Hand-held foods?
I've never asked a question before, but here goes : ) What type of foods do you eat out of hand? For instance, my husband eats eggrolls and moo-shoo "burritos" with a knife and fork, but I think they can be eaten by hand. Also, tacos, fried chicken, etc. What do you guys think? I think he's being anal, he thinks I need to find some manners!
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38 Comments:
Some foods are meant to be eaten with the hands, and were in fact created that way on purpose.
Burrito filling gets wrapped up so it can be transferred to the mouth. Sandwiches were created to make it easier to get meat to your face without a plate and utensils.
How the heck do you eat fried chicken (or ribs for that matter) with a knife and fork? Barring them being boneless, how would you even get all the meat off the bones?
I can see using a fork on a sandwich/burrito etc. that is really messy/soggy/huge/sloppy, or on something too hot to pick up...but if it is made to be eaten with the hands, why not?
What would he do in some of the places in the world where they ONLY use their hands, no matter how messy the dish?
I admit I would not want to gnaw ribs or other messy hand-food in a restaurant not known for that sort of food, but I will order it and take it home, or go to a place where everyone is eating that way.
Lobster? Pasties?
Does he eat nachos or donuts with a fork?
Be brave, pick it up and eat it! To heck with the mess!! Enjoy the food, worry less about manners sometimes when the food is made for your hands!
sadiepix at 1:26AM on 02/12/09
I go either way on eggrolls and moo-shu. Depends on which makes the most sense at the time. Tacos, fried chicken, ribs, etc. I eat with my hands for the most part. I guess it depends on which way it's easier. I can't imagine wanting to eat chicken wings with a knife and fork, but a breast might be easier with utensils.
I guess it also depends on where I am. At home, it's more casual.
I think it also depends on how you eat. I worked with a guy who used utensils but seemed like a horrible slob, and I once saw a woman eat an entire salad without any utensils, but she did it so delicately, it seemed normal until I thought about it later.
dbcurrie at 1:30AM on 02/12/09
What brought this up was that we were in a restaurant tonight and my son (who is 22) ordered moo shoo and was going to eat it out of hand when he was told by my husband that it was to be eaten with a knife and fork, which to me it could be eaten either way. But he insisted it was bad restaurant etiquette to be eating it out of hand. Being that it looked like a burrito, I didnt see the problem. Then I remembered I had seen him eat nachos and eggrolls with a fork . . . This was just a little neighborhood place, certainly not a four star restaurant (or even 3 !). Anyway, just wanted to get others' opinions to assure me I wasn't really backwoods for eating this way : )
gourmetgal at 2:03AM on 02/12/09
Nachos with a fork? I'm having a hard time picturing that in my head.
beersnob at 4:24AM on 02/12/09
I have a beard and I can't stand various foods getting squished all over the whiskers around my mouth. With hand foods I've mastered a combo approach. For example:
Fried chicken - I will eat as much of a thigh or breast with a knife and fork up until the last stages of sucking the meat off the bones. Then I finish it up with my hands.
Tacos - by hand - but with a wad of napkins standing by.
Hamburgers - big thick gooey gourmet ones - even chicken sandwiches - I'll eat with a knife and fork.
Pizza - thin and crispy I can manage by hand. Pan style - knife and fork.
Ribs (which I love - aka 'Ribster') - depending on the size, whether or not they've been sauced or dry, will determine if they need a little fork dissection before I go in for the final hand held attack.
Nachos - mostly by hand, but if they're real gooey with quac and sour cream, chili dripping off the edges - it's a fork deal.
Chili dogs - hands down it's a fork, regular hot dog - it's a hand.
Bottom line is if I can get it in my mouth without creating a facial drip factor then it's good to go with the hands.
Ribster at 5:17AM on 02/12/09
I will eat a doorknob wrapped in a tortilla.
In the absence of a doorknob...
* Gyro. It's a party wrapped in a pita. A messy party.
* Burrito. And it doesn't have to be a belly buster to be great.
* Summer rolls. It's the only really "light" food I can think of that's surrounded by a wrapper.
As for stuff like BBQ chix and ribs, I really have to be in the mood to get messy.
LOVE the Crabs Cantonese at Hop Kee (21 Mott Street). Friggin' black bean sauce down to my elbows!
chiff0nade at 7:30AM on 02/12/09
I'm with dbcurrie, as it can go either way depending on what it is and how juicy it is. My ex insisted I use a knife and fork with fried chicken and was angry when I ate with my fingers at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth. Gimme a break ...
