge of the plate.

Cold fish dishes are eaten using snacks.

Boiled and hot smoked sevruga, sturgeon, beluga are eaten only with a fork.

A slice of lemon, served with cold fish, is applied to the lips after the fish is eaten.

Oysters are served open in restaurants. First, squeeze the lemon into the sink, then take the oyster in your left hand and use a fork to separate the pulp. Eat it with a special device.

Crayfish are eaten by hand. At the same time, there should be bowls of moderate temperature water on the table in order to wash your hands after eating. Sliced \u200b\u200blemons are usually present in such water, less often rose petals are used. Also, along with such vases, there must be clean napkins, cotton or paper, which must be removed immediately after the end of the meal.

Asparagus and “tobacco” chickens are also eaten in a similar way.

For lobster / lobster, a special set is used: tweezers, special short fork and spatula. The carapace of the lobster is cut with tweezers starting from the back. Claws are cut in the same way. Soft meat is removed with a special long fork with two prongs.

Shrimp is also eaten by hand.

Snack

If you decide to try a snack, place it on a plate and eat it with a fork and knife.

Cheese, poultry, ham, sausage and other natural meat dishes are not cut into small pieces at once. It is necessary to cut such dishes using a knife and fork, gradually.

An appetizer, such as ham, should not be placed on a piece of bread.

If the sausage is served unpeeled, then each piece is peeled on a plate with a knife and fork. Dry sausage is eaten with skin.

A soft-boiled egg is placed in a special glass, then the top is hit with the edge of the spoon. If the tip does not bounce off, you can remove it with your fingers. Eating an egg is supposed to be done with a spoon.

Scrambled eggs can be eaten with a spoon or fork, depending on the consistency.

Sausages and sausages in thin skins can be eaten without removing them.

All types of cheese are served after meat dishes. Take cheese in portions.

Spaghetti or straw pasta is very difficult to eat in a way that looks good. There are three ways:

The first method suggests using a fork and spoon. Hold the spoon in your left hand. Dip the edge of the spoon into a plate, wrap the pasta on a fork in the depression of the spoon. After winding some pasta on a fork, cut off this portion with a spoon.

The second way: hold the fork like a knife prepared for cutting. Dip the fork into the thick of pasta and raise them up, separating a small portion. Then again lower the fork with pasta into the plate, wrap it around the fork and quickly put it in your mouth.

The third way: chop pasta on a fork, wrap a portion of pasta on it (while keeping the fork upright). The basic rule is to type no more than 2-3 strands of pasta on a fork.

The salad is eaten with a fork. A knife is used to cut into large pieces or lettuce leaves.

Do not cut green salad with a knife as much as possible. If it is served in such a way that the leaves are too large, then you need to cut them with a fork or carefully wind the leaves around it, and eat, trying not to leave traces of sauce on the chin.

The pate can be taken with a knife, but, as a rule, the pate is eaten, separating small pieces with a fork. Spreading pate on bread can only be in the family circle.

Take the mustard and salt in small spoons. Place the mustard on the bottom of the plate on the right side.

Soups, broths

Soups are not usually eaten without a trace; according to the rules, a small amount of soup remains in the plate. Nevertheless, in a home circle, you can finish the soup by tilting the plate away from you.

Soups are eaten with a spoon, picking up from themselves and bringing them to the mouth with a wide edge.

A spoon is used if it is necessary to catch croutons, eggs, pieces of meat floating in the soup.

A spoon is also used if the soup is served in a double-handled cup.

If the soup is very hot, do not blow on it to cool it down, you cannot stir it with a spoon. It is better to wait a while until it cools down.

There should be enough soup in the spoon so that it does not overflow from it.

The soup spoon is not placed on the table, but is left in the plate after the meal.

The broth should be eaten with a dessert spoon, bringing it to the mouth with a sharp end, slightly obliquely.

Broths, soups, which are served in cups, should be drunk like coffee or tea, without using a spoon.

When you eat the first course, do not sip, eat silently.

If the soup contains dumplings, noodles, or potatoes, crush them with the edge of a spoon.

The chicken in the broth is the first and the second at the same time, so first eat the broth with a spoon from a plate, and then the chicken pieces - with a fork and knife.

Fruit

Fruit served on the table is not tested for strength and is not selected.

