3/14/2014 Eating Food - Manners and Etiquette

http://projectbritain.com/behaviourfood.html 1/7
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Foods in Britain
by Mandy Barrow


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E a t i n g E t i q u e t t e
Learn about Christmas in England from the children who live in Britain Christmas traditions why do what we do at chrsitmas time
What s houl d I d o or not d o whe n I am
e at i ng i n Br i t ai n?
The British generally pay a lot of attention to good table
manners. Even young children are expected to eat properly with
knife and fork.
We eat most of our food with cutlery. The foods we don't eat
with a knife, fork or spoon include sandwiches, crisps, corn on
the cob, and fruit.
Thi ng s y ou s houl d d o:
If you cannot eat a certain type of food or have some special
needs, tell your host several days before the dinner party.
If you are a guest, it is polite to wait until your host starts
eating or indicates you should do so. It shows consideration.
Always chew and swallow all the food in your mouth before
taking more or taking a drink.
Always say thank you when served something. It shows
appreciation.
You may eat chicken and pizza with your fingers if you are at a
barbecue, finger buffet or very informal setting. Otherwise
always use a knife and fork.
When eating rolls, break off a piece of bread before buttering.
Eating it whole looks tacky.
On formal dining occasions it is good manners to take some
butter from the butter dish with your bread knife and put it on
your side plate (for the roll). Then butter pieces of the roll using
this butter. This prevents the butter in the dish getting full of
bread crumbs as it is passed around.
In a restaurant, it is normal to pay for your food by putting your
money on the plate the bill comes on.
3/14/2014 Eating Food - Manners and Etiquette
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When you have finished
eating, and to let others
know that you have, place
your knife and folk
together, with the prongs
(tines) on the fork facing
upwards, on your plate.


"I was taught never to place ones fork tines facing
upwards, but to do the exact opposite, to place the fork
with the tines cruved and only the tips sitting on the
plate. This was because if you had anything of an acid
nature i.e vinegaret dressing etc it would tarnish the
fork, so as little as possible of the fork would be left
placed on the plate to avoid this.
If you also so consider that silverware would have taken
time to polish by staff a tarnishing of the silver would
take them longer to clean off (if indeed it had not been
damaged beyond repair) thus staff would be tied up
cleaning these items not getting on with other tasks
that were needing to be done.
Worse it could be these days ones self doing the
cleaning not a job wanted by many these days I dare
say. Acidity can damage even modern made cutlery
tarnishing it beyond repair and with the cost of good
cutlery the best way to keep it getting spoit is to place
the knife and fork together fork tines facing down so
only the tips of the fork are upon the plate."
Advice from a visitor to our website
Thi ng s y ou s houl d not d o:
Never lick or put your knife in your mouth.
It is impolite to start eating before everyone has been served
unless your host says that you don't need to wait.
Never chew with your mouth open. No one wants to see food
being chewed or hearing it being chomped on.
It is impolite to have your elbows on the table while you are
eating.
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Don't reach over someone's plate for something, ask for the item
to be passed.
Never talk with food in your mouth.
It is impolite to put too much food in your mouth.
Never use your fingers to push food onto your spoon or fork.
It is impolite to slurp your food or eat noisily.
Never blow your nose on a napkin (serviette). Napkins are for
dabbing your lips and only for that.
Never take food from your neighbours plate.
Never pick food out of your teeth with your fingernails.

Thi ng s t hat ar e ok t o d o:
It is ok to pour your own drink when eating with other people,
but it is more polite to offer pouring drinks to the people sitting
on either side of you.
It is ok to put milk and sugar in your tea and coffee or to drink
them both without either.
I am not us e d t o e at i ng wi t h a
kni f e and f or k. What d o I ne e d t o
know?
We eat continental style, with fork in the left hand and the knife
in the right (or the other way round if you are left handed). At
the top of your plate will be a dessert spoon and dessert fork.
If you are eating at a formal dinner party, you will come across
many knives and forks. Start with the utensils on the outside
and work your way inward with each subsequent course
How t o e at wi t h a kni f e and f or k
i n Eng l and
The fork is held in the left hand and the knife in the right.
If you have a knife in one hand, it is wrong to have a fork in the
other with the prongs (tines) pointed up.
Hold your knife with the handle in your palm and your folk in the
other hand with the prongs pointing downwards.
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How to hold a fork How to hold a knife
When eating in formal situations, rest the fork and knife on the
plate between mouthfuls, or for a break for conversation.
If you put your knife down, you can turn your fork over. It's
correct to change hands when you do this, too, so if you are
right handed you would switch and eat with the fork in your right
hand.