My kids think it's hilarious when I eat Ting-a-Lings, cookies that are that combination of melted chocolate chips, peanuts and hard chow-mein noodles. I love the things and of course eat them as finger food ... but after all this time I still can't eat them without turning into a major mess! Briahna thinks it's funny then to steal my napkin ... ;-)
LunaPierCook at 7:38AM on 02/12/09
By hand:
sushi
spring and summer rolls
tacos - messy stuff that falls, I eat with a fork for a great salad
With fork and knife:
nachos at Longhorn, since they pile the chili, cheese, and jalapenos high
chicken
ribs
fish and chips
pizza
sloppy burgers or after 3 bites, since I usually throw out the buns
burrito
french fries, if it's served with something that isn't a finger food - otherwise, I'll eat them with my fingers
My mother taught me with table manners, in general, it doesn't matter where you are - home or restaurant. If you practice poor table manners at home, it's likely that you'll practice poor table manners while you are at a restaurant, as there could be a chance to slip up instead of eating naturally. She said this when I took the stance that "we're only at home." I've seen the atrocious table manners of kids and adults alike at restaurants, I appreciate what she was saying.
Somewhat of a disclaimer...I will not order crab outside because I eat crab like a barbarian -- with my hands and teeth. I have to take a shower after I eat crab. I crack the legs with my teeth since I've never bothered to pick up a cracker and I scour the entire body. I love kanimiso (the green stuff)!
Rules to eat certain foods is tough to gauge. I'm not talking about places that serve stuff to you in foil. If it's prepared in such a way that you'll need full use of the napkin provided, and then some, it's probably too saucy or greasy to eat with your fingers.
The other thing is, at least for ethnic foods, to observe people of the same ethnicity. If 100% of the people eat it with a spoon, it's probably the most appropriate way...but as an American, I think we tend to do things the way we want to, not what is appropriate or accepted...so none of this really matters.
Cassaendra at 8:02AM on 02/12/09
I pick my food apart, so I almost never eat anything out of hand. Pizza is the big exception, usually. I sometimes go to a med place that makes the best veggie wraps, and the owner knows to always give me a fork, because I will open it and eat all the filling first. I just seem to have a weird mental block about just biting into something. I think its from all those stories back in the 70's of someone biting into KFC and finding they had bitten the head off a rat. YUKKKK I just grossed myself out :-(
huneybumper at 8:28AM on 02/12/09
Egg rolls I eat with my hands. Ethiopian food with hands. Now if a burger or burrito is wrapped properly by hand, you just peel back the paper as you eat. If it is a very sloppy buger or wet burrito then no. Barbaque ribs chicken most likely by hand. Fries, pizza, tacos, gyros, fried chicken, hotdogs all by hand.
pjracz10 at 8:50AM on 02/12/09
It kind of depends on where you are. In different places, there is different acceptable etiquette.
If you are eating at a traditional chinese restraunt, you could eat your entire meal sans fork and spoon (yes, you can slurp your soup right from the bowl) without breaking any rules. It really comes down to what you are comfortable with in that case (I myself have never mastered chopsticks, but do try for fun sometimes!) I could never eat chicken wings with knife and fork, but I have tried in the past because of the mess I end up with (ribster, I'm with you on the beard thing). The mess does not deter me from the wings however. It is a socially acceptable mess at the bar and grill, but I'm not sure this is so at the fancy places. If wings make the menu, they are finger food to me.
Different rules apply depending on your surroundings. Ethnicity, location (different places/countries) and atmosphere allow for different rules. Basically, when in Rome do as the Romans do, if you are o.k. with it!
whatseatingme at 9:44AM on 02/12/09
Depends almost entirely on the social context. At home, I'll eat almost anything out of hand. If out eating with others, though, no matter how casual the setting, I often use utensils--not for things that can be relatively neatly consumed (egg rolls, nachos, etc.) but for big messy things. This has to do primarily with a traumatizing experience I had on a first date: we got falafel sandwiches with the works, and I simply couldn't manage mine (this was a huge sandwich) without making a total mess of myself. But I didn't want to seem like a little fastidious weirdo, so I tried to soldier on. Of course, I ended up thinking much more about how not to get tahini sauce on myself than about the date. Disaster.