Bananas are served unpeeled and eaten by hand.

The oranges are peeled and sliced. They eat them with their hands. Place the bones on a plate.
It is recommended to peel as follows: cut the peel crosswise, remove it and cut the orange into slices. Neither oranges nor tangerines can be spirally peeled.

The grapefruit is served crosswise, the middle is removed from the rind, but remains inside. It should be eaten with a spoon, you can sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

It is customary to cut watermelons and melons into medium-sized slices, served with peels and eaten with a fork and knife. Having taken a piece from the common plate, it must be put on your plate with the peel down, then cut a thin slice with a fruit knife. and, having freed it from the seeds, send it into your mouth on a fork.

It is permissible to eat melon with a spoon.

The mango should be cut in half on your own plate. It is eaten with a spoon, after removing the bone.

The pineapple must be peeled, cut across into thin slices and placed on a plate. Pineapple is eaten with a fork and knife.

Apples and pears are cut lengthwise into 4-8 pieces with a fruit knife, after which the seed nest is removed. The resulting pieces are no longer cut, but bite off from them.

Most aesthetes cut these fruits into four parts, put them on a plate, and then, taking a slice on a fork, peel off the skin with a knife. The hardest part is keeping the treat on a fork. The peeled piece is then eaten on a plate using a knife and fork. It is permissible to peel fruit in hand, but eat it on a plate with a knife and fork.

Peaches are cut in half with a fruit knife, the seeds are removed with a knife and eaten by hand.

Cherries and cherries should be taken by a twig and sent to the mouth. Spit out the bone, if possible, imperceptibly into a fist, and then onto your plate.

You can do the same with grapes. But grapes are usually eaten whole. It is unacceptable to spit bones directly onto a plate or collect them in an ashtray.

Break the plums with your fingers, put the bone on a plate.

Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, strawberries or other berries are eaten only with a spoon.

Strawberries should be served peeled without a stem. It is not nice to crush strawberries served with sugar and sour cream on a plate. The resulting mass does not look very aesthetically pleasing. The same rule applies to strawberries.

Compote, served in a vase, is eaten with a spoon. Drinking straight from a vase is ugly. Fruit seeds are spit out on a spoon and placed on a plate standing next to or under the vase.

The drinks

If any drink is offered before a meal, then you must first swallow everything in your mouth and only then drink it down. It is advisable to wipe your lips with a napkin before that.

It's ugly to top up drinks only for yourself. First, offer to top up the drink to the neighbors at the table.

Coffee is served with pre-diluted sugar or cream.

A teaspoon is intended for stirring sugar and cream, after which the spoon can no longer be used. They just put it on a saucer.

Tea and coffee are not poured into a saucer.

Alcoholic drinks must also be drunk correctly.

Cocktails are drunk in small sips with breaks.

You can drink vodka from a small glass right away, but remember that the glass can be refilled.

You can drink vodka, starting from the third or fourth glasses (of course, if necessary), you can little by little, since it is not customary to change the portion in such a situation.

Drinking after toast to the bottom is possible only on special occasions. This is now optional.

Whiskey is served with ice. Sometimes it is diluted with soda water.

Wine, as well as liquor, should preferably be consumed in small sips.

Champagne and other sparkling wines are desirable, but not necessary, to drink immediately.

Cognac is also drunk in small sips, but with a longer break. At the same time, the glass can be in the hand, since the cognac loves warmth.

With what dishes what drinks should you drink

Usually lunch or, in some cases, dinner starts with cold snacks. Dry white wines are served with such dishes.

For meat salads or hams, light red wines are suitable.

White wines of moderate strength are served with turkey, chicken, veal liver, hot ham, fried or baked fish.

Red dry wines are suitable for meat dishes such as steaks, pork cutlets, stewed liver or smoked sausages.

Long-aged red wines are more suitable for bushmeat.

The same wines are served with vegetables as with meat, with mushrooms - exclusively red wine.

Sweet dishes, respectively, are served with sweet dessert wines with a high alcohol and sugar content, liqueurs or sweet sparkling wines.

Dry white wines are well suited to cheese with a delicate and delicate taste.

Tart wine should be served with spicy and savory cheeses.

Red wines are perfect for wild meat and other dark meats, but only white wines for white meat, poultry or fish.

