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Whatever else you say about the Brits, you've got to admit that they are the only Europeans with the backbone to stand up for what is morally right. I love 'em. Trade ya 4 frogs for a Brit any day of the week! :)

peace, mw

When I'm having a breakfast of bacon, eggs, home fries, and toast, I do the same thing. Not so much with other meals.

I knew there was something different about the way they ate, when I watched it in movies! But I just couldn't put my finger on it.

That looks like it could get out of hand....Trying to stuff it all in your mouth in one bite. But I guess they just determine how to portion it correctly. Hmmm...

There are a few times when I eat multiple things in one bite. I normally take a meat and pair it with a carbohydrate (mashed potatoes, pasta, etc) on my fork. I also just mix whatever tends to taste good together on my plate (usually as a result of an accidental touching of foods).

I used to eat all of one item on my plate before I moved onto the next thing. To some extent I still do that but now I'm a bit more willing to mix some things together.

Actually, now that I think about it, I do mix together stuff when I'm having an excellent meal at a restaurant - I suppose I'm trying to see what the chef wanted me to taste by pairing all those things together.

this is insane... ive been eating like this since i can remember, and my grandfather always commented on it and how i was soooo "european" but didn't really understand til i lately.

but really, right before i read this article i was eating steak, braised cabbage, and roasted potatoes, and incoherently made sure i had a small piece of each for the last bite lol

This is ridiculous - can't people just eat the way that is the most convenient to them without saying they are this or that? Why must we label everything?

My boyfriend is British and we actually had a good laugh over which was the "proper" way to eat. He also uses his knife to push the food onto his fork, something I've noticed a lot of people around here do. He also told me that you never stick the knife in your mouth...lots of amusement when we went out and I watched the lady at the next table lick her knife!

American left-handers will eat with the fork in their left hand, at least, the ones in my family do!

As an American living in England, I was intrigued by the English method of eating - fork upside-down. I don't think I have seen any of my English friends eat with their forks right-side up. As @NotAmerican mentioned, you have to watch them eat peas. It is a skill to be admired.

Since I am a left-hander, I naturally fit in with the English and European manner of eating with the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right hand. I've even adopted the fork upside-down technique because it feels more ergonomic and comfortable for both hands to be in the same position while eating. Another bonus to this technique is that it cuts out a step in the eating process - no need to turn your fork right-side up before you shovel the food into your mouth.

@anzee, that cracks me up that you think the European method is cavemanish, because i totally think the Americna method is cavemanish! :) Seriously, keeping your utensils in each hand, and forcing your knife hand to stay at table level forces your FORK hand to raise itself to your mouth. Kind of civilized, to me. As for the American method, its like you're saying you're being served a hunk of meat and you have to finish "preparing" it yourself by cutting it up, and once you've finished that task, you can switch your fork to your right hand, lower your head to your plate (as many ppl do) and then start to shovel food in your mouth. Definitely less civilized, IMO.

As for the English method, i don't get it. If all the things on your plate were meant to be eaten in one bite, the only thing we'd ever eat would be casseroles!

All that switching around of utensils Americans typically do with the goal that one hand rests in the lap seems awkward and contrived. I guess I resorted to the Eurostyle knife in right/fork in left style as a matter of convenience. Growing up in a chopsticks family, I guess I was always free to choose my fork-n-knife technique and ended up choosing the one that puts food in my mouth faster. Also, I typically just pile a couple of tastes together, as opposed to the Leaning Tower of Peas technique of the Brits, which is awesome, though!

Fork shifting has always seemed quite primitive to me. Reminds me of small children where the parents have to split everything into tiny pieces before handing the kid a fork/spoon. Guess the Americans never grew away from that habit. Around here it (Scandinavia) it is considered impolite to cut everything into tiny pieces before starting to shovel away the food :-) We do not pile up everything like the Brits do, but instead we cut one, maybe two, mouth-fitting pieces of the meat/potatoes gently add a bit of sauce (if available) and then send it directly to the mouth. Chewing is done with mouth closed and you don't talk while chewing (another thing I often see Americans do). When done eating, the fork and knife are joined together to make a line going from the middle of the dish and towards the lower right of the plate (4o'clock if you think of the plate as being a clock).

I can see the merits of both ways, actually. In fact, I use them both at various points of time, often because of a lack of elbow space when lunching at the home of someone who has squeezed *just* too many people around the table. If I ate bangers and mash I'd totally do it the way the guy above does it.

Growing up in a Filipino household, I learned to eat with a spoon and fork (when I wasn't eating with my hands). I used the fork to guide the food to my spoon, then shovel the food in my mouth with the spoon. No knives -- we used our spoon to cut the meat since we ate a lot of stew-type meals and the meat was usually soft enough. I thought everyone ate like this, until I got older and learned that nobody else ate like this. Now I eat with a fork, unless I'm eating Filipino food. (Not because I'm ashamed or anything, just because sometimes it's easier to use one utensil rather than two.)

I didn't even think about it being a cultural thing until I was reading one of Ruth Reichl's books, when she visits an Asian country (I think it's Thailand, correct me if I'm wrong) and they're all eating like that. I read that part and thought, "AHA! It's NOT weird!"

And then I found this. Apparently a Filipino boy in Montreal got punished in school for eating this way. Unbelievable.

Well, I currently live in the US, but I was born and raised in England. Now that I think of it, yes, I always "create a perfect bite" when I eat, which requires creating a perfect plate. I don't pile all my food on one plate though, for instance, I always have a separate salad bowl, etc.

@mh330 - I agree. Until I came to the US 6 years ago (OH is an American) I'd been convinced that what appears to be "the American method" of switching knife and fork from hand to hand as you eat, was either something small children would do or just an indication of poor table manners. Actually, that's not quite true - my OH (born in Brooklyn, raised in NJ) eats the same way I do (his parents don't, which even further persuaded me it was poor table manners:-)), and it wasn't until a similar thread appeared in Talk earlier this year that I realised that what I was raised to consider poor table manners was actually "the American method" (as I had said earlier - my apologies to everybody who eats the "American way", I had no idea, and that would be poor manners on my part).

oddly enough i just learned of this phenomenon the other day in a strip of the excellent comic Achewood [which often involves food]. everything makes sense now. here is the link, do check it out: http://achewood.com/index.php?date=10272008

I have tried the European manner of eating but as a righty, it was just too awkward. Since the majority of people are right-handed, how do Europeans do it? The fork is used more than the knife, since some foods don't need to be cut. So why would you use your left for the fork if you are right-handed?

I'm pretty klutzy. It tends to drop right off my fork.

I think I was meant for the American way of eating.

I'm an American who has never travelled abroad (not by choice, I assure you). Fork-switching seems perfectly natural to me, because it means the dominant hand does all the persnickety work. Fork concave-side-up - well, it just feels like things are less likely to fall off.

Having said that, I've never cut up an entire steak/chop/meat-thing at once before taking the first bite.

How do Americans eat then. I must ask as an Englishman.

I'm an American lefty and I've always eaten in a basic European manner; friend's grandmother and her European friends. Except, I hold my knife in my left hand and fork in my right. I am pretty much ambidextrous about everything but handwriting.

Also, it's very bad manners to cut up all of something before eating. Just as it is bad manners to butter all of a roll/slice of bread (unless it's breakfast toast) before eating. Some Americans just have very bad table manners.