annatr at 9:49AM on 02/12/09
I move back and forth between two continents (No. America and Europe) and was initially surprised by how much more my European friends use silverware to eat than do Americans. It is not uncommon, for example, to be given a 2-pronged plastic fork if you order fries to go in Europe. On reflection, it struck me that most of the very popular foods in America, fast and otherwise, are eaten with the fingers. Almost anything you get at a fast food place other than chili-cheese fries is eaten with the fingers. Fried chicken, ribs, steamer clams, onion rings... the list is endless, are all eaten by hand. Unless it is something like a steak that has to be carved or something drenched in gravy; all are pretty much "game" as finger food.
czken at 9:50AM on 02/12/09
If people will eat it by hand, I usually will, with a few exceptions. One of them is the giant stuffed burritos (think Chipotle or Q'doba sized). I like cutting up the tortilla and eating it like a burrito salad. The other one is deep dish pizza. I'll eat almost all pizza by hand, but never figured out how to pick up deep dish without making a mess. Oh, and I got laughed at for eating sushi by hand, so I try to use chopsticks now. I'm really bad at it though.
cycorider at 10:26AM on 02/12/09
So.............. is it in bad form for me to be eating chicken lo mein with my hands when I am at the Chinese Restaurant?
Pavlov at 10:29AM on 02/12/09
I've eaten sushi by hand ever since going to a Japanese restaurant where the chef saw me eating it with chopsticks, and said that, to Japanese people, that would be like eating a sandwich with a fork.
buffy at 10:42AM on 02/12/09
Oh, almost forgot about this one. I once ate pasta with meatballs by hand in my car. Was on my way out and grabbed a tupperware of leftover pasta but forgot a fork. Hit construction and was pretty much at a standstill, so I cracked open the tupperware and ate it by hand, trying not to get sauce all over the place and hoping no one would notice me being really ungraceful by eating long strands of linguini with no fork.
cycorider at 10:44AM on 02/12/09
Anything I can eat with my hands I do so. So there.
@Pavlov, no one else does that? eh?
Laurel E at 11:18AM on 02/12/09
Chopsticks are supposed to be extensions of your fingers and, therefore, can always be manipulated to eat anything that is eaten by hand. Thusly, my father never touched food with his hands. He was amazing - you should have seen him maneuver fried chicken with his chopsticks!
As for me, having adapted to American culture, I will eat with my fingers. Sometimes, though, I do wish there were a pair of choptsticks with the table setting to eat those "controversial foods" like asparagus!
LindaY at 11:29AM on 02/12/09
I don't think there's anything wrong with eating certain food like burritos, etc. with your hands since they're purposely designed to be eaten with your hands. My mom has always been hesitant to eat with her hands, which always annoyed me. Nowadays I do tend to eat even handheld foods with a fork, but that's because eating with a fork helps me take my time with eating so that I can enjoy my food longer.
runnereater at 12:26PM on 02/12/09
I really don't understand the concept of eating foods like fried chicken or burritos with a fork. (Well, except for the commenter who said he didn't like to get food in his beard - that makes sense to me.) I eat these food with my hands: Ethiopian food, french fries, burgers, hot dogs, tacos, burritos, nachos, sushi, pizza, egg rolls, spring rolls, ribs, fried chicken, watermelon, gyros, hardboiled eggs, bacon strips. As long as you're not being a complete animal about the eating process, it seems natural and fine to use your hands for these foods, instead of a knife and fork.
Junie at 12:28PM on 02/12/09
@cyco - I've always laughed at people who eat sushi with chopsticks. Of course, if it's one of the westernized sushi rolls with stuff layered/piled high, you're better off with chopsticks.
Now you can laugh right back...
Cassaendra at 1:37PM on 02/12/09
Cycorider--I was picturing that in my head and LOL! Sounds like a predicament I would get into.
gourmetgal at 1:53PM on 02/12/09
Two thoughts:
1) He's eating Chinese food with a knife and fork?
2) In your place, I'd insist that we agree to disagree. :)
gentlyferal at 2:08PM on 02/12/09
Let's see....pizza, burgers/sandwiches, potatoes/fries, sushi, I'm sure there's more...