If it is your sole eating
instrument, the fork should be
held with the handle between
the index finger and the thumb
and resting on the side of your
middle finger.


How t o e at Soup
When eating soup, tip the bowl away from you and scoop the
soup up with your spoon.
Soup should always be taken (without slurping of course) from
the side of the spoon, and not from the 'end' as in most of the
rest of Europe.
How t o e at p e as
To be very polite, peas should be crushed onto the fork - a fork
with the prongs pointing down. The best way is to have load the
fork with something to which they will stick, such as potato or a
soft vegetable that squashes easily onto the fork. It's
sometimes easier to put down your knife and then switch your
fork to the other hand, so you can shovel the peas against
something else on the plate, thus ensuring they end up on your
fork.
The fork should not be used as a scoop but held so that the
points of the tines face
How t o e at p ud d i ng ( d e s s e r t s )
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To eat dessert, break the dessert with the spoon, one bite at a
time. Push the food with the fork (optional) into the spoon. Eat
from the spoon. (Fork in left hand; spoon in right.)
How t o us e a nap ki n or s e r v i e t t e
The golden rule is that a napkin should never be used to blow
your nose on. This is a definite no-no. Napkins should be placed
across the lap - tucking them into your clothing may be
considered 'common'.
What d o y ou s ay or d o i f y ou' v e
ac c i d e nt al l y t ake n t oo muc h f ood
and y ou c annot p os s i b l y e at i t
al l ?
Say:
"I'm sorry, but it seems that 'my eyes are bigger than my
stomach'.
or
"I'm sorry. It was so delicious but I am full".
The main thing is not to offend your host
Ot he r p ag e s on our we b s i t e ab out f ood
or manne r s and e t i q ue t t e
For information about the food we eat, visit our food pages.
For more information about manners and etiquette:
Visit Social Customs and Dos and Don'ts in Britain
Questions (or statements) sent to us by visitors to our
website

3/14/2014 Eating Food - Manners and Etiquette
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Copyright - please read
All the materials on these pages
are free for homework and
classroom use only. You may
not redistribute, sell or place
the content of this page on any
other website or blog without
written permission from the
Mandy Barrow.
www.mandybarrow.com
Copyright Mandy Barrow 2013
Mandy is the creator of the Woodlands Resources section of the Woodlands Junior
website.
The two websites projectbritain.com and primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk are the new
homes for the Woodlands Resources.
Mandy left Woodlands in 2003 to work in Kent schools as an ICT Consulatant.
She now teaches computers at The Granville School and St. John's Primary
School in Sevenoaks Kent.
Woodlands Junior Homework Help new website



Copyright Mandy Barrow 2013
Copyright - please read
3/14/2014 Eating Food - Manners and Etiquette
http://projectbritain.com/behaviourfood.html 7/7
Copyright - please read
All the materials on these pages are free for homework
and classroom use only. You may not redistribute, sell or
place the content of this page on any other website or
blog without written permission from the Mandy Barrow.
Mandy is the creator of the Woodlands Resources section of the Woodlands Junior website.
The two websites projectbritain.com and primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk are the new homes for the
Woodlands Resources.
Mandy left Woodlands in 2003 to work in Kent schools as an ICT Consulatant.
She now teaches computers at The Granville School and St. John's Primary School in Sevenoaks Kent.
Follow Mandy on Twitter
Woodlands Homework Help new website
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