Both white and red wines work well with goose or pork, but these should be well-aged and strong wines.

Dessert

For desserts, there are special cutlery used to eat puddings, ice cream, cakes, creams, and more. When coffee, tea or sweets are served, then all unnecessary dishes are removed from the table and vases with jam, sweets or cookies, plates with thinly sliced \u200b\u200blemon, sugar are displayed.

If a cake or cake is served, a separate dessert plate is placed at the table for each guest, a dessert spoon or knife is placed to the right of this plate, and a dessert fork is placed to the left.

Coffee or tea is placed near the plate on the right side with the handle turned to the left.
The cream is served hot in a special bowl, which in turn should be on the saucer.

Cakes and tarts are eaten with a dessert spoon. Do not use a fork and knife.

Puff pastry and shortcrust pastry pies are eaten by hand.

Cakes and pastries are taken with a special spatula. Soft - creamy and biscuit - eaten with a dessert fork (if there are none, you can use a spoon), crumbly can be taken by hand.

Jam and jelly are spread on bread with a knife.

Ice cream is eaten with a dessert spoon or teaspoon.

These are just the basic rules that an educated person should know.

In everyday life, we remember the rules of etiquette only in anecdotes, and at the table sometimes we only get by with one spoon for all dishes. But sometimes situations arise when it suddenly turns out to be important to know how many centimeters of shirt cuffs should be visible from under the jacket sleeve and what kind of fork should be used to eat fish.

Of course, there won't be any talk about the sleeves. But we will try to study and remember the most common cutlery. The easiest way to do this is to use a description with photos.

Snack cutlery

Appetizers tend to appear first on the table. Accordingly, they are served with cutlery, called snack bars. They traditionally consist of a fork and a knife. The length of the knife from the snack bar should be equal to the diameter of the special snack plate or 1-2 cm longer. The fork is slightly shorter.

They use a snack device when cold snacks, hot pancakes, scrambled eggs, fried ham and some other dishes are served at the table.

Main cutlery

When appetizers are replaced by the main first and second courses, the table is served with appropriate devices. It is the classic and most common of all types of cutlery: knife, spoon and fork. The length of the knife is also measured here by the diameter of the plate. A slightly shorter fork and spoon are allowed. With these devices, in the absence of special ones, it is allowed to transfer your portion from the common plate.

Fish appliance

In the case of serving fish dishes, cutlery for fish comes onto the stage. It is a blunt blade-shaped knife and a fork with four teeth shortened in comparison with the "classic". Such a cutlery is intended for eating hot fish dishes, although it is often used for any fish.

However, according to the rules of etiquette, which strictly regulate all the details, another fork is intended for cold brittle fish - for sprats. This accessory has a wide paddle base and five bridged teeth. It should be emphasized that they do not eat with this fork, but only transfer the fish from the common plate to their own.

Dessert appliances

Dessert cutlery and teaspoon

Moving on to dessert and exploring the special cutlery for this category of food. This set includes a trio of fork, spoon and knife. Their size is smaller than that of the main counterparts, in accordance with the size of the dessert plate. The required height of the knife is measured by its diameter, as before, but the fork (with three prongs) and the spoon have the appropriate dimensions. A dessert knife can also be distinguished by a narrower, sharpened blade than a diner.

Ice cream scoop

A pair of dessert knife and fork is served with sweets (pies and cakes), watermelon, melon and cheese. Sweet dishes that do not need to be sliced \u200b\u200bare accompanied by a dessert spoon. These are various mousses, berry cocktails, compotes, sweet cereals.

It is permissible to serve a dessert spoon for ice cream. But it is still better to use a special spoon shaped like a scapula.

Of course, the types of cutlery are not limited to this list. There are still numerous tongs, shovels and other "special tools" that are required extremely rarely, if not at all for home cooking. For example, snail, lobster or asparagus cutlery - should you buy them? It is much easier to visit a restaurant for such dishes, where they must serve in accordance with all the rules of etiquette.

And yet it is worth buying the cutlery that is most often in demand. How to learn to use them. At least in order not to be like the characters in this video.

Both ceremonial and everyday spoons, forks and knives, above all, must be perfectly clean. Then the hostess is not ashamed to receive guests of any level. "Cozy Kitchen" recommends a collection of methods - made of stainless steel, silver and cupronickel at home.