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 4:23PM on 02/12/09
Always by hand:
* anything in a pita - gyro, schawarma, falafel or just hummus/tahina with veg
* sushi
* spring rolls (although I've eaten them with knife and fork on several occasions, but it was more of an exception than the rule)
* mini pies/pasties
Can go either way, depending on the circumstances and my mood:
* pizza
* burger
* hot dogs (the latter two always with knife and fork if there is no bun involved)
* chips (fries) - interestingly, I used to always eat chips with a fork, it's a fairly new development for me to eat them by hand sometimes
* chicken - actually, other than wings (by hand), I pretty much always eat chicken with knife and fork.
brooke29 at 5:13PM on 02/12/09
This has got me thinking about all the food that really can only be eaten by hand, or at most with a frilled toothpick, spear or the like:
Oysters on the half shell (yes one could use the cocktail fork, but then would miss out on all the yummy liquor if it was not slurped from the shell)
Olives. I've never seen them eaten with anything more than a pick.
Corn on the cob.
Anything from a relish tray (carrot sticks, celery stalks, pickles, etc.)
Popcorn.
Hotdogs.
Sandwiches. (but Ihave seen people eat hamburgers with knife and fork, and then there's open-faced, so maybe scratch that one)
Whole crab or crab legs.
Lobster.
Potato chips and the like.
There is a lot of them, I would be curious to see how many we could all come up with.
Now I'm hungry for potato chips!
whatseatingme at 10:30PM on 02/12/09
Some Korean and a lot of Vietnamese dishes are eaten by hand, mostly wrapped in lettuce leaves. Moo-shu like the first Peking duck course should be eaten by hand. If it weren't, they wouldn't bring you a crepe to wrap it in. Asparagus should be eaten with your fingers. Sushi can be eaten with either fingers or chopsticks. Anything that's a sandwich including wraps, tacos, burritos etc. I mean, most of this is just common sense.
SqueezeBottle at 10:44PM on 02/12/09
not with hands: salad, soups, casserole dishes, meat that i eat with a knife (ie boneless pork chops, steaks), most desserts, stuff with rice or pasta, mashed veggies, peas, and beans.
blizcheetah at 11:35PM on 02/12/09
Does anyone remember the Seinfeld episode where George was eating his candy bar with a knife and fork? That was taking it to the extreme, which I think was the point. Funny episode! Okay, well they all were : )
gourmetgal at 11:39PM on 02/12/09
oh... and eaten with your hands (bread)... indian curries.
blizcheetah at 11:40PM on 02/12/09
Glad to know I'm not the only one who eats pizza with a knife and fork. Or fried chicken. And yes, I've even done chicken wings with them. No, I'm not OCD. I eat at my computer quite a bit, and would rather not be wiping my fingers after every bite.
And for those of you wondering...my keyboard tray slides in and out, so no crumbs there. :)
momobotx2 at 8:22PM on 02/13/09
Anything HOT, knife and fork. I'm a delicate flower....
PeanutButter at 8:31PM on 02/13/09
Must eat by hand: chicken wings, tacos, chips, corn-on-the-cob.
Prefer to eat by hand: wraps/rolls/sandwiches, prawns, crab, bananas.
KidPresentable at 12:46AM on 02/14/09
I could see how your SO might balk, considering that moo shoo gets served with crepes, but if the mixture is dry enough, I finger it'd be fine to just eat out of hand :D If the moo shoo was really saucy and drippy, then maybe a knife and fork might make less of a mess.
Otherwise, taking the factors of your setting into consideration, I would suggest that he was indulging in a bit of whining and dining? :)
conky at 1:11AM on 02/14/09
hailing from buffalo i think if i saw someone eat a chicken wing with a fork i would fall off my chair. much the same confusion i witness when i see new yorkers with all their umbrellas open on snowy days.
midgepingleton at 1:19AM on 02/14/09
Ribs with a knife and fork? LOL!
reger60 at 9:23PM on 02/14/09
I eat all the normal stuff with my hands. I really enjoy going to resturants what encourage eating with your hands! My husband is Japanesse and eats his rice with his hands. Being the weirdo OCD- person that I am, I will not eat with my left hand. It feels disgusting, and gives me the creeps to even think about. I don't have any sort of religious customs, just don't like eating with left hand!
On a side note- asparagus is supposed to be eaten with your fingers! Its true!
mhurst826 at 9:33PM on 02/14/09