Why do some people eat with their fork upside down? And when did that start?

[Jennasis]

TACOS.

Problem solved.

 

[Minnie1222]

This is hilarious! I've never noticed how I hold a fork until reading this thread. My tines are down, a habit since childhood. I also hold a fork and eat with my left hand, if the food requires my right hand to hold the knife for some slicing. As for peas, I poke them with the fork.
I don't think I'll be able to keep the peas on the fork if I hold it like a spoon. They'll roll right off.

 

[mktink626]

Tines down for me! I remember hearing in a high school history class (looooong ago!) that American spies in WWII actually had to learn all new table manners, including eating with tines down, because otherwise they would give themselves away. Not sure how much truth there is to it, but I thought it was interesting!

 

[NYCgrrl]

I “spear” peas since it seems to make sense.

 

[prairie_girl]

This is hilarious! I've never noticed how I hold a fork until reading this thread. My tines are down, a habit since childhood. I also hold a fork and eat with my left hand, if the food requires my right hand to hold the knife for some slicing. As for peas, I poke them with the fork.
I don't think I'll be able to keep the peas on the fork if I hold it like a spoon. They'll roll right off.

I was taught to hold the fork in my left hand, knife in right. Then, after the food was cut, put down the knife , transfer the fork to my right hand, put my left hand in my lap, pick up the food with the fork and put it in my mouth. Then, fork back to left hand, pick up knife in right, rinse and repeat as needed.

I am not European but my parents were world travellers before they had kids, so it was picked up somewhere.

 

[DVCjj]

I admit... seeing an American eating with the fork down drives me crazy, sorry to say.

 

[Pixie Dusted Snow]

Okay the pea thing is very much dependent on the peas themselves.
If they are firm yeah sure you can spear them but if they are a bit over done they are more mushy. Not sure how you can really spear that....

Another item... rice.... how with the tines down...?

 

[neverlandsky]

I was taught fork down with cutting meat. Everything else fork up. When I'm done, I flip my fork down on the plate.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Tines up or tines down depends on what I’m eating. I usually switch hands after using a knife, because I’m American and was taught as a child that it was proper etiquette. Apparently that method is referred to as zig zag. DS does it the European way because he is left-handed, and it never bothered me.

 

[Planogirl]

I eat with the fork in my left hand and knife in my right. I use the fork to scoop though sometimes with the assistance of the knife.

 

[DisneyWorldMimi]

I use it both ways. My mum was from the UK, so I picked it up from her. More so when eating meat, I cut with one hand while holding the piece I am cutting off with my fork. Then I just eat off the fork.

 

[John VN]

I wonder what gave it its impetus. I'm 76 years old. Have only noticed this new way for maybe 5 years now. 70 years the regular way, 5 years the new way.

Almost 71Y'sO and experimented with the "over/under" method to the displeasure of my parents when I was a child. Typical 4 spline fork can easily "stab" 3 peas and up as the splines get loaded.

Okay the pea thing is very much dependent on the peas themselves.
If they are firm yeah sure you can spear them but if they are a bit over done they are more mushy. Not sure how you can really spear that....

Another item... rice.... how with the tines down...?

Tines up then push down and squish them on. Sticky rice can get "pushed on upside down splines" in clumps. Dry-individual grains are trickier thus needing a lower angle of approach meaning more horizontal handle.

 

[Karin1984]

European here. You can use a fork two ways, you can decide yourself which way is best for the food on your plate. It may surprise some, but you do not have to stick to one method.

Everyone I know uses tines down to spear food, meats etc, and tines up to scope, peas, mashed potatoes, rice. Flipping your fork upside down, or downside up, during the meal is allowed.

 

[Figment of Speech]

Unless you're trying to eat off the handle, it's not upside-down.

But really, I'm from the U.S., but I've always used it both ways. Rounded side down for scooping, rounded side up for spearing. It wasn't an intentional effort to be unusual or exotic or European; I was well into adulthood before I learned that it was geographically influenced.

 

[NotUrsula]

I wonder what gave it its impetus. I'm 76 years old. Have only noticed this new way for maybe 5 years now. 70 years the regular way, 5 years the new way.

Not new at all, though perhaps new to you. The odds are that wherever you live has simply become more diverse in recent years, as folks from elsewhere in the world (not just Europe) usually use the Continental style.

My parents were immigrants, and when we were children (about a half-century ago) we used to get into trouble between home and school over this cultural disagreement. My parents insisted on the Continental style at home, whilst at school the teachers punished us for using it. We very swiftly learned to eat both ways depending on where we were, but all of us abandoned the American method once we got old enough that our teachers no longer closely supervised our lunch tables. I taught my own children the Continental style as well; it's much simpler for children to learn (and thankfully it was no longer part of their teachers' job descriptions to grade their table manners at lunch.) DH is left-handed and adopted the Continental method in his college years because it was easier for him; that was years before I met him.

As for peas, the normal way that they are eaten in Europe is to simply squash them with the tines of the fork, so that you can scoop them up easily. The fork is normally only handled tines-down when eating larger pieces of food that have been cut; if the food is in small bits or is too soft to spear, then you flip the fork tines-up and scoop it, but it stays in your left hand.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

It's all in the title.

I learned to use a fork the normal, at least the previous normal, with the tines up instead of down, also sort of replicating a spoon effect. When I see somebody using the fork upside down, I am thinking the food is going to fall off their fork. It seems like it is usually younger people eating with the upside down fork method.

I do have to admit, I have not seen this for almost a year now, no restaurant eating since last February.

View attachment 557279 View attachment 557281

You guys!

 

[BadPinkTink]

so basically, Americans are confused as to why the rest of the world dont use a knife and fork like they do.... right... gotcha....

https://www.debretts.com/expertise/etiquette/table-manners/table-rules/
Dining Etiquette from Debrett's
Using Cutlery
The fork and spoon are the only things that should go into the mouth. Never lick the knife or eat off it. If using a knife and fork together, always keep the tines of the fork pointing downwards and push the food on to the fork. It may be necessary to use mashed potato to make peas stick to the fork but it is incorrect to turn the fork over and scoop.

There are foods that are eaten with just a fork, including some pasta and some fish. In this case use the fork in the right hand and have the tines up, more like a spoon. It is not traditional in England, but quite usual in America, to see someone cut all their food up and then discard the knife and eat with the fork alone.

It is not correct to hold your knife like a pen. The handle lies in the palm of the hand and is secured by the thumb on the side and the index finger on top of the handle. It is permissible in a restaurant to ask for a steak knife, if the meat is tough, but rude to ask for anything extra in a private house.

When finished, the knife and fork (with tines facing upwards) or spoon etc are placed on the plate in a six-thirty position.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Can we talk about not returning cutlery to the plate whilst talking/listening and instead waving cutlery around like a conductor of an orchestra? And don’t get me on to men wearing hats/caps in restaurants.... . ‘In for a penny .....’/‘..... sheep as a lamb’ and all that!

 

[mrodgers]

I was taught to hold the fork in my left hand, knife in right. Then, after the food was cut, put down the knife , transfer the fork to my right hand, put my left hand in my lap, pick up the food with the fork and put it in my mouth. Then, fork back to left hand, pick up knife in right, rinse and repeat as needed.

I am not European but my parents were world travellers before they had kids, so it was picked up somewhere.

That is the "proper" way to do it in the US/Americas.

 

[LovesTimone]

In Europe it is very popular to dine this way... it is like a PP stated it is more fluid to use the fork this way...

DH and I both have used a fork/knife in this manner, and it depends on where we are in the world, as well what we are eating... When we were in France, we noticed that most people eat this way.